Step by step: install a Claude Skill
- 1Download and unzip. Download the skill and unzip it so you have the skill folder containing SKILL.md.
- 2Open Skills settings. In Claude, go to Settings → Capabilities → Skills.
- 3Add the skill. Click Add Skill → Upload Skill.
- 4Upload the file. Drag and drop the .zip file (or the folder) to upload it.
- 5Enable it. Toggle the skill on. Claude will now consider it automatically when a request matches its description.
- 6Try it in chat. Open the three-dot menu on the skill and choose “Try in chat” to confirm it works.
Project skills vs personal skills
If you use Claude Code, skills can also live in folders. Project skills go in .claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md inside a repo and ship with the codebase, so your whole team gets them. Personal skills go in ~/.claude/skills/<name>/SKILL.md on your machine and follow you across projects.
| Type | Location | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Uploaded | Claude Settings → Skills | Quick personal use in the Claude app |
| Project | .claude/skills/<name>/ | Team-shared standards committed to a repo |
| Personal | ~/.claude/skills/<name>/ | Your own aliases across all projects |
Troubleshooting
- The skill never triggers: its description probably doesn't match how you phrased the request. Edit the description to be more specific about when to use it.
- Upload fails: confirm the .zip contains a folder with a SKILL.md at its root, and that the frontmatter has both a name and description.
- Wrong behavior: tighten the instructions and add an example of the output you want.
Need a skill to install? Generate one in seconds with MakeMySkill, or grab a ready-made one from the library.