How to Install Skins On Kodi?

Kodi is a premium media player that lets you quickly access your favourite content. You can access live TV, sports, movies, and TV shows using any of the hundreds of Kodi addons available.

While you can add and remove all these Kodi add ons to get what you want to watch, you may tire of the interface. Luckily, developers for Kodi have you covered, as you can easily change to a new Kodi skin by using more add-ons.

The Estuary skin is the default Kodi skin, and although usable, it doesn’t offer much for a personal touch. Using top Kodi skins, you change the entire experience you have. Such Kodi skins boost the interface’s appeal and make it more user-friendly. (Learn How to Setup Kodi)

kodi skin

If you’ve installed any Kodi Builds before, you’ll know they offer Kodi a fresh look as many skins are bundled into builds.

However, builds do come with drawbacks and include add-ons and repositories you may not want as they increase the size of a Kodi installation.

In our guide, if you’ve got all the video addons you want, you can learn how to install skins on Kodi to improve your user interface and improve your Kodi experience.

kodi 18

How Do I Install Skins on Kodi 18?

You will find some creative developers who come up with a great skin for Kodi. By default, Kodi comes with the Estuary skin, but there are plenty more. Here’s how to use the official way to install Kodi skins.

Installing a new skin

  1. Open Kodi and make sure you’re on the Home screen
  2. Head to the top of the menu. Select System Settings icon (the gear icon)
  3. Select Interface
  4. Inside Interface Settings, select Skin, followed by Skin beneath Look and feel.
  5. You have 2 skins installed, Estuary (default skin) and Estouchy. To install another skin, select Get more…
  6. In the new window, select a skin you want to install
  7. After you select the skin, it downloads and installs skin dependencies and the skin.
  8. When asked to use the skin, select Yes
  9. You will have your new skin

You can find many skins in the Kodi Add-on repository; Kodi users can find more to try and modify versions of the Official Kodi repository. (Learn How to Watch Kodi Movie Streaming)

Where Do I Get Kodi Skins?

skins by zip

Install Kodi Skin from ZIP File

  1. Download the ZIP file from any link below the Kodi skin.
  2. Open Kodi and navigate to the “Add-ons” tab. Here, click on the “Install from ZIP File” menu.
  3. Locate the ZIP file on your device.
  4. Click the “OK” button.
  5. A prompt appears to change the skin. Click “Yes.”

Here are the 15 best Kodi skins you can find.

aeon nox silvo

Aeon Nox (SiLVO)

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ (supports older Kodi versions)

Aeon Nox is one of the ultimate best Kodi skins and places a strong focus on large-scale graphics. Your media content is viewed as a grid of posters that you can navigate in various ways.

Don’t worry; your Aeon Nox photo gallery and addons will have a fresh look as well for all your music, movies, TV shows and sports.

If you’ve already upgraded to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ or are still using an older version of the software, Aeon Nox will undoubtedly satisfy your needs.

Arctic: Zephyr 2

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ (supports older Kodi versions)

Arctic: Zephyr 2 will quickly replace Kodi’s default interface and significantly improve it. This skin transforms Kodi’s menu into a wide, bottom-positioned bar by default.

There will be a simple representation of your content in any category you choose, and you’ll see the background image changes as you move. An extremely well-designed TV schedule with upcoming movies and TV shows is available. (Read How To Remove Kodi Addons)

GitHub Link: https://github.com/pkscout/repository.skins.pkscout

Amber

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ (supports older Kodi versions)

In the background, high-resolution images will show what’s in your Kodi media library. For movies and TV shows, horizontal and vertical menu navigation works well, and you can configure it to display lots of content at once.

Instead of particular categories, a grid or list of available titles may be used where you see your artwork grid.

Unity

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ (supports older Kodi versions)

Kodi’s Material Design (Google) is well-represented by the Unity skin, and why this addon is on the list of the best skins. The main menu items are shown as a horizontal line by default.

There are no gradients or other distracting features in this design. In the upper portion of the screen, as you scroll through the things contained here, you’ll see similar add-ons, as well as movie posters and artwork.

Confluence

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 19 ‘Matrix’ (supports older Kodi versions)

Confluence comprises many visually heavy components, such as many glossy UI elements and many gradients, and it stands out on the Kodi user list of the best skins for Kodi.

The main menu is horizontal, with subcategories clearly illustrated and making it as simple as possible to navigate the app. This skin displays a wealth of knowledge for each title based on meta-data from your movies, TV shows, and other types of content.

Embuary

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

Kodi skins control every aspect of Kodi, including settings and media playback and PVR and other features.

It’s easy to use, looks modern, and works flawlessly. Grids are prominent in the Embuary skin, particularly for horizontal and vertical movement. It means that if you have Kodi installed on a media streaming system and use a remote to monitor the program, you’ll enjoy Embuary.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/sualfred/skin.embuary

BOX

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

The box is built on LightBox and nBox, two common Kodi skins. It has a simple user interface with popular images and fascinating iconography.

Music can be viewed as a long list of artists and playlists, while movies can be viewed as a grid of posters. It employs various types of navigation for various types of material.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/DjCisco/skin.BOX

Titan (Bingie Mod)

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

The hugely famous Titan skin for Kodi has been modded. If you have a lot of media material, the interface looks great on any media streaming device.

On a large-screen TV, it looks fantastic and allows you to skim through categories and individual files using your remote easily.

The original Titan skin is still powerful, but we’ve excluded it from our list of the best Kodi skins because of a growing number of technical issues. The Bingie Mod covers all Titan-related needs for anyone used to using Netflix.

Black Glass Nova

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

Kodi’s menu is transformed into a horizontal navigation bar with big thumbnails by Black Glass Nova. You’ll see examples of each category reflected when you scroll left or right through the various content categories.

Submenus appear at the bottom of the screen when searching the main menu. Black Glass Nova has clear borders with soft edges and is based on Windows’ Aero aesthetics.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/Tgxcorporation/skin.blackglassnova

GRID

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

The main menu of this skin is transformed into a horizontal transparent column on the left side of the screen with the GRID skin. Beautiful graphics will appear in the background as you scroll.

Because of the GRID’s high degree of customization, we’re confident you’ll be able to build anything extraordinary. It’s rapidly evolving as one of the best Kodi skins with a very active team behind it, and we have to say it’s one of the most polished choices available.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/jeroenpardon/skin.grid/

Mimic

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

The Kodi skin Mimic is based on flat design concepts. You can alter Mimic’s appearance by changing the default colour.

There are a plethora of options to consider and adapt. The “Wall” display option, a grid of posters with no border, is our favourite display option. It has horizontal lists that could be ideal for large TVs and can view music, videos, and TV shows.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/braz96/skin.mimic

Nebula

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

The primary goal of the user-friendly skin Nebula is to have as many choices as possible by making them all available simultaneously.

After installing Nebula, Kodi’s home screen becomes a soft white surface with grey text. The main menu, which can be scrolled left or right, occupies the screen’s central part.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/Tgxcorporation/skin.nebula

Chroma

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

Chroma has been around for quite some time and has amassed a devoted following; thus, it needs to be on our list of the best Kodi skins.

Chroma comes with a horizontal menu and high-resolution background images by default. It might be too much on smaller screens, but on larger screens and TVs, Chroma is perfect.

There’s also the option of displaying all of your movies as a big interactive wallpaper at once.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/Tgxcorporation/skin.chroma

Eminence 2

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible with Kodi 19)

Eminence 2 introduces a row of strangely shaped icons that can be scrolled left and right. Adding clearly recognizable icons to Kodi’s Settings menu does a decent job of simplifying it.

Because of its simplicity, ease of use, and navigation fluidity, we included Eminence 2 on our list of the best Kodi skins in 2021.

GitHub Link: https://github.com/jurialmunkey/skin.eminence.2

Bello 7

Compatibility: Up to Kodi 18 ‘Leia’ (not compatible 19 version of Kodi)

The Bello 7 skin includes dependencies that extend Kodi’s built-in features and make movies and TV shows amazing on large-screen TVs. On smartphones and tablets, the skin is also completely functional (devices with touchscreen controls).

If you’re using Kodi’s PVR feature to watch and capture TV channels, Bello 7 includes a well-designed TV guide. Large movie posters are also included, along with a wealth of additional details.

How Do I Install Chroma Skins on Kodi?

A new skin called Chroma is in the Kodi official Repository. It’s full-featured and modern; most of all, the popular Kodi skin is designed for Full HD TV screens. Using Kodi on a Fire TV with this add-on is perfect. (Find the Best Kodi Movie Addon)

To Install Chroma:

  1. Open Kodi and Select SYSTEM from the home screen
  2. Select Add-Ons
  3. Select Install from Repository or Get Add-ons
  4. Select the Kodi Add-On Repository
  5. Select Skin and then select Chroma
  6. Select Install
  7. Select Yes and then Yes, a second time to save changes and use the best Kodi skin for large screens.

How Do I Restore My Original Skin on Kodi?

Depending on your installation method, you could find Kodi has updated, and you don’t have the same Kodi themes or interface. It’s easy to revert to the default interface using the default Kodi skin.

Kodi 17.0 Krypton or Above

  1. Navigate to the Settings (gear icon) at the top of the menu bar.
  2. Select the Interface settings.
  3. Click the Skin field, which displays Estuary by default.
  4. Click the Get more… button.
  5. Select the Confluence skin.
  6. Wait for the Confluence skin to download.
  7. Press Yes to keep the skin.

 

Although skins are not frowned upon, it is advisable to use a VPN when you use Kodi for anything. When streaming, lots of the movies and TV shows are from sources that are not licensed. Users should also know that in certain countries, ISPs retain user data of their online activities.

a VPN can protect your device, whether it is a PC, Smart TV, or streaming device. Kodi users can watch what they want without anyone knowing what they are watching.

How to Install Skins On Kodi (1)