Game cannot find AddOns - any new suggestions for Windows 11

malis907

Please can someone help me with this problem. I have been searching and reading many different solutions, but to no avail. (there is one here but it's from 2018...). Anyway,
I'm using my brand new laptop running Windows 11. I have ESO downloaded and it's working great, (except I don't have my addons). I began with Minion, which I used on my last computer, but couldn't get ESO to see the AddOns. After a couple days of trying different things I've decided to remove Minion from the equation and download straight from ESOUI website.

Here's where I am at:

I've uninstalled Minion.
I do not have OneDrive active.
I put the downloaded files into Documents>Elder Scrolls Online>live>AddOns
I logged into ESO and the AddOns aren't there.
I made sure AddOns are "on" in the ADD-ONS menu.
I've read about checking a box that says "allow out of date addons", but I don't see that box? (see pic below)



I would really appreciate any help, I miss playing this game... I just can't do it without the minimap

Baertram

@malis907 https://www.esoui.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8858

Try the Screenshot trick mentioned there

majulook

The files from ESOUI are in ZIP format did you unzip extract the ZIP'd folder from the download into the into Documents>Elder Scrolls Online>live>AddOns location or did you just drop the download file into that location?
If you put the ZIZP'd download into the location the gam cannot see them.


To manually install your AddOns:

1. Download your chosen addon

2. Extract the files to a folder on your desktop.

3. Open your ESO folder.

If using a PC, the typical default install path is: C:\Users\< username >\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\

Or you can use the windows variable by pasting it into windows explorer: %userprofile%\documents

If using a Macintosh, the typical default install path is: ~/Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/

4. In the 'live' folder, create a new folder called AddOns (if it doesn’t already exist)

5. Open the AddOns folder

6. Copy the files from the folder on your desktop into the AddOns folder

7. Your final path should look like:

PC:

C:\Users\< username >\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\AddOns\< AddOn A FolderName >\< files >
C:\Users\< username >\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\AddOns\< AddOn B FolderName >\< files >
C:\Users\< username >\Documents\Elder Scrolls Online\live\AddOns\< AddOn C FolderName >\< files >
(where < AddOn A Folder > < .B. > < .C. > are the names of the actual folders that the addons create)

Mac:

~/Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/AddOns/< AddOn A FolderName >/< files >
~/Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/AddOns/< AddOn B FolderName >/< files >
~/Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/AddOns/< AddOn C FolderName >/< files >
(where < AddOn A Folder > < .B. > < .C. > are the names of the actual folders that the addons create)

9. Log into game. At the character select screen, there should be an "AddOns" button in the lower left corner. Click on that. If any of the mods in the list that pops up say "out of date" or some such, choose the "Load Outdated AddOns" option.

10. Log the rest of the way into game, you should be up and running now.

Necrotech_Master

minion makes it a lot easier, but it can be a little finicky when trying to get it to point to the right folder someitmes

and as an FYI, they removed the "out of date addons" checkbox some time ago

Tommy_The_Gun

Best way to see where the game add-on folder is - is to take a screenshot in-game. You should see in the upper right corner of the screen a message where the screenshot was saved. That is your game folder where all it's setting are stored and add-ons too.

Also, one thing I have discovered is if you have a user folder in Windows that uses non-English alphabet symbols (ó, ę, ä, ö etc) - then the game won't be able to recognize that as a path, and it will use the "Public" documents location.

Example:
C:\Users\Björn\Documents -> Game does not know what "ö" is, so it does not recognize it as a file path, instead it goes for:
C:\Users\Public\Documents -> as it does not have any non-English alphabet symbols.

malis907

Thank you so much everyone. Beartram & Tommy_The_Gun, yes! your screenshot suggestion worked and set me on the path to fix my problem. Majulook, thanks for your help. I finally did get Minion to work for me, but will hold on to these instructions if it gives me trouble again.

I wish I could give an explanation as to how I got it to work, so that others could benefit from it, but I'm still confused. I ended up turning off and uninstalling (so I thought) OneDrive, then I moved the AddOns folder into my Documents folder and deleted the OneDrive folder... And it worked. The crazy thing is that the next time I restarted my computer I checked on the path to my Addon folder and it was gone from my Documents! Instead a new OneDrive folder had been created and my Documents folder was back in it! I don't understand it, BUT it still worked. I logged on to the game and all my AddOns were there. So for now I'm not asking why. That OneDrive is such a persistent bugger!!

Thanks again for everyone's help.