Add-ons are extremely helpful in-game. While some games have banned add-ons (or mods), others openly embrace the modder community. Elder Scrolls Online is one such game.
In ESO, installing and using addons is completely legal and allowed. Adding them to the game is very easy, as you will see below.
Be sure to check out our Elder Scrolls Online starter guide while you are here.
Step 1: Download Add-ons
There are lots of sites dedicated to add-ons. Some sites are dedicated by game and others cover a multitude of games. There are some programs out there that can control the add-ons for you (such as the Curse client). You can download it from ESOUI.
Step 2: Extract or Unzip Add-ons
Add-ons come delivered in a zipped file. In order to use them, you will need to unzip them. Windows has a built-in extraction program as long as the file is a .zip. If the folder is saved as a .rar file, you will need to download another program on Windows 7 and earlier. Windows 8 can unzip .rar files.
Files need to be placed in the ESO Add-ons directory that can be found in Documents/Elder Scrolls Online/live/AddOns on your computer. The easiest way to do this is to right-click the file and click extract files.
A new window will pop up that will ask for specifics. Be sure to put the path to the directory in the extract to or location box. Click the dots or browse button to the right to easily find the directory.
Step 3: Activate Add-Ons
The files are easy to activate once you launch the game. In the character screen, there is a menu to the left side. One of the options is Add-Ons. Click on it and you can decide which add-ons to allow.
ESO also allows you to customize which add-ons you use based on character. This option is only available from the character screen. The in-game menu only allows you to turn add-ons off and on based on character logged in.
Step 4: Change Settings (Optional)
The last thing you can do is in-game and that is to change your settings. Placement of add-ons may not be to your liking so they are movable as well as scalable. Some mods also allow you to choose which stuff to show. Using the menu that comes up when you hit the escape key, you can find all add-on settings here.
Some can be moved without loading up these menus. Others you will have to unlock using these menus. Here’s a look at how settings look:
Sometimes you may need to temporarily turn off a mod. For example, in Cyrodiil, you can not use the fast transit system while the ZrMiniMap is running. Instead of logging that character out and back in just to disable it, ESO has made it easy by showing the add-ons in-game.
ESO mods are not very intrusive. Some can be very simple as you can see in this view of my screen:
If you don’t feel comfortable extracting directly to the folder on your pc, another common way of doing this is to drag and drop the files into the folder after extracting them. Be sure to check out all our Guides and Tips.
