How do I install mods?

Many times, installing a mod is as simple as extracting the archive to the Data Files folder, but this is not always the case. You should be familiar with how to manually install mods, as well as how to install mods that are set up to extract differently than normal.

The first thing you should always do is read the mod's readme, if it has one. Most (good) readmes will have instructions on how to install the mod.

If for some reason the instructions don't work, you can't understand them, or there are none, then...

You should start off by reading through MWMythicMods Starting Page. It offers a lot of general information for people new to mods.

Next, you should read through this similar thread on the official forums. Again, it offers a lot of information for beginning mod users, and is actually very similar to the Mod Usage FAQ here.

After reading those two sites, you should probably read Baphomet's Mod Installation Tutorial. It is a very well written tutorial/guide on how to install mods.

If all this is going way over your head, perhaps you should try this mod installation tutorial on Rethan-Manor. It is similar to the others, but it includes pictures to help you learn your way around.

Korana also has a large, helpful tutorial for mods and mod installation.

Stryder also has a tutorial for mod installation.

If you still can't figure out how to install mods after reading all those, here is a good method to manually install mods. This method is mostly taken from some of Emma's mod readmes, with a few modifcations/changes made.

-Extract the mod to an empty folder. For this example, we'll call it Mod.

-Open \Bethesda Softworks\Morrowind\Data Files.

-Open Mod.

-Navigate in Mod until you see an .esp./esm, a readme, and (possibly) folders such as Textures, Icons, Meshes, Sound, Music, Bookart, etc. Not all mods have all these folders, and some may have none at all.

-Select the .esp/.esm and the readme.

-Drag them into the Data Files folder.

-Select the folders.

-Drag them into the Data Files folder, hit yes to all.

Note: Some mods also use .exe installers or self-executable archives. These are a bit different to install, but usually a bit easier.

You usually just point them to whatever directory they tell you to (usually Data Files) and let them install/extract themselves. But, with these, you might want to go make sure everything was installed/extracted correctly.

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