How To Mod Skyrim On Steam Deck EASY Setup And Complete Guide! No PC Or USB Neeeded!

[@OhNoItsAlexx]

A recent update from Bethesda has completely broken SKSE and other mods. Until SKSE/MO2 is updated, many of your mods will not work. Thanks BUGTHESDA!

[@GothicRose.]

I was wondering why I kept crashing! I wonder when it gets fixed

[@adarion2994]

The joke is probably the fact that this update bring us 21:9 (yes 12 years later) and ... steamdeck full support (the game doesn't need to open the launcher when started from steamdeck anymore) so ironically this update is probably one of the best since a long time, but bethesda obviously don't want you to use SKSE to get rid of their crappy UI with mods like SkyUI. And when you look at starfields UI, I'm starting to believe that it's bad on purpose

[@GothicRose.]

@@adarion2994 it's impossible to even play Skyrim on my steam deck because of the update. It's so annoying. My deck is the only thing I can play on until I get a new pc

[@adarion2994]

@@GothicRose. I just played it today the special edition, it worked flawlessly for me, but maybe if you use mod it crash

[@GothicRose.]

@@adarion2994 yeah I use mods to enhance a lot of the textures

[@faiga3544]

If you are wondering; yes the method in this video still works October 5th 2024

[@loganclark2316]

THIS is single handedly the best tutorial I’ve ever watched. As someone who has never modded and always been a console user this was the most direct and simple way to teach someone to mod. Thank you brother for this

[@DreamyAbaddon]

I'm so glad Alex makes Steamdeck tutorials. I love how clear and consise he is with the instructions.

[@Bod2600]

Please show us how to mod RDR2!

[@excellentdan7289]

Alex, sincerely thank you for your guides! Seldom comment smth, but after a few evenings of struggles trying to mod skyrim on deck - your videos are a huge relief! Guide still works 22.02.2024 (Skyrim SE from Steam) - for all, who wonders

[@zapfando]

I just got a steam deck and wanted to mod skyrim a little bit to inprove my experience. This video helped me sooooo so much. No unnessecary blabla, straight to the point. Everything worked completely fine! What a great tutorial. Hood work!

[@LuckIsNifty]

saw his comment saying it got broke cuz of a skyrim update, glad to know it works

[@KikonSketches]

whats the chance of me deciding i want to mod skyrim on my steam deck, find your older video just to see you posted an update 9 hours ago. crazy

[@Nzzertral]

I how felt but I’m 3 weeks late

[@shazamham5203]

Literally just expirenced this.

[@TheBestPeepRus]

That’s awesome

[@francobo8509]

Same 😂

[@TheRealPaul_Morphy]

​@@Nzzertral Cave man 👨

[@Zosalot]

Hey, thanks a ton for this video. I love modding now. I didn't mod for years because I was intimidated by it. You broke it down in really easy to understand steps and it was good to watch.

[@paradoxicalbeanz1895]

If anyone is having trouble with the keyboard in game, such as trying to name your character, try launching Skyrim through game mode. I couldn't get anything to work for the life of me but I figured out once you get MO2 up and running and you know your mods work, you can go back to game mode and launch Skyrim there instead of desktop. When you launch it will pull up the MO2 same as before and you launch from there. Hope this helps

[@bruhelbruh6293]

You can also force the keyboard to appear by pressing steam button + X

[@theharryg12]

@@bruhelbruh6293nope, that doesn’t work for me

[@DonWaffleDude]

Ah just ran into exactly this issue. Thanks! The onscreen keyboard won't work if you launch Skyrim in desktop mode!

[@MMAbruv]

Also if you have the launch command for the setting menu it makes the keyboard broken so remove the launch command after you change settings

[@fionagrace8228]

8:46 If your MO2 is crashing when you try to click on a pop asking to create a new instance, you MUST hold the steam button on your deck WHILE using your mouse. Took me hours to figure this out!

[@hauntedboything]

i come back to this video multiple times to remember how to run mo2 for my many modded skyrim playthroughs because i forget how to do this stuff every time lol - thank you!

[@vice100]

oh god, thank you so much!

[@carlossalazar3325]

3:08 a huge advise for new Linux users like me when choosing pt versions for this kind of thing you don’t need the same exact version they are updated regularly to this day pt 9.0 is the one mo2 recommends but pt only has 9.1 (you get the idea)

[@firejaw6459]

So Alex says here you want proton 8.0-3, but I only see 8.0-5. Should I use that, or 9.0-2?

[@tobyhill8510]

Did you figure out which to use yet?

[@carlossalazar3325]

@@tobyhill8510 yes, I used 9.1

[@christiancotter9787]

I dont know which version to use as 8.0-5 is not there for me

[@tarigniadraconix7175]

It should still work for 9.0-2! If you read on the github page a bit, it says the latest release is compatible with the latest protontricks version. Tested it out, followed all steps in the vid, mod load order is up and running again after the update!

[@darknightzombie2639]

I recently got a steam deck and I don’t know anything about pc so this video was helpful. Was stressful at first but I finally got it down days later lol..

[@scottbryden4820]

I followed the steps and this works perfectly fine. You cant use the same proton version in the video but just use the most updated one.

[@babreandroid2878]

Don’t do this guys. Sadly I can’t launch my Skyrim anymore.. This tutorial probably worked in the past but it doesn’t work anymore. Basically the problem is that everything is updated, so it’s not possible to go on with the versions that this guy is showing us, so I decided to go with the newest version of everything (Skyrim, Mod Organizer 2 and Proton). Mod Organizer 2 doesn’t work anymore, it launches but crashes instantly. This causes the crash of Skyrim too. So after tons of tries, I finally gived up (I don’t remember my last give up in a tutorial in 20 years lol), I deleted every single thing this tutorial makes you download in order to have my steam deck back at the beginning of this situation. And.. that’s the worst point. Even if I uninstalled everything, now my Skyrim won’t start anymore. Now mod organizer is not trying to start when I launch the game because it’s not installed, but the game is not starting at all (I’ve unchecked the proton option too). I’m trying to uninstall the entire game (I may have lost my savegames probably I hope not), and try to install SKSE again, but I think this will not fix anything. I’m trying to save you time and money. Wish you better luck than mine 😥

[@vin_2620]

Well damn, should have read this haha. Had same issue. Followed all the steps but cant start up skytim any more 😢

[@vin_2620]

Update: I have fixed skyrim to work normally now wothout MO2 interfereing. Its super quick. Go to Stream in desktop mode. Open the Skyrim SE settings window. Go to the "Installed Files section" Click "Verify integrity of game files" Let it run, itll spot any changes in the game files that MO2 installation made and revert them. Now start Skyrim as normal!

[@dillen_playz1114]

Know it's been a month but if you come back to this all you gotta do is change skyrim to use mouse only controls and then do everything then when you wanna play use the normal gamepad with joystick trackpads

[@johnbiff2664]

@@dillen_playz1114Can confirm this worked, thank you

[@douglasyellow]

@@dillen_playz1114 worked for me as well!

[@lucasbotingnon8458]

I used to play Skyrim with a lot of mods but I moved to another country and now only have a MacBook (M1 Pro Chip). It was quite a journey to get Skyrim working here, and for some reason, all the water textures turned green - I have no idea why that happened. So, I ultimately made the decision to buy a SteamDeck, not only for the joy of playing with mods (which I discovered thanks to your video) but also because I've decided not to build a gaming PC anymore. Just wanted to give you some context - your video inspired me to purchase a SteamDeck, haha! I considered getting a gaming laptop, but I really value the portability of the SteamDeck. Nice content!!

[@WarLordCol]

Love your content, always straight forward without unnecessary crap. Keep up the good work

[@colossusrageblack]

My biggest roadblock from making my Legion Go run Bazzite was being able to mod Skyrim, this is all i needed to make the Switch. Thanks.

[@thelegendaryqwerty]

I learn how to mod on Linux, man so satisfying to play my games modded.

[@umarsebranek8317]

Linux is great

[@nootnewt9323]

Thank you so much! This worked for me. I had issues with the track pad so I just used an external mouse. I didn’t know about the steam button + trackpad option. Thank you so much!

[@johnrongavilla5711]

Coming back to this, has SKSE, MO2, and several mods been updated?

[@skyblue05]

omg i watched someone else and i was so lost, followed this and had no problems at all tysm 😭❤️

[@peepeepoopoofarty]

i have been trying to do this for literal months and this is the only guide that has ever worked for me

[@peepeepoopoofarty]

ok so now when i launch the game, it just stays on the loading screen and never loads. how do i fix it?

[@OhNoItsAlexx]

@peepeepoopoofarty loading screen?

[@peepeepoopoofarty]

@@OhNoItsAlexx yeah, when i press "continue game" it stays on the loading screen, the tip changes but nothing else does

[@stephenmurray8559]

​@@OhNoItsAlexxdoes it make a difference if in steam store you select Proton 8.3? There is Proton experimental too

[@ramstab]

Was just watching your older skyrim vid and i thought hmm let me see if he did a new one, absolute legend

[@kaby3190]

Thank you so much! I don't have a Steam Deck, but I have an Arch desktop, and this, unlike Vortex Mod Manager, just works.

[@GtheMVP]

Dude, can you do Fallout 4 pretty please. I'm going to try and mirror this process, but a focused FO4 would be grand. BGS games on the Deck are comfort food, but they need mods lol. Love your stuff man, you make it easy for rubberheads like me :D

[@the_farmory]

Love the instructions - one small quip for improvement from my perspective would be indicating the game has to be installed to the ssd and not the sd card up front.

[@MarcussJay]

Thank you sir . I haven’t played anything on a PC like setting since I played Goosebumps Attack Of The Mutant back in 1999 on my parents PC lol. Seemed very daunting but you explained it all perfectly.

[@alanreynolds4262]

I just have to say thank you so much for this video. I spent an entire day trying 3 other methods and each one had an issue at some point. Yours worked great.

[@rublenoz3182]

Really? For every mod?

[@nighttilt]

Thank you for the video, King 👑. I'm absolutely loving my Steam Deck.

[@f.c.caetano]

Thank you very much! This tutorial was everything I needed to mod my game. Keep up the good work, best wishes from Brazil!

[@shazamham5203]

Gonna have to wait for an update now. I only used two mods anyway with mo2, elfx and raid weathers. I can play the game without them for the time being.

[@Cr4nched]

took me like two hours but i finally got it together thanks for the help

[@MacianArt]

Super useful guide! Have you considered making one on getting Wabbajack to work on deck?

[@serrikari5501]

This was the tut I needed. Thanks man. Made life so much less complicated.

[@TheGRavist]

after 3 hours of searching this one finally worked! now I can just continue playing with the unofficial patch mod installed AND still earn achievements now maybe I can also add in a multiplayer mod if I find one I did have to change one thing to open the launcher to access the graphics settings, they renamed the launcher to _launcher,... and didn't change this in the settings of the mod manager!

[@_Veezara_]

Thank you very much for the video, I'm now super happy that I can mod Skyrim on the Steam Deck

[@chriscrawshaw927]

I just did all the steps love your video yeah it tells me I’m useing a newer version of Skyrim then ske64 supports

[@REDisKING]

Did it work eventually? I'm wanting to try this

[@DJCJ999]

Excellent ... your content is gold! What I need is a full proof Emu deck set-up video that covers Switch emulation.. I have a bunch of Switch titles but since getting the deck my device is gathering dust.

[@OhNoItsAlexx]

Thanks, will do!

[@rabidrivas]

Some Feedback: 1. You don't need flatseal, flatpak permision are already in the settings app in desktop mode 2. You can not run the downgrader on linux. So if you still mod on 1.5.97 (Just before AE) you will have to download and overwrite both the skyrim files and the skse files. And hope steam doesn't update anything when you open skyrim. I know this becaus I basically already pulled this off for skyrin on my desktpo using your other recent Bethesda game tutorials. So thanks for the content man!

[@HardScopeHardie]

Do you know how to fix Disk Write error. Have a few games on my SD card but now I just keep getting the error.

[@GothicRose.]

Steam deck and PC are a bit different

[@rabidrivas]

@@GothicRose. In what way?

[@TrentR42]

​@@GothicRose.I'm pretty sure they meant Linux Desktop.

[@Kybones517]

This tutorial works! I was able to install SkyUI!

[@jetttinlin]

What version of proton did you use? I was trying to follow this tutorial and 8-0-3 isnt there anymore as there is an 8-0-5, 9(beta) and experimental, would the best just be 8-0-5 or 9?

[@nexmagic6089]

It's now easier to install the mods, for vortex you still have to go through github but the rest is exactly like on PC, no need to touch the files like in the video

[@XelaJN]

I’m now having to reformat my steam deck because the internal storage is full and I can’t figure out how to uninstall MO2. On these walkthrough videos you should probably assume everyone is using an SD card

[@alt666]

edit - If you downgraded skyrim se you have to go into the special edition sh file (in the mo2 linux installer folder) and manually change everything from the new skse to the old one including the download link. You also need to add the skse steam dll. And i got it working all on my sd card lol.

[@nicomeyer6267]

Thank you so much, finally I can use MO2 on the steam deck

[@kevinkod.7962]

With your instructions it finally worked for me! Thank you very much Alex!🎉

[@merciless972]

This worked for me on a different game. The mods under the workshop keep unchecking. Ty, great tip for those new to Linux

[@KristapsK1]

I may be late to this, but id like to let everyone know that once mod organiser 2 is set up with the mods you want, it will also launch correctly through the standard deck interface

[@_richieowen_]

Great video! Will send you actual money if you can get Requiem / reqtificator to run on steam deck! driving me insane!

[@Suleku]

Thanks for the Guide man! Got everything working! :)

[@maxamick9962]

Did you have any issues with the Proton and MO2 and SKSE all having been updated since this video came out? I don’t fully understand what those things even are but other people are mentioning those issues. -Skyrim lover who is about to buy a steam deck and has very little mod experience.

[@Suleku]

@@maxamick9962 If your new to modding in general and never used linux before... I would recommend getting a windows Gaming PC or Windows handheld.... SteamOS is wayyy different from Microsoft OS and much harder to use if not tech savvy.... Took me years to get good at modding also been using linux OS for years too

[@vansdan.]

this worked flawlessly for anyone in early 2024

[@tripslord9029]

For me I can't open nxm links and now mo2 won't open :D

[@claytoncallaway6412]

same@@tripslord9029

[@samuelstorr1481]

I got it working yesterday - At first it wouldn’t launch the game and so I had to update the skse files to the latest build by simply dragging and dropping the contents of a zip folder - Also the racemenu mod not being updated is currently causing a whole bunch of character and npc based mods to not kick in on launch I think

[@Unglue]

for anyone not being able to get past the racemenu/character creation menu launch the game through game mode and not desktop

[@junnglecat3421]

Hmm i have three mods downloaded but it wont let me drag them into mod organizer

[@soiltek2015]

Sets great job alex!!

[@pgh_deb]

This is a great tutorial for **specifically** manual mod downloads, but wanted to mention from what ive seen and played around with, there is no way to use Nexus mod linker/collections with this wine-based method. Looks like the best/easier way to download a collection/lots of mods is via file transfer from another PCs skyrim folder with the mods you want to the deck

[@TheRoninKhajiit]

Hey Alex, new subscriber here. Great video really helped me a lot. Got a question for you....I was able to follow your guide without any issues, got to the end and the mods are working great in desktop mode. Almost started dancing....been a few years since I modded Skyrim and I don't exactly have a background in Linux based systems so it was a big win for me. Here's the question. Can I still play it (Nexus) modded in game/handheld mode? I have it set so that when I launch Skyrim SE from game mode it launches with the skse loader with no issues but so far I can't get any of the nexus mods to work (skse required or not). No crashes or strange behavior...the mods just aren't registering. Let me know when you can and thanks again.

[@sionedelweiss]

Like for you in 2024, This still works. Thank you kindly for your time.

[@juanjosereyes8294]

Thanks! It worked perfectly.

[@ryanharrison692]

Can you do a Vortex tutorial?

[@latroy_x.]

I don't have a steam deck but maybe this will help me in my decision making. I'll subscribe.

[@gustavokeno]

Alex, sorry about the dumb question, but is this setup still working? Thank you for the update, brother.

[@Stalonage]

You need to have a flashbang warning at 8:55 for us dark mode users XD

[@CursedChiefer]

I did everything but I’m stuck at mo2 setup keeps crashing

[@Nutronic]

What I need is a tutorial on modding games like Arkham Knight.

[@MrMacMan23]

Appreciate these steps, any consideration for fav mods that aren’t going to be too cpu/gpu intense

[@xngala]

I figured out how to get my game back 🎉 I had to open the konsole to run the console command and download the depots and reinstall mo2 linux version

[@lukasschrage8935]

Hey, quick question: At 2:06 you mention to 'close Flatseal', but you were checking boxes in Protontricks until then. Did you mean to say Protontricks, or did you actually mean to check those boxes in Flatseal? Kind regards!

[@GianmariaFadini]

For the people who had their modded game broken by the recent Bethesda update, I solved doing these steps: - Switched to desktop mode and downloaded the last version of MO2 (v5.0.3 as today) - Change the proton version used by the game (should be v9 and no more v8) - Installed over the old version without rebuilding prefixes - Downloaded last version of SKSE and overwritten the old one - Launched MO2 and updated the already installed MODs. Especially the Address library for SKSE. - Launch the game In my case everything worked well and now I can play again the game

[@claude.5594]

is it possible to do a yt tutorial?

[@JarneBaugnee]

can you do a video for people who only have sd card for skyrim? my internal storage is full even though there are no games installed internally.

[@Bryan21381]

I'm suprised alex & frit hasn't done a podcast together yet. Call them "the salt boys."

[@kingfreemind7314]

Alexx, do you think you can make a video showing how to mod The Witcher 3 on Steam Deck? Love the channel BTW.

[@budthecyborg4575]

7:11 "Pick a mod that is really beneficial" You know 99% of your audience would have been eternally grateful to see how to get TBBP working for the first time

[@justno0ne619]

Hey Alex, will you make an update vid/comment on Skyrim modding for Steam Deck?

[@OhNoItsAlexx]

This is the new one the problem is that Bethesda updated and broke SKSE

[@justno0ne619]

​@@OhNoItsAlexxSo SKSE still doesn't work? damn.

[@nordra5768]

This worked like a charm until today Now that they added Creations, after update MO2 won't start up and when I load my game, mods aren't in use anymore and game asks if I want you search them from Creations 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬 And I want to load the save anyway, it now says file is corrupted and won't work.

[@bugsy2180]

Thanks Alex!!

[@GVHvidz]

MO2 says my i am running a newer version of skyrim than this version of SKSE64 Supports. Runtime: 1.6.1130 SKSE64: 2.2.3 Im not entirely sure what this all means. I but then instead of Running the mod on SKSE like you did in this tutorial i hit the dropdown menu and selected Skyrim Special Edition and it ran the mod seemingly with no problems. So im not sure why you chose SKSE specifically. Does it make a difference? Do i need to go back to skse.silverlock and get an updated SKSE ?? I tried to but idk if i did it right or not, it came up with the same thing on MO2 when i thought I got a more updated version, nothing changed. Please let me know if any of this matters or if I can always just Run it on the "Skyrim Special Edition" instead of "SKSE" and thank you very much for the tutorial. PS I followed your original tutorial lastnight but on the last step trying to load the mod on Vortex came up with a white screen that wouldnt go away and had to be manually closed each time. So that didnt work for me then I tried this easier tutorial and it really was much better for me! Thank you!

[@GVHvidz]

Please help! Ive been looking more online and i dont see what ive done wrong. The version of SKSE that i have seems to be the most up to date version and it seems it should be working

[@SleepySeal121]

I’ve never actually tried Skyrim with mods before. Any recommendations?

[@johnsonjohn5468]

What are the differences between the regular skyrim and the special edition? Is the special edition better for modding? If so I may just get the special edition.

[@kyleweber8431]

Thanks best video ever

[@BIGGELIDUS]

Воу, спасибо большое, всё объяснил, все удобно и точно

[@centreeo]

Can you play it in gaming mode still

[@hex3325]

I'm having an issue! When I click play to open the mod organiser it asks me to create an instance and my mouse just freezes. Can't use the trackpads to move it, can't use the joysticks nothing! When I try touching the screen to press next it just closes the tab and doesn't let me continue...

[@johnsonjohn5468]

Will protontricks work for the regular skyrim? I don't have the special edition. When I opened protontricks skyrim was listed. I checked properties and compatability but protontricks wasn't ticked. When checking for it I'm not seeing the 8.0-3 but I see 8.0-5 I believe. Is it OK to set it for 8.0-5? Thanks is advance. Thank you for the awesome tutorial vid? Awesome bro!

[@flimtok]

Would it be possible for you to make a tutorial on how to get Doom mods to work on Steamdeck? Mods like: Blade of Agony Ashes 2063 Winters Fury The Golden Souls Etc. I normally wouldn’t make a request, but Doom mods on my Steam Deck was one of the main reasons I bought it (along with modded Morrowind, Daggerfall, and New Vegas), and all I can do is play Doom and Hexen on GZDoom unmodded.

[@EyeLuvMakeup271]

So is this still not working??

[@kyleluck8097]

Going to be trying this later. But before I do... once this is all set up, am I able to launch in the game mode or do I need to launch it from desktop mode for MO2 to work correctly?

[@silliest_billy635]

u didnt show us how to set up the proton prefix thing

[@evildusk8995]

Mod organiser is keep crashing right after I launch Skyrim :(

[@Kikoou]

Would I be able to still install animations on it? I'm not a particularly tech savvy guy, and after having installed anything third party and with it being a nightmare, I'm sort of worried that somehow something will break if I just tried to simply install FNIS or something like I did back with my laptop. Is it just the same process like PC just slightly different or is it just super different or even unavailable?

[@Dark3r17]

Thanks for the video, I managed to make it work but I can't seem to open the Launcher through mod organizer, it says there is already an instance of MO2 running. Edit: Nevermind, took me 10 minutes to find a way 😆 I just booted SkyrimLauncher with protontricks.

[@RyderWestwood]

Works great but I can't figure out how to actually run the launcher to change graphics settings again. When you try to run it through Mod Organizer it doesn't open it like it should.

[@stormstrider]

I can't seem to get the auto install to my mod orginizer to work. am I an idiot? it keeps asking for a program to run the file with when I attempt to save it to MO2.

[@SocialTrevor]

Can you make a tutorial for modding Baldur’s Gate 3 on the Steam Deck? I know there is a video on here that uses adding Vortex as a Steam game but I haven’t had any luck with it. It’s installed and runs but it doesn’t show a load order and the mods don’t appear in game. All I’m trying to do is mod in presets that don’t look hideous for masculine Tieflings so I can commit to doing a redeemed Dark Urge Tiefling run.

[@Allen-q7c]

Thx for the tutorial

[@kayleighallen7770]

I'm trying to do this today. 21.11.24 and I'm struggling. When installing all programs and then the mods when I select play skyrim in desktop mode I'm getting a "creating new instance" pop up which then freezes the deck 😢

[@zapfando]

Do you happen to know hot to access the normal Skyrim Launcher with MO2 installed. This damn game needs the damn launcher to be able to change the settings. But Im not able to start the Launcher anymore, it always goes back to MO2

[@johnnyrivera7665]

How to disable MO2 from running when i wonna play skyrim?

[@rudelltwobulls4328]

Unfortunately im playing skyrim through the sd card and vortex is serving me well. So i guess im stuck on the old method.

[@Ensiferum888]

In your older video it was possible to launch SKSE from gaming mode, using MO2 do we always need to launch from desktop now? I was in the middle of following your previous vid when I found this one lol.

[@OhNoItsAlexx]

This also works in game mode

[@Ensiferum888]

@@OhNoItsAlexx Thank you so much! Now playing Skyrim with apocalypse spell pack!

[@_postmodernprometheus6081]

thank you! =D