There are few PC games out there with more mods than The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim. It’s been more than a decade since the game’s original release, giving fans more than enough time to design thousands of unique mods. And like with most games, you can download all of these mods for free and start playing right away.
But with so many mods out there, it can be difficult to figure out which ones are worth your time and which are just filler. That’s where this guide comes in.
We’ve gathered up 23 of the best, most fun, and most useful mods for any Skyrim fan. Each one comes with a link to the page that you can download it from, and a short primer on what it offers.
The essential Skyrim modding apps
Before you install any mods, you’ll need to prepare your copy of Skyrim to work with them. There are two programs in particular that you should install before adding new mods.
Skyrim Script Extender
The Skyrim Script Extender (SKSE for short) helps Skyrim understand and use mod files, which it wouldn’t be able to do normally. This add-on is mandatory for most Skyrim mods.
You can download SKSE from its official website. You’ll want to use the “classic build” download links. Follow the instructions inside the README file to install it into your computer’s main Skyrim directory.
Vortex
The best place on the internet to find Skyrim mods is Nexus Mods, and for years they offered their own app called Nexus Mod Manager (NMM) to help users organize and keep track of their downloads. NMM is still available, but the Nexus team recently released a heavily upgraded version called Vortex.
Vortex can help manage which order your mods load in (very important for Skyrim), quickly download or delete mods, and even set up “profiles” so you can run different sets of mods at different times.
Vortex is a complete mod manager for Skyrim, along with other games like Fallout and Dark Souls.
Nexus Mods
LOOT (optional)
If you’re not going to use a mod manager like Vortex, then you’ll still need a way to manage your mods’ load order. The best standalone app for that is LOOT, the Load Order Optimization Tool.
LOOT will automatically sort your mods for you, making sure that they don’t cause any errors when they run. If the app finds any issues, it’ll tell you what they are and how to fix them.
You can find Skyrim mods for almost any occasion on Nexus Mods or from the Steam Workshop. Some will add new enemies or weapons, but others just help the game run smoother. Here are our favorites from across the spectrum.
Mods that make Skyrim run better
It’s no secret that Skyrim is an incredibly buggy game. These mods squash most of those bugs, as well as make the game look better.
Even if you’re not interested in mods, you should install USLEEP. This mod fixes hundreds of bugs and glitches from the original release, both minor and game-breaking. It’s also designed to run smoothly with most other mods, meaning that it’s a great place to start your modding journey.
Just note that you’ll either need to be playing Legendary Edition or have all of the DLC installed to run this one.
SkyUI
The gold standard for Skyrim mods, SkyUI totally revamps the game’s menus, world map, inventories, and more. It includes a full-text search bar for sorting through your items, a favorites menu for quickly accessing your best tools, and even a HUD that shows and tracks all the magical effects you’re currently under.
A comparison between Skyrim’s “vanilla” menus (left) and the upgraded menus with SkyUI (right).
Bethesda; SkyUI Team
There are a lot of mods that will require SkyUI to be installed before they’ll work, and that’s because one of the new menus offered lets you customize your mods while in-game. If you ever see a mod description refer to something called the “MCM,” it’s SkyUI’s “Mod Configuration Menu.”
SkyUI is easier to use for mouse-and-keyboard players, and takes up less space on the screen than Skyrim’s standard UI. Check it out before you start your next playthrough.
BethINI
On a Windows computer, .INI files help applications run correctly. Without them, your favorite apps might not know what fonts to use, what size to make the windows, or even how to launch. Unfortunately, Skyrim’s .INI files are messy and complicated, which can lead to worse graphics and sometimes even game crashes.
Skyrim HD redesigns nearly every texture in the game, along with all the lighting and weather effects. The result is a vastly prettier and more immersive world to run around in.
A comparison between textures in the original Skyrim (left) and the new textures with Skyrim HD (right).
Bethesda; NebuLa
The authors of the mod also offer a “Lite” version, which has less upgrades but is designed to run on slower PCs. Download whichever version will run best for your setup.
Quality of life mods
These mods reinvent some of Skyrim’s more frustrating design choices, making any playthrough much more enjoyable.
A Quality World Map
The world map in vanilla Skyrim is pretty barebones. All you get is a cloudy overview of the land with 2D icons to mark fast travel spots — not exactly a cartographer’s dream.
You’ll see every road in Skyrim clearly laid out on the map.
Bethesda; NebuLa
Just note that if you’re playing the standard version of Skyrim, you’ll need to have at least the Dragonborn DLC installed to use this one.
Optional Quick Start
Skyrim’s opening scene, which features your character waking up in the back of a prison wagon, has become an incredibly popular meme over the past few years. But if you’re tired of walking through the same scripted cutscene and dungeon, you can skip it.
There are 337 unique books to read in Skyrim. Almost none of them are mandatory to find, but reading them is a great way to learn more about the game’s world and lore.
There are three brightness settings for unread books in this mod.
Bethesda; duggelz
Simply Knock
If you’re trying to get past a locked door in Skyrim, you’ll need to pick the lock. But why can’t you just ask someone else to let you in?
The Simply Knock mod adds a special menu to most locked doors that gives you the option to knock instead of breaking in. Every house and some businesses will have an NPC inside that can open the door for you — if you’re able to convince them. And if the person living there is your friend, they’ll always let you in.
Between animals, civilians, and enemies, there are hundreds of NPCs in Skyrim. And like in most Elder Scrolls games, they tend to act pretty robotic. These mods make NPCs smarter and stronger, giving your game a bit more realism.
Every citizen has a schedule, and different NPCs might cross paths as the day goes on.
Bethesda; Arnaud d’Orchymont
Every citizen is assigned a personality and job which decides how they react to you, and what you might find them doing at any given moment. The mod also adds more citizen-to-citizen conversations for you to eavesdrop on. It might sound mundane, but this is one of the best mods for bringing realism to Skyrim.
The mod also comes with its own custom soundtrack, with almost two-dozen “bard songs” composed and performed by members of the modding community. It’s like its own miniature DLC pack.
Every type of soldier also comes with their own set of alliances and enemies. This means that if you’re a member of the wrong faction, a patrolling group might attack you on sight — or you might walk into a battle that’s already started between two groups.
Alongside a few other quality of life improvements — your followers won’t start fights while you’re sneaking anymore, for example — this mod is essential for any player who’s looking to lead a group of followers.
My Home is Your Home
Another mod for followers, My Home is Your Home lets you give each follower a daily schedule. You can set when they eat, when they work, where they live, and more. You can also create “groups” of followers that will always stick together and follow the same schedules. It works for most pets and horses, too.
The mod adds horseback combat to the game, lets you buy armor and equipment for your horses, and adds an “instant horse call” that will get you riding in seconds. It also lets you choose how your horse will act when in combat as well as customize its health and stamina.
High Level Enemies
Once you play Skyrim for long enough, most enemies go from threats to mere annoyances. It’s not that their AI is bad — it’s just that you’re too strong for them to even scratch.
If you’re finding Skyrim’s late game too easy, check this one out.
Mods that add new features or weapons
Some of the best mods for any game are the ones that make you feel like you’re playing something entirely new. These mods run the gamut from adding important new items to completely reinventing how you play.
The mod’s author puts a big emphasis on immersion, so the items fit perfectly into Skyrim’s world and lore. If you’re just playing for the first time, chances are you won’t be able to tell which weapons are new and which ones were always there.
The weapons added in this mod are incredibly detailed.
If you’ve got a favorite killmove — Who doesn’t love the German Suplex? — choose it in the mod so it always triggers. It’ll even let you perform your killmoves on dragons.
Ignoring your character’s needs will debuff you, while keeping the meters full helps you. And drinking too much alcohol in a short time will get you drunk, which effects your stats and graphics.
If you want to get even more extreme, you can change the mod’s settings so letting your meters drop will harm and eventually kill you. And installing two other mods — Wet and Cold and Dangerous Diseases — will add food spoilage and illness too.
Trade and Barter
Skyrim is a massive country. And yet, most shops offer similar products for the same prices.
