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How to install WoW Forever addons — Addons · WoW Forever

Every addon is a folder that goes into WoW Forever's own AddOns folder. Pick your system and method; the steps below use your client's folder.

Your system
Method

  1. Get the file from the addon's own page

    Open the addon's page here and follow one of its official download links. On CurseForge and Wago every file names the game version it's for: pick the WoW Forever one. On GitHub, take the release's zip file, not "Source code".

  2. Close the game

    The game reads the AddOns folder when it starts, so install with the game closed and start it afterwards.

  3. Open the game folder

    In the Battle.net app, pick World of Warcraft and WoW Forever in the version list, then the gear icon and Show in Explorer. That opens the World of Warcraft folder.

  4. Go to WoW Forever's AddOns folder

    Every game version has its own folder and its own addons. Open _forever_, then Interface, then AddOns. If Interface or AddOns isn't there yet, create it with exactly that name.

    C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\_forever_\Interface\AddOns

  5. Extract the download into AddOns

    Unzip the file and move the folders inside it into AddOns. Some addons come as several folders (a core and its modules): move them all.

  6. Check the folder structure

    Each addon's folder must sit directly in AddOns and hold a .toc file named like the folder (sometimes with a game version added to the name). If you see an extra folder in between, move the inner folder up one level.

  7. Start the game and enable it

    At the character list, choose AddOns (bottom left), make sure the addon is ticked, and choose Okay.

  8. Check that it loaded

    Most addons add a minimap button or answer a slash command (each addon page lists them). If it says Out of date, the file is for another game version: get the WoW Forever file.

Check the folder structure

Right: the addon's folder sits directly in AddOns
_forever_/
└─ Interface/
   └─ AddOns/
      └─ AddonName/
         ├─ AddonName.toc
         └─ …
Wrong: an extra folder from the download in between
_forever_/
└─ Interface/
   └─ AddOns/
      └─ AddonName-main/
         └─ AddonName/
            ├─ AddonName.toc
            └─ …

AddOns folder

Windows
C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\_forever_\Interface\AddOns
macOS
/Applications/World of Warcraft/_forever_/Interface/AddOns
Linux
~/Games/battlenet/drive_c/Program Files (x86)/World of Warcraft/_forever_/Interface/AddOns

Addon managers for WoW Forever

  • CurseForge app ↗Lists WoW Forever

    Choose your Forever live installation, not the beta one.

  • WowUp ↗Lists WoW Forever

    Forever support arrived in WowUp 2.24.

  • Wago App ↗WoW Forever support not confirmed

About WoW Forever addons

  • Forever is its own game version, with its own folder (_forever_) and addon interface (16001): files made for Classic Era show as Out of date. Get each addon's Forever file.
  • Forever's interface is built on the modern game's. Addon authors note that some combat information is hidden from addons there, so threat and combat-log features can work differently than in Classic Era.
  • Addons from the beta are in _classic_beta_: the installation guide shows how to move them and their settings to _forever_.

Built into the game

  • Cooldown Manager: shows your key cooldowns and buffs in one place (off by default: Options, Gameplay Enhancements).
  • Scrolling Combat Text with detailed options (Options, Gameplay, Combat).
  • Gamepad support, with its own action bar that Edit Mode can move.

Finding the AddOns folder

Each game version installed through Battle.net has its own folder inside World of Warcraft: WoW Forever uses _forever_. Addons in another version's folder don't appear in WoW Forever.

The quickest way there is Battle.net's Show in Explorer (Show in Finder on a Mac) with WoW Forever selected, then _forever_, Interface and AddOns.

  • If you installed the game somewhere else, Show in Explorer still opens the right place.
  • On a Mac, Finder's Go to Folder (Shift-Command-G) takes a pasted path.
  • AddOns and its Interface folder appear only after you create them or install the first addon.

Updating addons

Update addons after every game patch: a patch often changes the game's addon version number, and the AddOns list then marks older files Out of date.

With a manager, use its update button. By hand, delete the addon's old folders first, then extract the new ones; copying over the old folder can leave files the new version no longer has.

  • Settings survive updates: they're stored in the WTF folder, not in AddOns.
  • Read the addon's changelog after a big update: some reset or move options.

Removing addons safely

Close the game and delete the addon's folders from AddOns (or use the manager's remove button). An addon with modules has several folders that start with the same name.

Its settings stay in WTF, so reinstalling brings them back. To remove those too, delete its files in the SavedVariables folders after backing up WTF.

  • Account-wide settings: WTF/Account/<account>/SavedVariables/<Addon>.lua
  • Character settings: WTF/Account/<account>/<realm>/<character>/SavedVariables/<Addon>.lua

Backing up addon settings

Your addons' settings, key bindings, macros and chat setup are in the WTF folder; the addons themselves are in Interface. Copy both somewhere safe with the game closed.

Back up before a fresh install, before resetting settings, and before trying a big new UI addon.

  • Close the game (it writes settings when you log out).
  • Copy _forever_'s Interface and WTF folders to another place, with the date in the name.
  • To restore, close the game and copy them back over the current ones.

Moving addons and settings to another game version

Each game version keeps its own addons and settings. Copying Interface and WTF from one version's folder into another's carries everything over, but each addon still needs a file made for the new version.

After copying, update every addon to its WoW Forever file before playing.

  • Close the game and Battle.net's game first.
  • Copy the old version's Interface and WTF folders into _forever_.
  • Update every addon, then check the AddOns list for anything marked Out of date.

Moving from the beta to Forever

The Forever beta kept its addons and settings in _classic_beta_; the live game uses _forever_. Nothing moves over by itself.

In WTF/Account, the beta's account folder has a random name. Renaming it to your live account folder's name carries your settings over; some per-character settings may still need setting again.

  • Close the game and any addon manager.
  • Copy Interface and WTF from _classic_beta_ into _forever_.
  • Log in once on live so it creates your account folder, close the game, and rename the beta's account folder under WTF/Account to that name (keep a copy of both first).
  • Open your addon manager, choose the Forever live installation and update every addon.

Addon profiles

Many addons, such as Bartender4 and Plater, keep settings in profiles: one shared by every character, or one per character.

In the addon's options, the Profiles page lets you switch, copy one profile into another, or reset one without touching the rest. Some addons also export a profile as a text string to share or keep.