Vortex says 'Links were deleted', what should I do?

[Asher]

(Please, no replies about "Don't use Vortex", I'm perfectly happy with Vortex and it's worked entirely fine until now.)

I have quite a few mods for Skyrim, and after checking my folders several times, I can assure you they're all still installed AND the folders have been completely unmodified.

Despite that, Vortex keeps displaying this message when I try to Deploy Mods:

"Mod files were changed outside Vortex. You can undo these changes now or apply them permanently.
Links were deleted ("Save" will remove the files permanently, "Revert" will restore them)."

I do NOT want any of my mods to be deleted, and I certainly don't want my save files with mods active being damaged. No mods or folders have been changed, so I'm really not sure what I should do.

TL;DR: Vortex says 'Mod files were changed' and 'Links were deleted' when I click 'Deploy Mods', but I didn't do anything or change anything, so I don't know what to do.

Any explanations about why this is happening and how to safely fix it would be really appreciated!

[GIJoe597]

Something changed your mods files. Vortex is asking if you want to save the changes or use the original files.

I typically get this for a couple of reasons, 1 is I have opened the file in CK and or SSEEDit and changed something. Another is if a mod updated and I am playing with a previous version. A third is when I delete a older version of a mod in Vortex and it now wants to use the newer one.

[Asher]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

Something changed your mods files. Vortex is asking if you want to save the changes or use the original files.

I typically get this for a couple of reasons, 1 is I have opened file in CK and or SSEEDit and changed something. Another is if a mod updated and I am playing with a previous version. A third is when I delete a older version of a mod in Vortex and it now wants to use the newer one.

Thanks for the explanation!

I'm not really sure what changed them though, since I've never changed the files in CK/SSEEdit. If it had been one or two mods coming up with the message, I'd assume it was updates, but it says ALL my mods were changed (it lists all the ones I have installed).

Since I'm not sure what changed them - and I don't want them to be deleted - would choosing 'Revert All Changes' be the best thing to do?

[GIJoe597]

Did Vortex itself update? I have not used it for about a week, am not sure if it updated. No matter what you choose, worst case scenario, you just redownload the mod. It will plug and play with your current save with no issues. I have had to do that from time to time.

I just remembered another reason I get that message when I click on REMOVE a mod. A window pops up and asks if you want to Delete Archive as well. If the archive is deleted, Vortex cannot reinstall the mod, it will need to be downloaded again.

I wonder if your download path changed in some manner preventing Vortex from seeing the files/mods?

[Asher]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

Did Vortex itself update? I have not used it for about a week, am not sure if it updated. No matter what you choose, worst case scenario, you just redownload the mod. It will plug and play with your current save with no issues. I have had to do that from time to time.

I just remembered another reason I get that message when I click on REMOVE a mod. A window pops up and asks if you want to Delete Archive as well. If the archive is deleted, Vortex cannot reinstall the mod, it will need to be downloaded again.

I wonder if your download path changed in some manner?

Vortex has had several updates since I last played Skyrim. (Not sure how long ago that was...)

I think you're right, the download path might be the issue. I think I accidentally moved it when I was modding Fallout 4 (since I was still new to modding and didn't exactly understand Vortex at the time)... Would changing the download path to what I think it previously was fix the 'Links Were Deleted' issue?

[GIJoe597]

We are about at the limit of my knowledge on this, what little bit I have just came from trial and error and/or reading.

If they were at the default file location they should be at C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Vortex\skyrimse\mods

You can check to see if it has changed by opening Vortex > Settings> Mods tab.


The default download folder should be;
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Vortex\downloads

Which can be found on the Download tab next to Mods


If you were modding another game, it may be the download/mod path is indeed changed.

[Asher]

Originally posted by GIJoe597:

We are about at the limit of my knowledge on this, what little bit I haev just came from trial and error and or reading.

If they were at the default file location they should be at C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Vortex\skyrimse\mods

You can check to see if it has changed by opening Vortex > Settings> Mods tab.


The default download folder should be;
C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Vortex\downloads

Which can be found on the Downloads tab next to Mods

Ah, ok! Thanks for the help!

I'm trying to change the download path and staging folder to try clean things up a bit, since it was horribly unorganised, so hopefully that should fix it. (I think my silly custom file paths made Vortex a bit confused)... Again, thank you for your help!

[GIJoe597]

You are welcome. Good luck.