how do i get skyrim special edition back to vanilla?

[DJ]

ok so i know i will sound stupid afrer this.. well i am.. but i recently bought skyrim special edition (my first ever elder scrolls game) and i really liked it i loved the game then mid way i heard about the modding scene so i was like sure mods why not i went to nexus.com because every modder seems to use that site and manualy downloaded some mods (stupid me thought skyrim and skyrim special edition was the same thing so i downloaded mods for the wrong game) i accidentally drag them to wrong folder and now i have no idea where they at so i can't remove them. now the game crashes every now and then cause of it so i unistalled skyrim and installed it again i was pretty pissed because i thought id loose my save files and had to start from the start... turns out i had steam cloud on so the saves saved... meaning the modded files also did so i turned off steam cloud and did the same thing SOMEHOW THE SAVES DID NOT GET REMOVE NEITHER DID THE MOD FILES I WAS LIKE WHAAAT???? so how does one get skyrim special edition vanilla without previous saves and mods please help me ( i know im retarded)

[Sinsling]

-uninstall SSE

-navigate to where your sse install folder is located

-delete the SSE folder (be careful if you have original skyrim as well)

-navigate to users/you/documents/my games

-delete the SSE folder located here (be careful if you have original Skyrim as well)

-reinstall SSE

-shut down, then turn on computer

There you go.

[smr1957]

Resetting SkyrimSE to Vanilla or A Clean Reinstall by grimus -
http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/312265589446940121/

[Ceriss]

Btw, Nexus has a mod manager you can use.

There's another one you can use but... if you want to use the most complex mods the other manager makes it a pain in the ass because everything is virtually installed and not actually in the folder.

With it it'll handle the installation and uninstallation for you for the most part.

[smr1957]

Originally posted by Kyokkai:

Btw, Nexus has a mod manager you can use.

There's another one you can use but... if you want to use the most complex mods the other manager makes it a pain in the ass because everything is virtually installed and not actually in the folder.

With it it'll handle the installation and uninstallation for you for the most part.

NMM also uses a virtual folder system when installing mods, by the way - it just isn't as nearly well implemented as Mod Organizer's, which is actually the mod manager of choice (at least until Vortex proves otherwise).

For more info on this and other essential tools, see the pinned topic:
Skyrim SE: Guides and Resources by Ilja - http://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/340412122413706606/
VERY IMPORTANT if you wish to successfully mod your game

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Unequip any armor extra armor you downloaded...save the game...exit to main menu.
Disable mods from the mods menu...exit to desktop...then disable mods that you used NMM to install.

Open the "steam/steamapps/common" folder.
Go to Steam...uninstall Skyrim SE using Steam...delete the game folder (using Shift+Delete) which is
"steam/steamapps/common/Skyrim Special Edition"

Reinstall the game.

None of the mods will be baked into any save because all saves do is save cell location, quest status, and non-essential items and equipment.

By following those simplified steps in stead of grimus's TLDNR on the subject, it eliminates any extra files left behind by mods and extra DLL files that were not originally part of the game. Do not delete your Skyrim preferences .ini files found in the "Documents/my games/ Skyrim Special Edition/" folder..because that holds bethesda.net login credentials.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

None of the mods will be baked into any save because all saves do is save cell location, quest status, and non-essential items and equipment.

3. There is no such thing as a clean save. It does not matter who tells you there is, it doesn't exist in Skyrim. You cannot remove any mod, not even the patch, without there being some data that's been permanently changed. Doing this repeatedly WILL damage your save and WILL eventually lead to it becoming corrupt and unusable. Bethesda's own developers have confirmed the only way to properly remove a mod is to load a save made BEFORE that mod was introduced into the game. If you started a new game with 10 mods installed, you're going to be stuck with those 10 forever.

Source: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71214/?tab=posts

3rd Sticky post, Article #3

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

None of the mods will be baked into any save because all saves do is save cell location, quest status, and non-essential items and equipment.

3. There is no such thing as a clean save. It does not matter who tells you there is, it doesn't exist in Skyrim. You cannot remove any mod, not even the patch, without there being some data that's been permanently changed. Doing this repeatedly WILL damage your save and WILL eventually lead to it becoming corrupt and unusable. Bethesda's own developers have confirmed the only way to properly remove a mod is to load a save made BEFORE that mod was introduced into the game. If you started a new game with 10 mods installed, you're going to be stuck with those 10 forever.

Source: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71214/?tab=posts

3rd Sticky post, Article #3

How do you explain that none of my saves contain any mod data that I haven't ported over when I brought my Old Skyrim save to Skyrim Special Edition? I also disabled the unofficial patch with zero issues on both Skyrim SE and Skyrim Legendary Edition (the latter of which is where your link leads to by the way).

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

Source: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/71214/?tab=posts

3rd Sticky post, Article #3

How do you explain that none of my saves contain any mod data that I haven't ported over when I brought my Old Skyrim save to Skyrim Special Edition?

And you determined that with what tools?

Im quoting the author of the unofficial patch, Who is getting info from bethesda about the subject.

Please, Enlighten me...

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

How do you explain that none of my saves contain any mod data that I haven't ported over when I brought my Old Skyrim save to Skyrim Special Edition?

And you determined that with what tools?

Im quoting the author of the unofficial patch, Who is getting info from bethesda about the subject.

Please, Enlighten me...

Well, first you linked me to the Skyrim nexus...not the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus.

Secondly, That patch is a bug fixer...so of course saves of bugged but complete quests using that patch will be saved...the bugs merely get fixed...That's where the "baked in" theory comes in...

Aaand finally...I ported over my old save from Old Skyrim to Special Edition...with zero issues with any of my saved items. None of my Samus Aran armor and other mods from the Steam Workshop were "baked in". That's my own personal experience.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

Originally posted by bLaCkShAd0w:

And you determined that with what tools?

Im quoting the author of the unofficial patch, Who is getting info from bethesda about the subject.

Please, Enlighten me...

Well, first you linked me to the Skyrim nexus...not the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus.

Secondly, That patch is a bug fixer...so of course saves of bugged but complete quests using that patch will be saved...the bugs merely get fixed...That's where the "baked in" theory comes in...

Aaand finally...I ported over my old save from Old Skyrim to Special Edition...with zero issues with any of my saved items. None of my Samus Aran armor and other mods from the Steam Workshop were "baked in". That's my own personal experience.

Its on the sse page too, same info. My bad.

The reason its baked is because of papyrus. Do some googling before you come running to the defence. Its been a problem with bloated saves and crashing since Oblivion. Nothing has changed. The fact remains just because you removed the mod does not mean there isnt data left behind.

Google "papyrys stack dump"

It is the final destination on the path of removing mods mid game.

[DrNewcenstein]

Aemer's Refuge for SkyrimLE required me to relocate my entire Steam installation. It had loose files, which were found and deleted, but were still present in new games. I deleted all saves and folders, leaving only ESPs and ESMs, and still there were assets from the mod in a new game.

I uninstalled, defragged, rebooted, defragged, reinstalled Skyrim, rebooted, loaded up a pure vanilla game without any DLC, and these assets were still there in a brand new, vanilla, not-even-a-CBBE-body-replacer, COC from the Main Menu game.

I had to uninstall Steam and all my games, and reinstall everything on a completely different HDD to fix it.

[TehSpoopyKitteh]

Originally posted by DrNewcenstein:

Aemer's Refuge for SkyrimLE required me to relocate my entire Steam installation. It had loose files, which were found and deleted, but were still present in new games. I deleted all saves and folders, leaving only ESPs and ESMs, and still there were assets from the mod in a new game.

I uninstalled, defragged, rebooted, defragged, reinstalled Skyrim, rebooted, loaded up a pure vanilla game without any DLC, and these assets were still there in a brand new, vanilla, not-even-a-CBBE-body-replacer, COC from the Main Menu game.

I had to uninstall Steam and all my games, and reinstall everything on a completely different HDD to fix it.

You forgot to disable the mods using the load order menu in the game's mods menu. I also said delete the Skyrim Special Edition folder found in "steamapps/common". They don't bake in.

[DrNewcenstein]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

Well, first you linked me to the Skyrim nexus...not the Skyrim Special Edition Nexus.

For your next post, please explain in painful detail exactly why this matters.

[bLaCkShAd0w]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

Originally posted by DrNewcenstein:

Aemer's Refuge for SkyrimLE required me to relocate my entire Steam installation. It had loose files, which were found and deleted, but were still present in new games. I deleted all saves and folders, leaving only ESPs and ESMs, and still there were assets from the mod in a new game.

I uninstalled, defragged, rebooted, defragged, reinstalled Skyrim, rebooted, loaded up a pure vanilla game without any DLC, and these assets were still there in a brand new, vanilla, not-even-a-CBBE-body-replacer, COC from the Main Menu game.

I had to uninstall Steam and all my games, and reinstall everything on a completely different HDD to fix it.

You forgot to disable the mods using the load order menu in the game's mods menu. I also said delete the Skyrim Special Edition folder found in "steamapps/common". They don't bake in.

Yes they do stop spreading false information to people.

I have provided sources for my information. Where is yours that claims it doesnt bake?

Or is it merely your opinion?

[DrNewcenstein]

Originally posted by The Spoopy Kitteh:

You forgot to disable the mods using the load order menu in the game's mods menu. I also said delete the Skyrim Special Edition folder found in "steamapps/common". They don't bake in.

Umm, no, actually, the first step was to disable the mod in the menu. I did that, then started a new game. Went to Autumnwatch Tower and saw the LOD of Aemer's Refuge on top of the mountain next to it. Then the fun began.

I know where everything installs to. I've been doing computers for over 20 years. But thanks for trying.