How to install addons on WoW Forever: the AddOns folder, out-of-date addons and Lua errors

How do I install addons on WoW Forever?

To install an addon on WoW Forever, download its .zip, extract the addon folder into Interface\AddOns inside your Forever game folder, then quit the game completely and launch it again. On the beta (October 2026), that folder is World of Warcraft\_classic_beta_\Interface\AddOns. At the character select screen, the AddOns button lists your addons: check that the new one is ticked.

1. Download the addon's .zip file, for example from CurseForge.
2. Open the .zip and copy the addon folder: the one that holds the .toc file.
3. Paste it into Interface\AddOns in your Forever game folder. Create the Interface and AddOns folders if they don't exist yet.
4. Quit the game completely and launch it again: /reload is not enough for a new addon.
5. At the character select screen, click AddOns and check that the addon is ticked.

Where is the AddOns folder on WoW Forever?

On the WoW Forever beta (October 2026), the AddOns folder is World of Warcraft\_classic_beta_\Interface\AddOns; on a standard install, C:\Program Files (x86)\World of Warcraft\_classic_beta_\Interface\AddOns. The folder of the live game after the November 4, 2026 launch is not confirmed yet: look for Interface\AddOns inside your Forever game folder, not in _retail_ or _classic_era_.

If you don't know where the game is installed, the “Show in Explorer” option of the Battle.net app opens the main World of Warcraft folder. Each version of the game has its own subfolder there, with its own Interface\AddOns: an addon copied into the folder of another version never appears in Forever.

Why doesn't my addon show up in the game?

When an addon doesn't show up on WoW Forever, the cause is usually its folder: each addon folder must sit directly in AddOns and contain a .toc file with the same name as the folder. A .zip extracted with one folder too many gives AddOns\Addon-1.0\Addon\Addon.toc, which the game doesn't find. Other causes: the game was not fully restarted, or the addon is unticked in the AddOns menu.

A classic trap on Windows: “Extract All” creates a folder named after the .zip (MyAddon-1.0). Open it and move the MyAddon folder inside it into AddOns.

Why does my addon say out of date?

On WoW Forever, an addon is out of date when the interface version in its .toc file doesn't match the game's. On the beta (build 1.60.1), an addon made for Forever has the line ## Interface: 16001; an addon written for retail or Classic Era lists another number. This number may change at launch, so an addon can become out of date until its author updates it.

To read that version, open the addon's .toc file with a text editor such as Notepad: the ## Interface: line is at the top. An out-of-date addon may not load at all, and if it loads, it can throw Lua errors when it was not written for the Forever client.

Do Classic Era or retail addons work on WoW Forever?

Classic Era addons often don't work on WoW Forever without an update, because Forever runs on the modern game client, not the classic one. Retail addons are not made for it either: their .toc lists a retail interface version, so Forever treats them as out of date until their author updates them for Forever. Look for addons written or updated for Forever.

Before installing, check our table of addons that work on WoW Forever: the newest Forever file of 67 popular addons, with its date.

On September 17, 2026, Warcraft Tavern reported that the Forever beta loads the addons and keybinds left by a previous WoW beta, and advised uninstalling or disabling those old beta addons to avoid Lua errors at login. The article's address still says “retail”, but its title and text speak of a previous beta, and two readers replied that it did not happen to them. Either way, if your Forever AddOns folder holds addons you didn't put there for Forever, remove them or untick them in the AddOns menu.

On CurseForge, Forever has its own filter: the WoW addon search can be filtered on Forever, and files made for it are tagged Forever with game version 1.60.1 (October 2026). Pick those files, not the ones tagged Retail or Classic.

How do I see Lua errors on WoW Forever?

On WoW Forever, Lua errors are hidden by default, so a broken addon can fail without a word. Type /console scriptErrors 1 in the chat to show them on screen, and /console scriptErrors 0 to hide them again. The message usually shows the addon's folder and the file at fault: that is what its author needs in a bug report.

When several addons misbehave, untick them all in the AddOns menu at the character select screen, then tick them back one by one to find the culprit.

/reload or full restart: which one do I need?

On WoW Forever, type /reload after a change to an addon's Lua code: the interface reloads. When you add a new addon, or new files such as textures to an existing one, quit the game completely and launch it again: on the beta, we saw new textures stay invisible until a full restart. /reload also writes addon settings to disk.

Where are addon settings saved on WoW Forever?

On WoW Forever, addons save their settings in the WTF\Account\<account>\SavedVariables folder, next to the Interface folder in the game folder (on the beta, inside _classic_beta_). The game writes these files on /reload or when you log out. To back up your settings, copy the WTF folder somewhere safe; to restore them, copy it back with the game closed.

Edit or restore these files only while the game is closed: the game rewrites them when you log out, so changes made while it runs are lost. If the game crashes, settings changed since your last /reload or logout are not saved.