From STEP Modding Wiki

Guide to removing all 3rd-party mods and other files from your Skyrim installation -- by torminater, wikified by Farlo

The best way of course is to use your zip file that you made of the Skyrim Directory as you followed the Skyrim Installation Guide, just delete the whole directory and unpack the zip. This is the only method to restore a previous version of Skyrim. If you don't have a vanilla zip, its relatively simple but takes a minute depending on your internet speed, first click enable in Skyrim Unplugged if you are using it. For a quicker although rougher guide, see Reverting Skyrim to a Pristine (Vanilla) Installation Deactivate all mods using your choice of mod manager and/or the Skyrim launcher Navigate to ...Steam/steamapps/common/Skyrim. Delete all folders except: Data DirectX10 DotNetFX reslists Skyrim VCRedist

Delete all loose files except: atimgpud.dll binkw32.dll steam_api.dll SkyrimLauncher.exe TESV.exe high.ini medium.ini low.ini Skyrim_default.ini VeryHigh.ini readme.txt installscript.vdf Inside Skyrim/Data: Delete all folders except Interface , Strings , and Video .

, , and . Delete all loose files except: HighResTexturePack01.bsa HighResTexturePack02.bsa Skyrim - Animations.bsa Skyrim - Interface.bsa Skyrim - Meshes.bsa Skyrim - Misc.bsa Skyrim - Shaders.bsa Skyrim - Sounds.bsa Skyrim - Textures.bsa Skyrim - Voices.bsa Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa Update.bsa Skyrim.esm Update.esm HighResTexturePack01.esp HighResTexturePack02.esp (If you're missing any files, don't worry, they'll be recovered by step 10) Inside Data/Interface delete everything except: "TRANSLATE_<insertyourlanguage>.txt" Inside Data/Strings delete everything except: Skyrim_<insertyourlanguage>.DLSTRINGS Update_<insertyourlanguage>.DLSTRINGS Skyrim_<insertyourlanguage>.ILSTRINGS Update_<insertyourlanguage>.ILSTRINGS Skyrim_<insertyourlanguage>.STRINGS Update_<insertyourlanguage>.STRINGS Inside Data/Video delete everything except: "BGS_Logo.bik" The remaining folders in the root Skyrim directory should contain the following number of files (including hidden ones): DirectX10: 146 files DotNetFX: 1 file reslists: 2 files Skyrim: 1 file VCRedist: 1 file In Steam, navigate to the Workshop and unsubscribe from every mod. Navigate to My Documents/My Games/Skyrim and delete all files and subdirectories (after making backups of course). In Steam, click "Verify integrity of game cache..." under the Local Files tab in Skyrim's Properties window. This will do a CRC check on every file in the Skyrim directory and download any files that are corrupted or missing. This process may take some time depending on internet speed. Launch Skyrim from Steam, thereby creating new INI files. Set your preferred settings in the game launcher. Make a full archive/backup of your newly-pristine Skyrim directory so this guide isn't needed in the future. If there are any saves you wish to revert to a vanilla status see the Clean Save Procedure in the Troubleshooting guide.



Optional: this procedure ensures that you have a stable Vanilla installation.