How to fix Elder Scrolls Online not allowing out of date add-ons

Elder Scrolls Online’s Markarth update brings two new zones into Tamriel for the player to explore. Markarth marks the conclusion of the year-long Dark Hearts of Skyrim storyline. However, fans aren’t happy with this update as Zenimax Media packed it full of game-breaking bugs. This didn’t come as a surprise to players, as Zenimax has an extensive track record of releasing updates without the proper polishing. And, with the introduction of a brand new Item Set Collection system, players expected more bugs than ever.

The most significant bug is outdated add-ons not working as they normally would. You will need to change a setting in one of your key Elder Scrolls Online folders to fix this. Be sure to log out of Elder Scrolls Online before beginning.

How to fix

1. Go into your Documents folder, Elder Scrolls Online, then Live.
2. Right-click on your Live folder and click Properties.
3. Uncheck the Read-only box under attributes. Close out of the window.
4. Boot the game as you usually would and check Allow Out of Date Add-ons in the Add-on menu.

All out of date add-ons should now be compatible with the new update. If it still isn’t working, there is a second solution that may help. 

Second solution (Temporary Fix)

Use this fix if the first one did not work for you, as this one is a temporary fix and will require you to update each add-on manually.

1. Open Notepadd++ and open up your Live folder as a Workspace. 
2. At the top left, click Search and select Find in Files or press Ctrl+Shift+F.
3. In the Find What box, type in ‘## APIVersion:’ and in the Replace with box, put in ‘## APIVersion: 100033’.
4. Press Replace in Files on the right.

This will tell the game that all of your add-ons are up to date, making them compatible with the update. This is a temporary solution, but until Zenimax fixes the update, it’s the only way to use any add-on that hasn’t been updated.