[GUIDE] HOW TO REVERT YOUR SKYRIM SE TO A PREVIOUS VERSION

[thickrooster]

*** HOW TO REVERT YOUR SKYRIM SE TO A PREVIOUS VERSION ***

If you are reading this, your Skyrim SE has probably been updated to the latest version, breaking SKSE and any mods that it depends on. And you may also be aware that the easiest solution is to revert Skyrim SE to a previous version that is compatible with your version of SKSE. The current version of SKSE does NOT support the version of Skyrim SE released today (12/13/2021) and the Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Downgrade Patcher (USSEDP) also does not appear to work for the current SSE release.

If you'd rather not wait for an SKSE/USSEDP update, and want to downgrade your SSE, continue reading...

I found a video tutorial here that explains how to do this very thing. (I used this video as a guide to help me downgrade my own SSE.) While the video is great, it has a couple small issues that I will explain in further detail below.

(Optional)
If you want to skip this guide and use the video tutorial (as I did) as your guide (link above) please feel free to do so but be aware that there are a couple issues as the content is somewhat outdated. For example, the command prompt the video provides to execute Depot Downloader (more on this later) does not work. If you follow the video (and you're not sure how to alter the command yourself) you can get that and a bit more from my guide below.

What follows is a process that I used (based on the video link above) to successfully downgrade my version of SSE to a previous version and return SKSE and mods to a working state. I'm posting this guide as a courtesy for others who may find the information useful.

1: Prevent Skyrim SE from automatically upgrading in the future.
Login to Steam, go to your library and find 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition' and right-click, then click 'Properties'. In the left panel, click 'Updates'. In the main panel (right side), under Automatic Updates, click on the drop-down and set it to 'Only update this game when I launch it'. Then, log out of steam.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In order for this to work properly, you must launch SSE from SKSE loader, through Vortex or another tool. Otherwise if you launch it from Steam the game WILL update. (But I assume if you're here, you probably know this already)

Optional:
You can actually 'lock' your version of SSE and prevent it from accidentally being updated by Steam or any other means by following the instructions in this
reddit thread.

2. Download and install Depot Downloader
Download DepotDownloader. Unpackage the file, and cut-paste the unpackaged directly directly into you C-Drive directory (C:\). Then, rename the unpackaged directory to DepotDownloader.

Note: The video tutorial recommends moving DepotDownloader, to your C to ensure proper functionality, and therefore I am recommending it here; I have not attempted to use DD within another directory so I'm not sure if it will work.

2a. .NET Runtime (Hard requirement for Depot Downloader)
In order for DD to work properly, you may need to install .NET Runtime (Console x64). (I had already installed .NET runtime previously, so I skipped this step I'm not sure if DD will work properly if you do NOT have .NET runtime and attempt to skip this step.)

3. Use Depot Downloader to download a previous version of SSE
Open a command prompt window (click search bar in windows, then type 'cmd'). In the command prompt window, type cd C:\DepotDownloader. Then, copy-paste, or type the following command (but don't press enter yet!):

depotdownloader -app APPID -depot DEPOTID -manifest MANIFESTID -username YOURSTEAMUSERNAME -dir c:\depotDownloader

IMPORTANT:
- Replace YOURSTEAMUSERNAME with your Steam username. (obviously)
- Replace APPID, DEPOTID and MANIFESTID with the appropriate values.

For the previous (English) version of SSE (11/21/21) use the following values:
- APPID: 489830
- DEPOID: 489833
- MANIFESTID: 2414608533287116506

The command text should now look like:
depotdownloader -app 489830 -depot 489833 -manifest 2414608533287116506 -username YOURSTEAMUSERNAME -dir c:\depotDownloader

If this is your desired version, go ahead and press Enter to execute the command, and then skip over the next paragraph.

If you want to download a different file you must replace one or more of the values for appid, depotid and manifestid from here. Search for the desired game (Skyrim Special Edition or whatever you want). In the search results, the left-hand side of the grid is the AppId column. Replace APPID in the command text with this AppId. Then click on the actual number in that column which links you to a new page. About half-way down the page, click on a button that says 'Depots'. Replace DEPOTID with the correct ID for the desired game type, again found on the left-hand side under the ID column. Click the actual number of the appropriate ID to nagivate to the desired page. About half-way down the page, click the 'Manifests' button. You will then see a list of versions, sorted by date descending. From the right-hand side, get the manifestId and replace MANIFESTID with the appropriate value. When you have all the appropriate values replaced, press Enter execute the command in the command window.

Then, enter your Steam account password when prompted. After you successfully enter your password, Steam will want to verify your identity and will send you passcode to your email account registered to your Steam account. Login to your email inbox and retrieve the passcode from the email, and enter it in the command window to complete the verification process.

Note: DD is an open-source application. If you're concerned about someone fishing your Steam credentials through the use of DD, then after you complete the download procedure, immediately login to Steam and update your password.

4. Replace your SkyrimSE.exe file
In Windows Explorer, navigate to your SSE install folder (for most users its C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Skyrim Special Edition).

(Recommended/Optional) Create a place to store SSE backups
By doing this, if something goes wrong you can replace the SkyrimSE.exe with another version without using Steam.
- Create a new folder for backups; I named mine backup_SkyrimSE.
- Find your current SkyrimSE.exe file and copy-paste it into your backup folder. Rename the file as appropriate (I named it SkyrimSE_SEBackup_12.13.21.exe)
- Find the file you just downloaded from DD and copy-paste it into your backup folder. Rename the file as appropriate (I named it SkyrimSE_SEBackup_11.12.21.exe)

(4 Continued) Grab the SkyrimSE.exe file you downloaded through DD (C:\DepotDownloader) and copy-paste it into your SSE directory, and overwrite the existing SkyrimSE.exe. As long as the version of Skyrim that you downloaded aligns with your version of SKSE, you're done!

5. Profit!

Disclaimer/Final notes:
- I am in no way affiliated with the content creator that produced the video guide linked above, DownloadDepot, or whatever else.
- Like most of the people here, I'm just a common Skyrim player and mod consumer who used the resources referenced in this guide to revert Skyrim to a previous version, thereby getting my mods running again.
- At the time of writing this I've only actually played SkyrimSE for a brief time AFTER executing this procedure - long enough to load up a save file, ensure that SKSE was running, that my mods appeared to be installed and working, that MCM was available, etc; I have NOT done extensive testing... yet :wink: After realizing everything worked, I played for about 10 minutes and decided to write this guide to hopefully help out others.

[HeyYou]

May wanna post this in the Skyrim SE section. It really doesn't apply to Legendary Edition, which is what these forums here are for.

[WulfWarrior098]

Hey I followed this every step but I'm literally fresh off the block on modding PC SSE. I still have a problem with SKSE not being compatibale. I followed this every step of the way but the SKSE I downladed ,SKSE Special Edition, is still not loading in correctly. I am launching from Mod Manager 2, Do I need a fresh install of SKSE or did I screw up somewhere down the line?

[showler]

What version of SKSE do you have?

[WulfWarrior098]

Well I was using the SE 2.0.20 but, switched over to AE 2.1.4. That stopped the out of date pop up but and, I downloaded the plugin Address for AE. Now I just get CTD's when I try to launch

[showler]

If 2.1.4 works, then you did not manage to revert your game at all.

[WulfWarrior098]

Well I guess ill have to stop auto updates and wait till SKSE and CO. update and go from there then sorry for wasting your time

[spec5]

I must be doing something very wrong. I have entered everything as you indicated. But when I attempt to enter data, I get this: (less all required entries)

 

"downloader app is not recognized as internal or external command".

 

What am I doing wrong here? Appreciate any help. Yes, I have also installed all the required files.

[FRIENDMYFRIEND]

when untick ae update in steam whether new download or not the update files are still in game folder kinda like steam is force feeding. i just deleted the cc files and starting a new modded game. still having to use ae skse and address mods but not issues yet.delete cc content in game folder