Can I Move My Steam Library and Skyrim Mods to Linux?

If you have another computer, transferring files over the network is a breeze! Just install Steam on your laptop (even if it's not powerful enough to run the games), install the games there, and transfer them to your gaming PC. After installing Linux, repeat the process back from the laptop to your gaming PC. Just be cautious about the mods; I can't guarantee they'll all work perfectly.

Before diving into the OS switch, make sure to back up your files first! Skyrim and mods work pretty well on Linux, but keep in mind there might not be many mod managers available. You can always manually copy the mod files to the right directory, though. For Monster Hunter World, check out ProtonDB for compatibility info. Also, if you have multiple monitors with different refresh rates, be aware that Mint uses an older screen compositor which might cause some issues with certain setups.

Unfortunately, you'll have to reinstall a lot of things since Linux uses different file systems (like ext4 or btrfs) while Windows uses ntfs. But if you can manage multiple PCs, there’s a workaround: transferring over the network could save some time!

You can definitely transfer your files, but you'll need to reinstall your mod manager like NMM or MO2. After that, just import your save files, and you should be good to go. I did this with Skyrim and Fallout 4 last year without running into any issues with saves or mods.

To migrate your Steam library, you actually just need to find your Steam library folder on your Windows system, back it up onto a USB stick, and then copy it to the same location in your Linux Steam installation. Steam is pretty good at recognizing existing game backups, so your mods and saves should carry over flawlessly.