World of Warcraft Forever: How to Install Addons Without the CurseForge App

You do not need the CurseForge desktop app to run addons on World of Warcraft Forever. The whole process is a plain file copy: download the addon as a zip from the web, then place its folder inside the game’s own AddOns directory. The example here uses RareScanner, but the same handful of steps works for any addon you pull from CurseForge.

Quick answer: Download the addon zip from curseforge.com/wow, extract its folder into World of Warcraft\_classic_beta_\Interface\AddOns, then reload the UI in-game and confirm the addon is checked in the AddOn List.

What you need before you start

A web browser to reach the CurseForge WoW addon pages.
The Battle.net launcher, which points you to your game folder.
Windows File Explorer to open the zip and copy files.
The Forever client installed, so the _classic_beta_ folder exists.

All addons on CurseForge are free, so there is no purchase or account link required to grab a zip file manually.

Download the addon zip from CurseForge

Open curseforge.com/wow in your browser. The Browse Addons for World of Warcraft page lets you search by name and filter by category, flavor, and game version.

Search for the addon you want and open its page. In this walkthrough that is RareScanner by Jose M. Gomez.

Selecting RareScanner — The RareScanner page on CurseForge, where you pick the version and start the manual download. Shown at 00:56 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

On the addon page, choose Download file manually instead of Install with CurseForge App. This saves a .zip archive, such as RareScanner_11.0.18.zip, to your computer.

Open the downloaded zip in File Explorer. Inside you should see a single folder named after the addon, for example a RareScanner folder. That folder is the piece you will move into the game.

Inspecting Downloaded Files — The extracted zip reveals the addon's own folder, which is what goes into the game. Shown at 01:21 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Find the AddOns folder through Battle.net

In the Battle.net launcher, select World of Warcraft Forever and click the gear or cog icon next to Play. Choose Show in Explorer to jump straight to the game’s install location.

Open World of Warcraft in Explorer and move through _classic_beta_ > Interface > AddOns. For Forever, _classic_beta_ is the client’s version folder; use that folder rather than one belonging to another game version.

Opening AddOns Directory — The correct destination folder for Forever addons, reached through the client's _classic_beta_ path. Shown at 01:37 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Drag the addon’s folder out of the open zip window and drop it directly into this AddOns folder. Copy the folder itself, not the zip file. Each addon should end up as its own folder, for example ...\Interface\AddOns\RareScanner.

A folder you unpack by hand sits in AddOns until you delete it, so you keep working addons even without the CurseForge app running in the background.

Enable the addon in-game and confirm it loaded

Return to World of Warcraft and press Escape to open the Game Menu. Click AddOns to open the AddOn List.

In-Game Addon Menu & Reload — The in-game AddOn List, reached from the Game Menu, where you enable the addon and reload. Shown at 01:49 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Make sure the addon’s box is checked, then click Reload UI. If the addon does not appear at all, close the game fully and restart it, since new addon folders are only picked up when the game starts.

After the reload, open the AddOn List again. You know it worked when the addon shows in the list as enabled and its in-game features become active.

Verification — Confirmation that the addon is installed correctly, shown checked and enabled in the AddOn List. Shown at 02:04 in PazarGamingGuides’s video. Image: Blizzard Entertainment

Which addons actually work on the Forever client

The Forever beta runs on a modern engine that hides certain numbers from addon code, described as “secret values.” That changes what an installed addon can do, so it helps to know the limits before you fill your AddOns folder.

Works: Addons for tooltips, vendors, maps, bags, quests, and the interface are supported when they render values supplied by the game.
Does not work: combat-log readers such as damage meters and boss timers, because those values are secret to addons.

Because the client is still in beta, its addon behavior can change before launch. Stick to addons updated for the Forever client, and if one misbehaves after an update, remove its folder from AddOns and reload to rule it out.