Find an addon on the Steam Workshop and click Subscribe. Steam downloads it and Garry's Mod loads it the next time you start a game. You manage everything you've subscribed to from Addons on the main menu.
What Addons Are
Addons are mods made by players. They add maps, weapons, tools, models, NPCs, vehicles, effects and whole new gamemodes. Almost all of them live on the Steam Workshop, and they're free.
Install an Addon From the Workshop
Open the Workshop
In Steam, open Garry's Mod's page in your library and click Workshop. You can also click Addons on the GMod main menu, then Open Workshop.
Find an Addon
Search by name or browse by type. Read the description and the comments before you subscribe. They tell you if the addon still works.
Subscribe
Click the green Subscribe button. Steam adds it to your downloads.
Start a Game
Open Garry's Mod. You'll see "Mounting Workshop content, please wait..." while it loads new addons. Start a game and look for your addon in the spawn menu (hold Q).
Check for Required Items
Some addons need other addons to work, such as a weapon base. The Workshop page lists these as required items. GMod's Addons menu also lists them when you click install. Subscribe to them too.
You can also browse from inside the game. Addons on the main menu has tabs for Gamemodes, Maps, Weapons, Tools, NPCs, Vehicles and more.
Install a Whole Collection
A collection is a list of addons someone has grouped together, like a weapon pack or a server's content.
Open the collection's Workshop page.
Click Subscribe to all. Steam subscribes you to every item in it.
To undo it later, come back to the same page and click Unsubscribe from all.
GMod's Addons menu also has presets. Create Preset saves which addons you have on and off, and Load Preset switches back to it. Import Preset takes a collection's link and turns it into a preset.
Turn Addons On and Off
You don't have to unsubscribe to stop an addon loading. Turn it off instead.
Click Addons on the main menu, then open Subscribed.
Find the addon. Use Search Subscriptions if your list is long.
Hover over it and click disable. Click enable to turn it back on.
A disabled addon doesn't load, but Steam still keeps it updated. The settings cog on the Subscribed page has Enable All and Disable All. Tick several addons and the same panel offers Enable Selected and Disable Selected.
Turning addons off is the fastest way to find a broken one. Disable half, test, and keep halving until the problem goes.
Remove an Addon
There are three ways to unsubscribe:
- On the addon's Workshop page, click Unsubscribe.
- In Addons, then Subscribed, hover over the addon and click uninstall.
- Tick several, open the settings cog and click Uninstall Selected. Uninstall All removes every subscription, and you can't undo it.
When an addon throws errors, GMod tells you to check the Problems menu. Click the warning icon at the bottom right of the main menu. It names the addon and gives you Disable and Uninstall buttons.
Addons From Servers
When you join a server, it downloads the Workshop addons it needs. You don't subscribe to them. They show up under Addons, then Downloaded, and GMod deletes unused ones after a while. Click delete to remove one yourself, or subscribe to keep it.
For joining servers, see How to Join a Server.
Legacy Addons Folder
Some addons come as a download from a website instead of the Workshop. These are legacy addons, and you install them by hand.
In your Steam library, right-click Garry's Mod and choose Manage, then Browse local files.
Open the garrysmod folder, then addons.
Extract the addon so its own folder sits inside addons. Folders like lua, models or materials should be one level down, for example garrysmod/addons/my_addon/lua.
Restart Garry's Mod.
To remove a legacy addon, close the game and delete its folder from garrysmod/addons.
Only Install What You Trust
Addons run code on your PC. Stick to the Workshop and authors you know, and don't install files someone sends you in a message.
Too Many Addons
Every addon you subscribe to costs memory and loading time. Hundreds of them can slow GMod down or crash it. Disable what you don't use, switch to 64-bit GMod, and read our performance guide.
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