- You can mod GTA 5 in two ways: With .ASI mods and with .DLL mods.
- Before installing any GTA 5 mods, you'll also need to download some extra add-ons like Script Hook V.
- There are thousands of GTA 5 mods available to download online.
- Visit Insider's Tech Reference library for more stories.
Like most popular PC games, Grand Theft Auto 5 has a massive modding community. In the decade since GTA 5 came out, players have designed and released thousands of mods, adding new weapons, new maps, new game modes, and even more.
If you're bored of "vanilla" GTA 5, check out the mods. There are two major types of GTA 5 mods, along with a few extra apps you'll need to get the mods working. And depending on what you download, you can completely reinvent the game — or just make it look even cooler than it already does.
Here's how to mod GTA 5 on your PC.
What you'll need to mod GTA 5
Before you can start downloading and installing mods, there are a few add-ons that you'll need to set up. These add-ons will take the mod files and properly add them to GTA 5 for you, as well as let you manage the mods more easily.
The two most important add-ons to download are:
Script Hook V
Script Hook V is the main program you'll be using to run Grand Theft Auto 5 mods. It lets you install and run .ASI mods — the most common type — and also includes a sample mod called Native Trainer.
Download Script Hook V from the official website and open its .ZIP file. You'll find a folder inside called bin. Copy the files inside of bin and move them to the folder on your computer where you installed Grand Theft Auto.
Community Script Hook V .NET
This is an update for Script Hook V that lets you run mods made with Microsoft's .NET framework. Some popular mods will require you to have this update installed before they'll run.
To get Community Script Hook working, first make sure that you have both Microsoft .NET Framework 4.8 and Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable Package for Visual Studio 2019 (x64) installed. If you're running Windows 10 you should already have both of these, but it doesn't hurt to check.
You'll also need to have the base Script Hook V add-on installed already.
Once you're ready, download the Community Script Hook here. Copy ScriptHookVDotNet.asi, ScriptHookVDotNet2.dll, and ScriptHookVDotNet3.dll into your main GTA folder. Then make a new folder inside of the main GTA folder called scripts.
Aside from these two, there are two more minor add-ons that you should download. These will help cover all your bases, and make sure that you can really run any GTA 5 mod you want.
LUA Plugin for Script Hook
The LUA Plugin is another update for Script Hook V that lets it run more mods. This one gives you access to .LUA files.
Download the LUA Plugin here. Take everything in the LuaPlugin-GTAV-master folder and copy it into your main GTA folder. Then open the scripts folder we made earlier and add a new folder inside that called addins.
Map Editor
This app is required to install pretty much any mod that changes the geography in Los Santos. This includes adding new islands, new buildings, and more. It'll also let you edit the map on your own, too.
You can download Map Editor here. To get it running, you'll need to have the Community Script Hook V .NET add-on that we talked about above installed.
How to mod Grand Theft Auto 5
Now that you've got everything prepared, you can start adding mods.
The best place to find GTA mods is — fittingly — GTA5-mods.com. This website has been the most popular Grand Theft Auto modding site for years, and is where you'll find all the best mods for your game.
You can sort the mods by what they do, how many times they've been downloaded, and more. There's also a forum that you can use to chat with other players and get troubleshooting help.
To download a mod, open its information page and click the big green Download button in the top-left.
If a mod's information page has instructions on how it should be installed, always follow those first. But otherwise, there are generally two ways to install mods.
Most mods come in one of two formats: .ASI or .DLL. Some mods will say which they are in their description, but you'll always be able to tell by opening the file you download and checking what's inside.
To install .ASI mods, copy the files to your main Grand Theft Auto 5 folder.
To install .DLL mods, copy their files to the scripts folder that the .NET plugin created.
Whenever you download a mod, be sure to restart Grand Theft Auto 5 before trying it.