We've been waiting an eternity, but the release of Grand Theft Auto VI is almost here, but while we all prepare to lose hundreds of hours in the new sandbox, why not pass the time by checking out a brilliant new Vortex update? Vortex 2.9 is packed with highly requested UI tweaks, smarter health checks, and even some changes for our Linux players.
Here is a quick look at what’s new!
🔍 Zoom In & Apply Changes
Ever needed to squint at your load order? You can now zoom the Vortex interface in or out (from 50% all the way up to 150%) using standard keyboard shortcuts (CTRL and +/- or CTRL and Mouse Wheel on PC, CMD and +/- on Mac) or via the new Accessibility settings menu, which is also where our 'Reduce motion' toggle now proudly lives.
We've also added a handy Apply button right next to the Play button. Whenever you have changes to deploy, it turns into a progress bar so you can see exactly what Vortex is doing and your game will wait to launch until it's finished.
🩺 Smarter Health Checks
Health check warnings and suggestions are now separated and each have their own 'Install all' and 'Hide all' buttons. Crucially, if a suggested mod has author notes, you’ll now be notified with a list to view them all so you don’t miss a thing when mass installing, ensuring you don't miss any vital instructions. Health checks will also keep running in the background after you install a Collection, meaning any missing master files are flagged instantly without needing an app restart.
🛠️ Better Bethesda Sorting
We've given LOOT sorting a proper polish! It's significantly more reliable, won't awkwardly try to run in the middle of a deployment, and if something does go wrong, Vortex will tell you exactly why in plain English. Collections will now properly enable the plugins they ship (banishing that stubborn 'Missing Masters' warning), and changing a plugin's light flag whilst your game is open will just ask you to close the game first rather than throwing a scary error.
🐧 Future Support for Linux
We’re continuing to work hard toward an official Linux release and will bring it to you as soon as we can. For now, this update lays some important groundwork: Improved game detection, fixes for permission errors, and early support for Bethesda plugin management for those tinkering on the platform.
🐛 Spot a Bug? Let Us Know!
We’ve done a lot of bug-squishing in this update, but if you happen to spot a wild one that managed to escape, please let us know! You can report any pesky issues over on GitHub (just remember to attach your Vortex log file so our dev team can figure out exactly what went wrong).
Got a burning question, some general feedback, or just want to chat about the latest tweaks? Come hang out with us in the Vortex channel on the official Nexus Mods Discord.
Finally, if you’re feeling exceptionally technical and want to read the raw, unedited list of every single GitHub pull request, you can browse the full, unfiltered changelog.