Welcome to the Football Manager 2022 version of the Skins Installation Guide
This guide will show you how to install skins correctly into Football Manager 2022.
In addition the instructions unless stated are generally the same
regardless of whether you are using the Steam, Epic or Game Pass
version of the game, are gaming on Windows, Mac or Linux or purchased a
disk or digital copy of the game.
Please note you are advised as always to run a virus scan on any file
downloaded from the internet. Sports Interactive or SEGA have no
control over third party content and as such third party downloads are
used at your own risk.
It is also advisable to read any instructions on the download
page for the content you are installing (or found in the readme that
comes with the download) as they may contain any extra instructions
that are specific to that skin.
How To Install Skins
This part of the guide will cover how to install skins, first note that
skins will only work on the version of the game they are designed for
(so FM19 skins will only work with FM19 and not FM18) and Touch and
Full Mode skins aren't compatible so if you are using the Touch
version you will only be able to use Touch skins.
After you have downloaded a file it will generally come in one of three formats: zip, rar or 7z file.
Zip files should be automatically supported by your OS and may show up as compressed folders, Rar and 7z files may require you to download some software to extract the files, the below software is recommended:
After you have downloaded a file it will generally come in one of three formats: zip, rar or 7z file.
Zip files should be automatically supported by your OS and may show up as compressed folders, Rar and 7z files may require you to download some software to extract the files, the below software is recommended:
Windows: 7-Zip (Choose the most recent .exe)
MacOS: The Unarchiver
Linux: If you are using Linux hopefully you know how to download and locate programs for Linux already.
7-Zip is installed using the .exe you download, following the instructions on-screen. To install The Unarchiver simply double click on the .zip file you download from their website then drag the program it extracts (called 'The Unarchiver') into your apps folder.
Once installed, create a new folder somewhere you can keep track of (on your desktop for instance) and place your downloaded graphics zip, rar or 7z in it. Now we extract:
Windows: Right click on your zip, rar or 7z. Choose 7-Zip from the menu, then select 'Extract Here'.
MacOS X: Right click (or ctrl + click) on your zip, rar or 7z. Choose 'open with' then select 'The Unarchiver'.
Your file should extract and most
probably create a folder in the same directory.
If you extracted an fmf file (or just straight downloaded one) this isn't a problem, these are just files that have been packed using the FM Resource Tool, and as an end user there is no need for you to mess around extracting these files, just think of these as the same as the folder you'd get from extracting the files.
If you extracted an fmf file (or just straight downloaded one) this isn't a problem, these are just files that have been packed using the FM Resource Tool, and as an end user there is no need for you to mess around extracting these files, just think of these as the same as the folder you'd get from extracting the files.
Locating Your User Data Location
Once you have downloaded and
extracted your files, you now need to move them over to your User Data
Location so they can be read by the game.
First make sure you have run the game at least once (just getting to the start menu and exiting is fine) so the game can create the required folders for you.
Then the exact location depends on the OS you are using, whilst both Steam and Epic versions should use the same location, however the Game Pass (Microsoft Store) version uses a slightly different location.
Windows
By default your User Data Location is located within the Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2022 folder.
MAC Users:
By default your User Data Location is now located within the Users\[Your Mac Username]\Library\Application Support\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2022 folder.
By default this folder is hidden, so to access you need to do as follows:
- Open Finder
- Click ‘Go’ from the menu bar
- Press and hold down the ‘Option’ (Alt) key
- This will bring up the ‘Library’, click to enter then go to ‘Application Support’ -> ‘Sports Interactive’ -> 'Football Manager 2022'
GAMEPASS/MICROSOFT STORE USERS: If you are using this version of the game then your User Data Location is in a slightly different folder, you'll need to open the Football Manager folder for the year of the game you are using and inside this folder you'll notice a Gamepass folder and this is the folder you need.
If you want to move or have already moved your User Data Location then please refer to the User Data Location part of the Guide.
After you have opened the correct Football Manager 2022 folder you should see a list of folders and what you need to do is locate the folder called skins, if this folder doesn't exist then just create a new folder and call it skins.
Now open up your skins folder and place the files you extracted inside it.
If it is an fmf file you have downloaded then just place this file directly inside the skins folder.
If you have a folder after extracting the files then you need to make sure you are copying over the correct folder because if the skin files are nested inside another folder they will not work.
So you need to open the folders you extracted until you find a folder that is laid out like this with the skin_config file present;
First make sure you have run the game at least once (just getting to the start menu and exiting is fine) so the game can create the required folders for you.
Then the exact location depends on the OS you are using, whilst both Steam and Epic versions should use the same location, however the Game Pass (Microsoft Store) version uses a slightly different location.
Windows
By default your User Data Location is located within the Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2022 folder.
MAC Users:
By default your User Data Location is now located within the Users\[Your Mac Username]\Library\Application Support\Sports Interactive\Football Manager 2022 folder.
By default this folder is hidden, so to access you need to do as follows:
- Open Finder
- Click ‘Go’ from the menu bar
- Press and hold down the ‘Option’ (Alt) key
- This will bring up the ‘Library’, click to enter then go to ‘Application Support’ -> ‘Sports Interactive’ -> 'Football Manager 2022'
GAMEPASS/MICROSOFT STORE USERS: If you are using this version of the game then your User Data Location is in a slightly different folder, you'll need to open the Football Manager folder for the year of the game you are using and inside this folder you'll notice a Gamepass folder and this is the folder you need.
If you want to move or have already moved your User Data Location then please refer to the User Data Location part of the Guide.
After you have opened the correct Football Manager 2022 folder you should see a list of folders and what you need to do is locate the folder called skins, if this folder doesn't exist then just create a new folder and call it skins.
Now open up your skins folder and place the files you extracted inside it.
If it is an fmf file you have downloaded then just place this file directly inside the skins folder.
If you have a folder after extracting the files then you need to make sure you are copying over the correct folder because if the skin files are nested inside another folder they will not work.
So you need to open the folders you extracted until you find a folder that is laid out like this with the skin_config file present;
You then want to grab the parent folder to this and copy that into your skins folder, if done correctly it
should look like this:
Displaying Skins in-game
If you select the drop-down menu it should list all of the skins you have installed, if the skin you want is listed then just select it and press the Confirm button to load it.
If the skin you want isn't showing.
Then you can either select the Advanced option on the left and on the
top right drop down select Interface, then scroll down the Skin section
and untick 'Use caching to decrease loading times' and tick 'Reload
skin when confirming changes in Preferences'.
Or in the search bar at the top type in 'Skin' and in the listed
results untick 'Use caching to decrease loading times' and tick 'Reload
skin when confirming changes in Preferences'.
Then click Confirm at the bottom, this should then take you out of the
Preferences menu but if you re-enter, it should have refreshed the list
of skins and your skin should now be in the list.
Once the skin is loaded you can turn the skin cache back on and untick
the Always Reload button.
Troubleshooting
First Steps
- First please ensure you have read and followed any instructions provided with the item you downloaded.
- Second re-read the above guide to ensure you have followed each step.
- Not turning off the Skin Cache & Reloading Your Skin.
- When installing a Skin you have ended up installing the skin into a sub-folder.
- Make sure you have followed the Install Instructions.
- Make sure that the skin is designed for the version of FM you are using.
- Refer to the above screenshots to make sure you haven't accidentally installed the skin into a sub-folder.
- If parts of the Skin are corrupt then try to manually delete your cache files.
- If the Default Skin(s) are no longer working, then remove your custom skins/mods, manually delete your cache files (per above link) and try verifying your game files.
- You need to run the game first to generate the default folders.
- First check to make sure the game has created the default folders inside your location (skins, games etc...)
- If the game hasn't created the default folders then check to make sure the path you set and the folder you are looking in are the same ones.
- With Windows the Library feature can sometimes combine several folders so you may be putting your content in the wrong location.
- With Windows 10 having OneDrive backing up your Documents folder may cause issues, try telling OneDrive not to index the Sports Interactive sub-folders or move your User Data Location.
- If you are having problems with your User Data Location then try moving it to a more simple path such as C:\FM22
- Also check your Anti-virus settings and Windows Defender settings
if using Windows 10/11 to make sure access to the Documents folder
isn't be restricted.
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You are free to post this content to your website provided:
1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/
Redistribution Terms
You are free to post this content to your website provided:
1. It is not sold or behind a paywall.
2. You don't advertise it as being exclusive to your website.
3. My username and blog address are included: http://michaeltmurrayuk.blogspot.co.uk/
If you have any questions then the best place to ask them is in the Skinning Forums at the Official SIGames Forums where I can be found most days.
If you like my work then feel free to send me a donation this is completely optional all of my content is and will always be free to access.
