⚠️HOT TIP: If you've downloaded a mod from somewhere other than the Steam Workshop, and are using this guide to add it to your game, skip to Step Three.

1. Go to Garry's Mod in your library, and then click the Workshop tab.

2. In the Workshop on the sidebar, find the "Your Files" drop-down menu and click "Subscribed Items". This is where you'll find everything you've subscribed to for each game, without needing to launch the game.


3. Scroll through the list of subscribed Workshop items to find a mod you want to salvage. For demonstration purposes, and because I'm a hetero guy, I'll focus on this sexy Wonder Woman mod. 😏

4. Take a look at the last number in the URL. In this case, it's 752623368. TFNeraZe should be glad that I'm about to preserve their work for my own use!

Newer Addons - Locate the Steam games installation folder where Garry's Mod is installed. In Windows, that's usually C:/Program Files (x86)/Steam, but in Linux, it varies. On SteamOS, it's usually /home/deck/.local/share/steam/ - we'll call this STEAMFOLDER from here on out. Then, navigate to STEAMFOLDER/steamapps/workshop/content/4000 and find the folder with the corresponding number of the addon you want to save, in this case 752623368. Inside should be a .gma file.

Legacy Addons - In some cases, you may find a .bin file instead. This is based on the older way Garry's Mod used to handle all addons, but what you want is the .gma file. To find it, navigate to STEAMFOLDER/steamapps/common/GarrysMod/garrysmod/addons and then find the addon; it will be tagged with it's relevant number at the end.

The gmad executable (gmad.exe on Windows, or gmad_linux on Linux Distros) is located in STEAMFOLDER/steamapps/common/GarrysMod/bin.
On Windows, it's pretty straightforward. Have the locations of both the addon .gma and Gmad open in two separate windows, then drag the .gma onto the Gmad executable. If all goes well, you'll have a folder containing the decompiled contents of the addon!
On Linux, it's a little trickier because simply dragging and dropping does nothing. Right-click the inside of the bin folder and select "Open in Terminal". Then, invoke this command:
To do this more quickly, you can right-click the .gma and select "Copy", then CTRL-V or CTRL-SHIFT-V in the terminal window to paste the LOCATION_TO_FILE in place of typing the whole thing out.

Before using your mod, first unsubscribe from the addon you've salvaged to prevent conflicts. Then, backup the decompiled addon somewhere safe, outside of Steam folders, to prevent it from being accidentally erased. This can be anywhere you put backups of stuff - an external hard drive or SSD, a thumb drive, an extra storage drive in your computer, or even a NAS that you and trusted family members/friends have access to. I would NOT recommend cloud storage for this, unless you plan on sharing it privately, and even then I recommend an extra backup locally in case the cloud backup goes down for some reason.

⚠️HOT TIP: If you want your addon folders to already be in a backup location on extraction, open a terminal at gmad's location in either Windows or Linux, and evoke the command:

To install the decompiled addon, simply copy all the folders from within the addon folder and paste it into STEAMFOLDER/steamapps/common/GarrysMod/garrysmod, and remember to click "Yes" to each prompt asking to confirm folder merging.

⚠️HOT TIP: Other installation methods are mentioned in the FAQs, but this method works on pretty much all installations of Garry's Mod.

YouTuber Alex Cordel pretty much explains most of the steps shown here - the only things truly missing are backing up and installing.

BenjiFridgy shows how you can use the same models for Garry's Mod in Source FilmMaker, using gmad as the decompiler.

The Drenduh Department goes in great length on how you can extract and still use addons, even pointing out how to find the numbers of hidden (i.e. delisted) addons. This also touches some on the use of GWTool, for anyone interested.
Please Note: The method of installation mentioned in this video may not work in Linux distros.

Several reasons. If it is based on a work that is under copyright, it may have been requested by the copyright holder to be taken down. It may also be an older addon that the creator feels may be buggy or inappropriate, and thus they may voluntarily remove it.

As of May 5th 2024, this thread exists to address that issue - make sure to bookmark all these links in your web browser, in case the links are removed for sharing infringing content. You can also find some Nintendo-related mods on GameBanana.[gamebanana.com] Please be aware that reuploading these mods on the Workshop can get you in trouble with Facepunch Studios, Nintendo, and/or the creators of these mods, so please DO NOT republish them on the Workshop.

Before you do anything else, click on the entry in Garry's Mod. It should pull up the webpage with the appropriate ID number in the URL, as shown in Step One (you'll be greeted with a page that says the Workshop content was removed - ignore that message, for now). Follow Step Two to find the location of the addon in the Workshop folder. If there is anything there, you're in luck; there is a good chance you can still save it.

If it is a .gma file: Proceed from Step Three in the guide above to decompile, backup, and install the addon.

If it is a .bin file: Check STEAMFOLDER/common/GarrysMod/garrysmod/addons for the .gma file, tagged with the same number at the end of the file name. If one doesn't exist, try using GWTool or a similar third-party extractor to decompile the .bin file (and possibly get a .gma file, as well), then backup and install as instructed in Step Four.

Depends. If it is NSFW, you'll need to use content descriptors to hide it from the general public. If a cease-and-desist was issued to take the mod down (i.e. the copyright holder does not want it on the Workshop), there's a chance the screenshot may be taken down too, but that also depends on how the C&D was issued - if you must, proceed with caution, and do it sparingly. If it includes what may be seen as derogatory content, best to keep it to yourself. If it's illegal (which I don't know how you'd make an illegal mod, but whatevs), I wouldn't recommend keeping it to begin with!

Again, that depends. Each site that hosts mods (like NexusMods or GameBanana) has different rules on what is acceptable. Check their terms and conditions thoroughly, and if at all possible get proper permissions from the authors of the mods, before uploading to those sites.

Of course! This method gives you full access to what is inside a mod so that you can modify it further and create your own mods based off of it! Depending on how much you modify it, though, will also determine if it can be shared on the Workshop again - best to use common sense as a rule: if it looks and functions too much like the original, it's probably best not to share it. Once again, check with the creators of the mods in question to make sure it's safe, and make sure it doesn't resemble a copyrighted work which could earn it a DMCA takedown.

Either you have an exotic install, like a beta or something, or you're missing some crucial files. Make sure you're on the latest stable branch, and have Steam verify the integrity of your files. If needed, reinstall Garry's Mod (make sure you've backed up your salvaged addons first).

If your addon is downloaded from the Workshop, this is the quickest and easiest way to decompile your addons. However, if you know how to use something like Crowbar or GWTool and feel more comfortable using it, then go right ahead! If you got your mod from somewhere like GameBanana, it might not work with gmad, anyway, so you'll likely have to use whatever compiled the addon to begin with.

There's been several people who proposed this, but as of the last edit date of this guide, I only know of these methods, and they seem to only work on Windows. Still, if you want to try this, follow steps one and two above, then backup your .gmas and do one of the following:
1. Copy any .gma files from the Workshop folders directly into the addons folder, and rename any endangered addons in that folder so that they don't get removed automatically upon being delisted from the Workshop.
2. Copy the .gma files from either the Workshop folders or the addon folder and move them into a folder you created in the addon folder.
3. Decompile the addons, and make sure their folder is in the addons directory.
After following any of the three installation methods, make sure to unsubscribe from the addons to avoid any conflicts. If all goes well, the addons should appear in the game. If they don't, continue from step three in the guide above to inject them into game files directly.

If you really want the addon, remove the installed addon from Garry's Mod, but keep your copy backed up somewhere, for now. Check to make sure a newer, fixed version doesn't already exist, such as on an external mod site or via the original mod author's webpage. If not, try contacting the author to see if they have a fix or is willing to make one - or, fix it yourself! There are several guides on how to create Garry's Mod addons and edit existing ones; however, there's too many to list here. Search the Steam guides, or perform a web search through your favorite search engine, to find one that suits you best.

AFAIK, the only real way of removing addons installed by merging the folders into Garry's Mod itself is to delete all the relevant folders of those addons through your file manager. A third-party tool may exist to address this issue, but for now, that's all I can suggest. I might update this part if someone can point out a better way of cleaning up Garry's Mod, without the need to reinstall the game.

If installed to the Garry's Mod addons folder (as previously addressed in these FAQs), simply delete the .gma file, or the folder that contains only that addon's files.

This is my first legitimate guide ever, so feel free to give it a thumbs up if you liked it! If you want to reference it again, make sure to favorite it, as well.

I also run a small community called TGif Gamer on Steam and Discord (links in my profile), if you're interested to talk about my weird gaming fetishes or even things you find based about me!

Got questions? Feel free to leave comments! I may not be able to answer all of them, but I'll try to help however I can. God bless and good night! 🙏🏻😁