How to Open RaceMenu in Skyrim: Console Commands, Hotkeys, and What Affects It

RaceMenu is one of the most powerful character customization mods ever made for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Whether you want to reshape your character's face mid-playthrough, adjust body sliders, or fine-tune a look you weren't happy with at the start, knowing how to open RaceMenu at any point in the game is essential. The method isn't always obvious — and it varies depending on your platform, mod version, and how your load order is configured.

What Is RaceMenu and Why Does Opening It Matter?

RaceMenu (created by expired6978 and hosted on Nexus Mods) replaces Skyrim's default character creation screen with a far more detailed editor. It adds dozens of sliders for facial structure, overlays for war paint and tattoos, body morphs (when paired with compatible body mods), and RGB color controls.

The challenge is that Skyrim doesn't give you an in-game button to reopen the character editor after your initial character creation. You have to use a specific method to access it again — which is where the console command comes in.

The Primary Method: Using the Console Command 🎮

On PC, the most reliable way to open RaceMenu mid-game is through Skyrim's developer console:

1. Press the tilde key (~) — located just below the Escape key on most keyboards — to open the console.
2. Type: showracemenu
3. Press Enter.

This opens the full RaceMenu interface, assuming the mod is installed and active. You can change your character's appearance, race, name, and (with the mod active) all the extended sliders RaceMenu provides.

⚠️ Important: Changing your race mid-game through this method can reset certain stats and skill bonuses tied to racial passives. If you only want to adjust appearance, change the race back to what it was before closing the menu.

RaceMenu's Built-In Hotkey Option

RaceMenu also supports a dedicated hotkey that can be assigned through its MCM (Mod Configuration Menu), which requires SkyUI to access. Once set up:

• Open your in-game pause menu
• Navigate to Mod Configuration → RaceMenu
• Assign a hotkey to open the appearance editor directly

This method is cleaner than typing in the console every time, especially for players who frequently adjust their character's look with overlays or new presets.

What Version of Skyrim and RaceMenu Are You Running?

The method you use and what works depends significantly on which version of the game you have installed.

RaceMenu relies on SKSE (Skyrim Script Extender), which must be installed correctly and match your game version. If SKSE isn't running, RaceMenu won't load — and showracemenu will open the vanilla editor instead.

Common Reasons RaceMenu Won't Open

If typing showracemenu opens the vanilla character creation screen rather than the RaceMenu interface, or if nothing happens at all, here are the most likely causes:

• SKSE is not installed or not launching the game — You must launch Skyrim through the SKSE loader, not the default Steam launcher.
• Version mismatch — Your SKSE version doesn't match your Skyrim build. Even a minor game update (like a Steam patch) can break SKSE compatibility.
• RaceMenu is not in your load order — Verify it's enabled in your mod manager (Mod Organizer 2 or Vortex).
• Missing dependencies — RaceMenu requires specific files like UIExtensions and Address Library for SKSE Plugins (for SE/AE users).
• Load order conflicts — Another mod may be overwriting RaceMenu's files or scripts.

How Body Morphs and CBBE/UUNP Affect the Process 🔧

If you're using body mods like CBBE, BHUNP, or 3BA, you may also have BodySlide integration. RaceMenu can display body sliders in a dedicated tab — but only if:

• The body mod is installed correctly
• You've built your body preset in BodySlide
• The RaceMenu Morphs plugin (sometimes called RaceMenuMorphsCBBE.esp) is active in your load order

Without this, the body tab may appear empty or not show at all. The sliders visible in RaceMenu reflect only what's been properly configured in your specific mod setup.

Saving and Loading Presets

Once you're inside RaceMenu, you can save your character's appearance as a preset file (stored in Data/SKSE/Plugins/CharGen/Presets). This lets you:

• Share your character with other players
• Reload a saved look after experimenting
• Apply community-made presets downloaded from Nexus Mods

Presets are version-sensitive in some cases — a preset made with a heavily modded setup may not transfer cleanly to a different load order or body type.

What Your Setup Determines

Getting RaceMenu to open reliably isn't just about knowing one command — it's about the whole chain working together: the right game version, the matching SKSE build, the correct mod dependencies, and a clean load order. Two players both running Skyrim SE can have meaningfully different experiences depending on whether they're on the latest Anniversary Edition patch, how many mods they're running, and whether they launched through SKSE or Steam.

The command itself is simple. Whether it opens the right thing — and shows all the features you're expecting — depends entirely on how that chain is configured on your machine.