To find and finish Skyrim’s quests, first decide what “every” means for your edition and whether you are counting repeatable radiant tasks. Then use the Quest menu to track objectives, while following a quest guide or checklist for prerequisites and content that is not currently active in your journal. The main story has an ordered progression; many side quests do not.
Decide what counts as “every quest”
There is no single established total that covers every Skyrim release and every possible definition of a quest. Counts change depending on whether you include official add-ons, Creation Club content, repeatable radiant work, and mods. Before starting a completion run, write down your boundaries so you know what your checklist is measuring.
- Official story and named quests: Decide whether your goal includes the main quest, faction questlines, Daedric quests, and other named side quests. These are examples of completionist goals raised by an individual player discussion, not a definitive or exhaustive classification.
- Official added content: Include the add-ons and other content that came with your edition or upgrade.
- Repeatable work: Choose whether to count radiant or repeatable faction tasks. A checklist of named questlines is not the same thing as a record of every repeatable assignment.
- Mods: Treat mod quests as a separate scope. Official edition information does not establish which quests any particular mod adds.
Check which edition you own
Your edition sets the boundary for official content. Bethesda describes the full Anniversary Edition as including the core game, all three official add-ons, and Creation Club content. The Anniversary Upgrade is different: it is for people who already own Skyrim Special Edition and requires that game.
| What you have | What to know when setting your checklist |
|---|---|
| Base game or Special Edition | Use the content included in your copy as your starting scope; the cited edition information does not establish a single quest total for these releases. |
| Full Anniversary Edition | Bethesda says this includes the core game, Dawnguard, Hearthfire, Dragonborn, and Creation Club content. |
| Anniversary Upgrade | This is an upgrade for Special Edition owners, not the same purchase as the full Anniversary Edition; it requires Special Edition. |
These edition distinctions identify official included content, not a guarantee that a checklist covers every mod or every repeatable task.
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- The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Official Game Guide
Follow the main quest in order
The main story is the part of a completion run that most clearly benefits from an ordered checklist. Prima Games’ guide presents 20 main quests across three acts and connects them through prerequisites. Use that sequence to see what unlocks the next step rather than assuming every quest can be started whenever you want.
Two entries need special handling: Prima marks Paarthurnax as optional after Alduin’s Bane, and Season Unending as conditional on the Civil War still being in progress. If your definition of completion requires seeing every listed quest, keep those distinctions visible on your checklist; they are not mandatory steps for the same outcome in every playthrough.
Find side quests and check their prerequisites
Many side quests can be taken up independently or completed at leisure, but that does not mean all of them are immediately available. Check a quest guide for prerequisites when a named quest is missing, when an NPC does not offer the expected lead, or when you want to plan a chain without skipping its setup.
- The Wolf Queen Awakened follows The Man Who Cried Wolf.
- No One Escapes Cidhna Mine follows The Forsworn Conspiracy.
These examples illustrate why a broad “side quests are independent” rule is unreliable: use the documented dependency for the particular quest you are pursuing.
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Use the Quest menu to work through objectives
The in-game journal is useful for the next actionable step, but it is not a universal completion audit. Open the Quest menu, toggle the quest or quests you want active, and use Show on Map for the selected objective. Keeping only the relevant objectives active makes it easier to follow the map markers when the journal contains several unfinished entries.
- Open the Quest menu and select a quest you intend to work on.
- Toggle it active so its objectives appear as current tasks.
- Select the objective and choose Show on Map to locate it.
- After completing the objective, check the journal for the next step or a newly available quest.
For a completionist run, compare the journal against your external checklist: the journal surfaces active objectives, while a checklist can account for content you have not discovered, optional entries, and the boundaries you chose for radiant work or add-ons.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Keep named questlines separate from radiant tasks
Faction pages may list both a fixed questline and radiant assignments. For example, Prima’s College of Winterhold coverage includes the College questline as well as radiant quests such as Valuable Book Procurement. Decide whether your target is to finish the named storyline, complete some repeatable work, or record radiant tasks separately. The available information does not establish a complete cross-edition total for repeatable tasks, so a single “all quests” number would overstate what is known.
Quick Recap
A practical completion checklist
- Record your edition and boundaries. Note whether you are counting official add-ons, Anniversary content, radiant tasks, and mods.
- Track the main story by prerequisites. Mark optional and conditional entries so your checklist does not treat them as universally required.
- Use a named-quest checklist for side content. Check prerequisites for a quest chain when its next entry is unavailable.
- Work from the in-game objective. Activate the quest and use Show on Map, then return to your broader checklist to audit progress.
- Record radiant work under its own heading. This keeps repeatable assignments from being confused with completion of a fixed faction storyline.
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