The error means Questie loaded but its quest data didn't. Questie's quest database now ships as a separate add-on called QuestieDB, and you need both folders in _forever_/Interface/AddOns. If your add-on manager only installed Questie, add QuestieDB yourself or use Questie's bundle, which has both.

The full message reads: Error during initialization! QuestieDB not installed. Please reinstall Questie in your addon manager. Players reported it on Questie's tracker the day 12.6.0 came out (#8149, #8156, #8161).

Fix 1: the CurseForge app

A Questie team member says on #8156 that the app should install QuestieDB with Questie, but it can be fiddly:

  1. In the top-right version menu, pick Forever. If it's on retail, everything lands in the wrong folder.
  2. Search for QuestieDB and install it too. Its CurseForge page is QuestieDB.
  3. Restart the game, not only /reload.

Fix 2: Questie's bundle

Questie's latest GitHub release has a zip with both parts. When we checked on 5 November it was Questie 12.6.1 with QuestieDB 1.0.11. Delete your old Questie folder, unzip the bundle into Interface/AddOns and restart. Our manual install guide shows where that folder is.

Fix 3: QuestieDB on its own

If Questie itself is fine, take only the database from QuestieDB's releases. Pick the file with Forever in its name. The others are for Classic versions.

The folder check

Open _forever_/Interface/AddOns. You should see a Questie folder and a QuestieDB folder side by side. These are the usual mistakes:

  • One folder inside the other. Unzipping can add an extra level, like QuestieDB/QuestieDB. Move the inner folder up.
  • The wrong game folder. _retail_ and _classic_era_ have their own AddOns folders.
  • QuestieDB unticked. On the character screen, open AddOns and make sure both are enabled.

Still broken

Issue #8161 was still open when we checked, so a few players have the error even after a reinstall. Add your details there rather than opening a new report. If quests load but show up wrong, that's a different problem: see Questie not working, or try one of the Questie alternatives until the data fills in.