Mods aren't affecting Forge?

[Cheesestick]

So I have forge 12.2 downloaded and all the mods I want to use are compatible with Forge 12.2. I know this because my sister went through the entire process easily with no complications, so I'm confused. We both have windows ten and the only difference is the kind of laptops they are. So I placed them all in the mods folder but they don't affect the game when I play it? We're trying to download the same mods and everything on forge to play l can together but it doesn't work on my laptop. The files are all java and they're definitely in the right .mods file that Foege created, so I don't know whats wrong. Please help !