Thanks @AdrellaDev, that particular zip didn’t work for me, but it eventually led me to another zip file that did. I encourage anyone to try both if you still have issues.
https://quixel.zendesk.com/attachments/token/vEMGLyNpPfAtvrA9vYbPuhYyw/?name=UE5Plugin.zip. Unzip the files first somewhere (ie: ur desktop) and then move them to engine/plugins folder.
another thanks to UNREALTESTER234; see his post in https://help.quixel.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/4416699145757-Quixel-Bridge-doesn-t-show-up-in-Vault-when-reinstalling?page=1#community_comment_4809868387485)