Forum Widgets
Save File Gone But Still There??
Hi all! So over the past few days, I have a had numerous problems with my Sims 4 game. At first I couldn't even get past the loading screen of the game, and then I fixed that, then I was able to create my household, and went to world select, got them in a household, and I was booted back to world select. So, I want through my mods folder, I did the 50/50, additive testing, everything. And not only were apparently none of my mods the problem, but now, my household is gone? If I hit resume on the Home Screen, it takes me to the world select, but my family isn't in San Myshuno. When I hit load game, my household save file is there, but when I try to load the household, once again, they don't show in San Myshuno... Can anyone help?!
Lost All Saves / Video Card Issue
First issue that happened was after going into EA like normal to open sims 4 I got the message that the game was already running (which it did not seem like it was) and then got a pop up with something like “do you want sims 4 to access a folder on this computer” (I can’t remember the exact wording) and I accidentally clicked no. After that, when opening sims I get the message “UNRECOGNIZED VIDEO CARD Your video card is not recognized in our database. We have optimized your graphics settings for improved performance.” Along with this message none of my saved games show up and the main home screen opens prompting me to create a household as if I've never played before. After searching around online I tried what I thought was a simple fix to rename the sims folder “sims_old” and reopen the game and then copy the saves folder from “old” over to the new sims folder that is created. When I did this weirdly the only game that loaded was one from 2018. I have no mods installed and I checked my I cloud storage to set it to not save my game to the cloud. Compared to any actual gamer I am not great with computers and this is really the only game I play so I wanted to get advice before I mess things up any further. I’m so mad at myself because I’ve spent over a year on the current house / family I have and don’t want to lose everything. Let me know if there is any additional information that I can provide to try and fix this, any help is very appreciated! Edit: I also have now made sure to allow The Sims 4 permission to access the Documents folder, still having the same issue of only seeing the very old saved game === Graphics device info === Number: 0 Name (driver): Intel HD Graphics 615 Name (database): [Found: 0, Supported: 1] Vendor: Intel Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 591e, Board: 00000178, Chipset: 0002 Driver: Intel(R) HD Graphics 615, Version: 0.10.32.48 Driver version: 48 Monitor: 00000000 Texture memory: 1536MB Vertex program: 4.10 Pixel program: 4.10 Hardware TnL: 0 Opt. features: +sab +a8l8 -rgba16f +r32f -bc4 -bc5 -rawz -intzThe sims4 corrupted files on mac
I just downloaded Sims4 for the first time and wanted to also download some mods. I came to realize that the game wont load if I have a .package file in my mods. I have tried opening Sims with one .package mod at a time and still would not work. It keep popping off as a corrupted file. I already tried repairing the game, un syncing from my icloud, and putting the file not too deep only in the mods file. I am not sure what to do because the game only runs if there is no mods or if the mods are "zipped." I tried it with many different kind of mod and it continue to not work therefore I don't think it's the mod itself have a problem. Overall, I am very confuse and want to use mods so please somebody help me I have a MacBook Air 2018!!!
game will not load after latest update
this is copy pasted from reddit btw, i made a post on a forum and nobody seemed to know the answer this is actually really stressing me out. i’ve had my save since 2019 and i updated my game. i now cannot load into the game with mods installed. now before anyone says “do 50/50” or “this mod is broken”. guys, i know. i’ve updated all my mods. the game won’t load. i dont even get to the start screen. without mods is fine but takes forever. i literally only put my loading screen in my mods folder. game doesn’t load. when i had a full folder it told me my game was corrupted? i cant play without mods, my game is built on mods. am i gonna have to say goodbye to my 7+ year save? am i being dramatic? has this happened to anyone else? i’m super scared. i’ve put so much time and effort into this save and i obviously love it. i don’t want to lose my game and sims over this. does anyone have a solution
My Sims has been loading very slow since the feb 2026 update.
Hello. My loadscreen has been very slow, both going into my saves, and saving my game. This started after the last update. I’m playing on an external hard drive, and have never had this problem before. The game also freezes at the same place every time i play. I’ve deleted all my mods and re-installed them, and it’s still happening. Anyone else struggling with the same thing? Any suggestions? Cause i can’t even save the game because it’s just loading.
🛠️ Opening the Sims 4 cheat console on Mac
There always seems to be some confusion over how to open the cheat console on a Mac because Mac users normally substitute the CMD key for the CTRL key in everyday Mac usage (CMD + C, CMD + V for copying and pasting for example). In Sims 4 however this is not the case. To open the cheat console when playing the game in macOS you use CTRL, Shift and C. It has always been this combination in Sims 4, never the CMD key. There are a few, limited exceptions to this which are dependant on Mac configuration and NOT the game controls: if the modifier keys have been changed from the default setting in System Preferences/Settings > Keyboard. Apple help page here. If other 3rd party apps installed on the Mac interfere with the default keyboard settings such as video or screen capture software. if the Input Source in System Preferences > Keyboard has been changed from the default language settings. broken CTRL key(s) System Settings > Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts for changing modifier keys: Windows users, see this thread [READ FIRST] Cheat console doesn't openUnable to start: The Sims 4 is already running - Mac only
If you're experiencing this error message it doesn't mean your game is already running, the actual message itself is incorrect. It means The Sims 4 cannot access the Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder to load your user data when you attempt to launch the game. This is essentially a permissions issue which can be resolved based on your setup: - If you have just installed or reinstalled the game - If you have iCloud Drive enabled and it is syncing your Desktop & Documents folders - If you have recently updated your Mac or the game - If you have moved your Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder to an external drive and created a symlink in your Documents folder ______________________________________________________________ If you have just installed or reinstalled the game: You would have been prompted to allow The Sims 4 permission to access the Documents folder, this is security built into macOS. This is so it can access the Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder in your Documents folder, if one already exists, or create a new one if it doesn't exist. If you clicked Don't Allow when prompted the game cannot read and write to the Documents folder, resulting in the error message. Fix - Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders (you will need to use an Mac Administrator account to access this) and enable access to the Documents folder by clicking the toggle on: If you do not see this option open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access (you will need to use a Mac Administrator account to access this). Click the + in the bottom left corner, below the list of apps. A Finder window will open to the Applications folder. Navigate to where your game is installed, by default this is Applications > EA Games, click on it and then click Open. It will now be added to the Full Disk Access list. Make sure it is toggled on. Whilst giving the game Full Disk Access isn't ideal, and shouldn't be necessary, it is a quick and easy solution to fixing the error message and the game is signed and notarised by Apple. ______________________________________________________________ If you have iCloud Drive enabled and it is syncing your Desktop & Documents folders: This is a really common cause of this error message and is as a result of your Mac storage being full resulting in iCloud pushing the entire Documents folder to the cloud. The game cannot see the Documents folder and its contents because it is not local on your machine, therefore it cannot access the Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder to load user data at launch. Fix - Open System Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > Drive and disable the Desktop & Documents folders syncing. Be aware of the effect this will have if you use multiple Apple devices to access these folders: ______________________________________________________________ If you have recently updated your Mac or the game: Sometimes permissions can go awry after updating the OS or you have been prompted to change settings after updating and inadvertently clicked the wrong thing. Fix - check all of the applicable settings in the instructions above ______________________________________________________________ If you have moved your Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder to an external drive and created a symlink in your Documents folder: There can be multiple reasons for the error message when a symlink has been set up but they are all caused by the game not being able to access the Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder: your external drive is not plugged in and properly mounted. Check the drive is plugged in and showing in Finder/on your Desktop. your symlink is broken. This can be checked by looking at the symlinked folder in your Documents folder. If the icon is a white file and not a folder it is broken. Trash it and recreate the symlink in Terminal. If you have further issues refer to the dedicated symlink thread opening post. the game does not have access to Removable Volumes (external drives) in System Settings > Privacy & Security > Files and Folders. You would have been prompted to give permission when launching the game for the first time after successfully creating the symlink and maybe denied it. Give the game access: you have iCloud Drive syncing your Desktop & Documents folders to the cloud which does not work well with the symlink. Disable it (see above for further instruction). your external drive has not been ejected properly multiple times resulting in the OS changing the mount point. Check Disk Utility and rectify, see the dedicated symlink thread opening post for further instruction. ______________________________________________________________ If you're still stuck a really quick and easy way to resolve this is to create a new Administrator account on your Mac and play the game in that account. When you first launch the game in that account you will be prompted to give all the necessary permissions for the game to access the Documents folder - make sure you allow it 😊Game crashing or not loading especially after updating? Post here.
If your game is crashing or not launching after recently updating it please try the two most basic and fundamental steps to resolve it before posting: Repair the game in EA App Test a new clean game. Don't just cherry pick a few files and folders you think you should remove, such as just the Mods folder, or a few random Mods, or any old cache file, or a couple of screenshots, test a completely new, clean, vanilla game. Full instructions here - [INSTRUCTIONS] How to troubleshoot and test a broken game | EA Forums - 11864548 If your game successfully launches with a new Sims 4 folder you then need to figure out what is causing the crashing/failure to load. Again, instructions are in this link - [INSTRUCTIONS] How to troubleshoot and test a broken game | EA Forums - 11864548 . Only you can do that and it can take some time. if the cause is Mods head over to the Mods forum for further help - The Sims 4 Mods & Custom Content | EA Forums if the cause is one or more particular save files, upload them to a file sharing site and post the link here (tag me) or PM me and I can test in my game If your game will not load after repairing it AND testing a completely clean Sims 4 folder please uninstall and reinstall the game through EA App then test, still using the clean Sims 4 folder the game created from the previous step. If you're still having an issue post here with the specs of your Mac. You can find these in Apple > About This Mac: model, e.g. M4 MacBook Pro year, e.g. 2024 macOS version, e.g. Sequoia 15.3.2 (yes, the FULL version is important, with all numbers) memory, e.g. 64GB storage available, e.g. 1.5 TB of 2TB. This info can be found in System Settings > General > About or More Info... in the About This Mac window. Please also post a screenshot showing the contents of the new Sims 4 folder in Finder: make sure the files are in list order in Finder with Dates and Size clearly visible. make sure all files and folders in the TS4 folder are showing, don't cut off the screenshot have the path bar clearly showing in the screenshot: with the Finder window open and selected click on View > Show Path Bar in the menu bar at the top of your desktop. The screenshot should look something like this: Make sure to add a full description of what exactly is happening and what you have tried to fix it in your post. Be constructive to help us help you 🙂 The following are a few examples of short replies that are not constructive: "my game won't work" "my game has broken and I hate EA" "my game only works without Mods and I'm refusing to remove my Mods" "fix it" "my sister's friend's brother's aunty has the same computer and her game works" "I've tried EVERYTHING and NOTHING works"sims not working
once I'm in the game my sims will work and preform one action then after they keep resetting themselves and won't do anything or move. they might start to preform and action I selected then stop half way through I don't know how to fix it. I have recently tried to move my sims game from my computer to a external hard rive and I'm not sure if that has effected it or any cc.[READ FIRST] Saves, CC/Mods or Library items disappeared? iCloud issues
ISSUE Saves One minute your game is working fine. The next you go to play and the Load Game button has disappeared, there seems to be no way to play an existing save. CC/Mods Newly added CC/Mods do not show up in your game despite being properly installed (for help with installing 3rd party content see here) or CC randomly starts disappearing from your game. Library items Saving Lots, Rooms and Households to your in-game Library doesn't work CAUSE Most likely the internal storage on your Mac is too full and iCloud is pushing any newly added files to your Documents folder in the cloud. This can happen at anytime. You can check the storage level by clicking on the Apple in the top left corner of the menu bar then About This Mac, then the Storage tab. By default, the game stores your Saves, Mods, Tray (where your Library items are saved) and all your user game data in a folder called The Sims 4 in Documents > Electronic Arts. If there is no Sims 4 folder in this location the game will recreate a new one each time it is launched. If you have iCloud Drive enabled and set to store your Desktop & Documents folder in the cloud it may be moving your existing Sims 4 folder to the cloud, hence the need to create a new Sims 4 folder every time you launch the game. You can check the status of various files and folders, and what the little cloud icons mean, here. FIX Firstly, you MUST free up some space on your Mac otherwise doing this is pointless. Empty the Downloads folder, go through your data and see what you no longer need, empty the Bin. If you have large Photos, Music and TV libraries consider storing them on an external drive. Instructions here on how to do this for your Photos library, the principle is the same for the Music and TV apps. Open System Preferences and then your iCloud settings. What you click on can vary by macOS, check Apple's help page here if you can't immediately find where to look. This is where you can choose what gets stored in the cloud. We are only interested in two settings, iCloud Drive and Optimise Mac Storage Click on Options... in the iCloud Drive setting and make sure Desktop & Documents Folders is unchecked. Scroll down to the bottom of this Apple help page to understand what happens to your data when you turn off the setting. Back at the iCloud settings window, Uncheck Optimise Mac Storage below the list of apps using iCloud. This means that your Mac will stop pushing files to the cloud when the internal storage is getting full. For more info on this setting read this help page. Once you have successfully stopped iCloud from moving the contents of your Documents folder to the cloud you need to move the Sims 4 folder back into the default location - Macintosh HD > Users > [User] > Documents > Electronic Arts Apple explain here what the status of the little cloud icons mean. If you're feeling brave you could consider creating a symlink and storing your Sims 4 folder on an external drive. Or maybe change your EA App Games Library location to an external Drive.
Newly downloaded Sims 4 crashes whole Mac once running
Hello, I recently re-downloaded the sims 4, however after 5 mins of it running the game freezes and crashes my whole laptop. I have the MacBook pro 2020, the system is completely up to date and prior to redownloading, there were no leftover Sims 4 files. I tried a few trouble shooting options (based on articles found here) like removing the cache file, moving the options.ini file out of the Sims 4 folder, moving the whole sims 4 folder out to create a new one - but to no avail. I also have no files in saved or mods / CC as it is newly downloaded. Please help! :)
No option to load add ons to external drive
Ive only recently started playing sims 4 again and re downloaded all my old games onto my external drive for my Mac. The download went fine and the game runs well. The issue is that I bought the university expansion pack and went to manage my add ons and it was available for download but there were not options to change the location of the download to my external drive and it claimed that did not have the base game (because it isn't on my hard drive). All my other add ons downloaded automatically with the initial download.Help!
Featured Places
The Sims Game Info Hub
Sims highlights, news, patch notes, livestream, with curation guides and posts from Maxis.The Sims 4
Share your Sims 4 creations, discuss stories, get help with expansions & updates, or help others in our friendly forum.The Sims Helpers Blog
Our Sims Heroes are sharing their tech knowledge with the Sims community in the Sims Helpers Blog.The Sims 4 General Discussion
Join lively discussions, share tips, and talk about your experiences in The Sims 4.The Sims 4 Feedback & Ideas
Share your feedback and ideas around The Sims 4 with the community.The Sims 4 Creative Corner
Share screenshots, stories, builds, custom creations, mods, challenges, and funny moments in The Sims 4.The Sims 4 Gameplay Questions & Issues
Get help and answers to your gameplay questions and issues in The Sims 4.The Sims 4 Mods & Custom Content
Find tips, tutorials and troubleshooting for mods and custom content, and The Sims 4 patch files here.The Sims 4 Technical Issues - PC
PC players get help with their technical issues in The Sims 4 here.The Sims 4 Technical Issues - Mac
Do you have technical issues with The Sims 4 on Mac? Get help from the community here!The Sims 4 Technical Issues - Consoles
Get help with your technical issues in The Sims 4 on Xbox and PlayStation in this community forum.The Sims 4 Bug Reports
Report bugs for The Sims 4 on PC, Mac, Playstation, and Xbox.
