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Unable to load households - Mac OS 15.7.5
Hello everyone, I can't load any households into my game. The last time I played was in June 2025. I tried restarting the game in March 2026 (after installing the latest update) and encountered this problem. I gave up, thinking I'd try again after a future update. So I started trying again a few days ago, and the problem persists. I can access the world, but I can't load any household. I've tried: launching without my mods -> same problem launching with a "new" Sims 4 file (after moving the previous one), then restoring Saves and Tray -> same problem launching the game without Saves and Tray -> the newly created household loads correctly. I therefore conclude that the problem stems from my save file, but why? Everything was working fine the last time I played, in June 2025. Is there any way to fix this? I tried using the few older save files the game offered, but it didn't change anything. If necessary, I should also be able to find older save files on an external hard drive. Thanks in advance for your help. NB : During my multiple attempts, I ended up once with a "lastexception" file, which you will find attached.
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"Game keeps updating
Hello. I had the Sims 4 on an external hard drive and now it's back on my Mac. I was at first able to open the game, but now, it keeps updating over and over again. I have probably clicked the update button 50 times. I have cleared the cache for the EA app. What can I do so I can play my game?
Save error code
I've never had an issue with the Sims before, I'm kind of hoping it will resolve with the bug update that's coming soon. My game keeps going back to the same date and time, even though I've played since then. I've tried saving as, clearing cache files, repairing the game, recovering my household and I don't play consistently with mods (they haven't been on my game in months). It's completely fine when I do play, saving is the only issue. Do I wait for the bug update or is there anything else I can do?Updated the EA App, Saves Disappeared
I hadn't played for awhile and the EA wanting to make changes pop up kept showing up, where you have to login. And I pressed cancel not thinking much of it. But then I couldn't open the EA app, so I thought the culprit was my mods so I removed my mods and the EA app finally opened, but when I went offline to play the sims because I've been putting off the update that's also on the sims not just the EA app, my saves disapppeared and was telling me to start a new game. All of my saves are gone, all of my storylines. Please explain. Or help. I looked in my files and all my saves are gone...🛠️ Creating a symlink in macOS to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive
➡️ This is not to be confused with installing the actual Sims 4 game on an external drive. The game installation location is determined in EA App and there is no need to use a symlink for this. As internal storage gets smaller we're forced to use cloud based solutions to store files and folders or resort to a trusty external drive. Cloud based only storage is not an option for the Sims 4 folder that contains all your saves, Mods, Library items and other user data because the game only looks in one place for your data: Macintosh HD > Users > [your user account] > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 If there is no Sims 4 folder in that location the game will create a new one. There is no way around this default Sims 4 folder location unfortunately, it is hard coded into the game. Because of this the only option to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive is to create a symbolic link, otherwise known as a symlink. Creating the symlink is relatively easy provided you understand the concept of what a symlink is and why you are creating it. You should also be familiar with Terminal on your Mac and the security and permission systems in place in whichever version of macOS you are running as these dictate the ability for the game to access the external drive and whether your Mac user account has permission to grant the necessary access. You should also make sure you are using a good quality, fast external drive. You get what you pay for and if you bought a cheap drive, with low quality cables, you will most likely struggle to get the symlink to work because it will be too slow. For help buying an external drive and what to look out for read this guide. I am not going to write step by step instructions here, the post will be far too long. Instead, you can read the detailed and comprehensive guide I wrote several years ago here https://bluebellflora.com/saving-your-sims-4-folder-to-an-external-drive/ If your symlink is not working it is down to user error. It really is that simple. macOS is a Unix based operating system and as such uses Unix commands which are all provided in the above linked guide. This thread is for consolidating all posts related to the Mac symlink process here at Answers HQ. If you're a Windows user read Crinrict's excellent guide here https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/02/moving-windows-documents-folder-to-external-drive-via-symbolic-link.html. What I have provided below are a few of the common issues people face as a result of not entering the commands correctly or having the correct permissions in place. Common issues reported and the solution: Always check your external drive has the correct name in Disk Utility: open Disk Utility (Applications > Utilities) change View to Show All Devices then click on the drive in the left sidebar the Mount Point shows the name of your drive. If there is a number added to the drive name it means the drive has not been properly ejected multiple times Close Disk Utility and eject the drive In Finder click on Go in the menu bar then Go To Folder. Enter /Volumes in the input field and hit return in the /Volumes location, trash the folder(s) that has the same name as the external drive Close Finder, plug the drive back in, open Disk Utility again to check the drive name in the Mount Point. If it matches try to create the symlink In addition to checking the external drive mount point above, the following may also be helpful: Terminal states my access/permission is denied check your Mac user account is an Administrator account and not a Standard account. check that Terminal has access to external drives, also known as Removable Volumes, and your Documents folder. I'm constantly getting "Unable to start... Cannot start because the below file appears to be corrupted" error message make sure the external drive is correctly formatted as either APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). If it isn't, reverse the symlink, reformat the drive in Disk Utility and start again. check your Mods actually aren't corrupted by downloading a compatible version from the creator. I keep getting the error message "Unable to start... The Sims 4 is already running" make sure the external drive is correctly plugged in and mounted. check EA App has access to the external drive in System Settings > Privacy & Security. Give it Full Disk Access if necessary. disable iCloud Drive if the symlink folder in Documents is a white page instead of a folder with the little arrow the symlink has broken. Trash it and attempt to recreate the symlink. Check the Mount Point in Disk Utility shows your exact external drive name and doesn’t have a number added to the drive name. If it does this means your drive has not been properly ejected multiple times. To fix it: eject the drive in Finder click on Go in the menu bar then Go To Folder enter /Volumes in the text field and hit Enter/Return in the Finder window that appears you should see a folder, not a drive icon, with the same name as your external drive. Trash it. plug the drive back in, check the mount point in Disk Utility is the exact drive name with no appended numbers, then try to create the symlink again. if the mount point is still showing a number you have problems with your drive. Consider reformatting it, trying different connector cables, or getting a better drive. Terminal tells me No such file or directory did you copy and paste the command from the guide and correctly substitute the name of your external drive? If you didn't copy and paste you may have used the wrong letters in the command. Copy and paste from the guide. Does the folder you are trying to move or create a symlink to exist in the location you are stipulating in the command? Terminal tells me Directory not empty in Step 1 Is there already a folder on the external with the same name as the folder you're moving? i.e. have you already copied over the Electronic Arts folder? If there is already a folder with the same name as the folder you're moving, Terminal will return this result. Terminal tells me File already exists in Step 2 of the guide Did you correctly complete step 1 or is there still an Electronic Arts or Sims 4 folder in your Documents folder? If the folder is still there you have not correctly moved it in Step 1. If you have iCloud Drive enabled to store your Documents folder in the cloud and Optimise Storage enabled, it will cause issues with the symlink. I strongly advise to disable this iCloud feature otherwise you will have issues, especially if you use Mods. As a reminder, creating this symlink is aimed at people storing their Electronic Arts/Sims 4 folder locally. Using iCloud Drive stores your folder in the cloud and locally. For help with iCloud see this thread https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Saves-CC-Mods-or-Library-items-disappeared/m-p/10242133
Cannot Rotate Camera or Edit Sim Body Parts in CAS w/ mouse After Update
Platform: Mac 26.3.1 (a) (25D771280a) Mods or Custom Content: None. I have never used mods or custom content. Game Version: 1.123.85.1220 Description: Since 5/6/26, my mouse controls in The Sims 4 have stopped functioning correctly on Mac. I can no longer drag or edit body parts in Create-a-Sim (CAS). I also cannot click and drag to rotate or tilt the camera normally. The mouse wheel only zooms in and out, and right-click only allows edge scrolling. Basic clicking and selecting still works, but most mouse movement controls no longer function. Before this started, the mouse worked perfectly fine. I primarily play using a mouse, and this issue is severely disrupting gameplay because there do not appear to be equivalent keyboard controls on Mac for editing Sims in CAS. The only keyboard controls I’ve found that still work are CMD + Up/Down to tilt and < or > to rotate. I have already repaired the game 4 separate times, bought and tested a completely new mouse, and confirmed that I have no mods or CC installed. Nothing has fixed the issue. I searched older threads and found many players reporting similar problems over the years, but I have not found an actual solution or official fix. I also have a video showing the problem, although I do not think I can upload it here. Has anyone found a real fix for this on Mac?
Game won’t launch
Help !!! I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling both the game and ea .. I updated all of my mods , created a new sims 4 folder and still nothing .. It’s weird though like I’ll remove that specific item and then another one will appear and I’ll continuously delete the one they tell me to and then move onto another one and so forth and then eventually it’ll just say that the game itself isn’t working like in the first photo .. either way, I’ll delete a bunch of cc’s and it’ll bring me back to the fact that the game is not workingCannot launch game - no custom content/mods
Hey, I can open the game, but when I try to load my saved game, it just gets stuck on the loading screen. I do not use custom content/mods. I tried moving the Sims 4 folder out of the EA folder to my desktop, and I was able to create and play a whole new game. Is there a way for me to be able to get back into my saved game, though?
Game crash on Mac
Hello, my game keeps crashing. After a couple of minutes of playing my game just quits unexpectedly. I tested a clean game and everything was fine. Then I created a new save, and everything was fine, so I moved a copy of my saves into the game and started playing, but my game quit. I'm not really sure what to do now. The only thing that I can say I do is zoom in and out, and it quits (I think that's the issue), but even then, that doesn't sound like it can cause my game to keep quitting on me. Should I try and put a copy of an older save and see if this still happens? I do use mods and CC, but all was removed, game repaired and I started a clean game-> still happening My Mac fulfills all minimum requirements -> still quitsEP16 and SP09 corrupted download on Mac
Hi everyone — posting here because I'm having the same issue after the April 16th patch. My EP16 expansion pack and SP09 stuff pack are both showing as "still downloading" in game, even though my EA account shows them as fully owned and the files are in the correct folders. I've tried everything: cleared EA cache, repaired the game, uninstalled and reinstalled multiple times. Nothing works. So I went into the actual pack folders and checked the file sizes, and here's what I found: EP16: • SimulationFullBuild0.package — 6.6 MB (should be several GB) • SimulationPreload.package — 3.9 MB (should be much larger) SP09: • SimulationFullBuild0.package — 1.1 MB (should be much larger) • ClientFullBuild0.package — 155.7 MB Every single reinstall pulls the exact same undersized files, which tells me EA's servers are serving incomplete files for these two packs specifically. A different pack I purchased around the same time downloaded and works perfectly fine, so this is isolated to EP16 and SP09. I'm on Mac using the EA App. Has anyone else seen this or found a fix? And is there any way to actually reach EA support beyond the forum — there's no live chat available to me.[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.Sims 4 deleted games
I don´t know if it just happened to me, but I´m freaking out. I opened sims as I usually do and all my saves were gone. It just says: "welcome to the sims 4!", and NOTHING is in my game. What do I do? It worked yesterday. Did sims just delete all of my saves? I still have the packs. Has this happened to anyone else? What do I do?
Unable 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 😊Issues with April 16 2026 Patch Update
I'm having issues after updating my Sims. I was able to turn on the check mark for the script mods and cc but once I tried recopening the game I keep getting a popup basically saying my mods are bad and out of date. It didnt go away even when I only had updated mods on the folders. All the popular ones arent working, MCC, Basemental, Pandasama, **bleep**, and others. I recently moved my mods and cc to an external SSD but I dont think thats the issue because I was able to open the game once. I repaired it and that didnt do anything. I've removed more than half of my mods already idk what to do.
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