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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 😊
Taking photos almost impossible since June 30th update
I'm on a fully updated M1 Macbook pro. I've been playing the game for years on this Mac and never had any serious issues but since the last update the camera mode to take photos ingame has been a real headache. After "locking" the camera in to frame something I can't get rid of the framing/can't change the faming anymore. Before I would click inside the viewfinder and it unlocked so I could adjust the faming but that doesn't work anymore. I don't use any mods that weren't cleared and I don't use any mods that change the behaviour of the photo camera/camera in general. Repairing the game and a fresh install didn't change the behaviour. My Camera.ini looked like it was fine/unchanged? Does anyone else have this problem?
Game crashing 2-3 times in one session
I have been playing every night the past week and every night my game has been crashing 2-3 times a night. I updated the game on May 22nd. My game crashes every once in a while but never this much every day. I don't know what any of it means, how can i fix it? I have restarted my laptop, the app and deleted all the files and downloaded them again. I never use CC or Mods.
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"Unable to open my game
I’ve been having issues with disk space on Mac because of gb of sims. So, I got an external hard drive and that worked for a bit but the other it said problems with disk space. So, I deleted everything from my computer. I redownloaded ea and installed sims and packs which took like 14 hours. I have it set to install in the hard drive, and move everything I saw to the hard drive. Then I go to play and it says I’m unable to open the game because of an ea issue, and try later. But an error popped up saying the issue was code 1 missing from library so I have no idea what the issue is. I tried contacting ea and they said a couple mins and no response about 40 mins later. So if anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate it, or I could delete everything and redownload again.Missing saves
I recently deleted everything sims related off my mac because I was having troubles with disk space. So I redownloaded to put everything on a hard drive and repaired it so I’m able to play but now I have none of my previous worlds. I tried seeing if any were in trash and I don’t think those are the files. I was wondering if there was anyway to access them still though my account or if they’re gone completely. I’ve only played my household a couples weeks/month so I won’t be torn up but I want to recover it if anyway possible. Thank you!!!!
(Mac) Forever load screen + full screen
Hello, I have a brand new MacBook Air m5 16 RAM so essentially nothing is on it but sims 4 and about 3,000 cc items. The issue I keep having is resuming game and sometimes when I click manage worlds too quickly a forever load happens. Or when I am in CAS for at least two minutes I’ll finish and get a forever load. I tried everything top to bottom, no cc, no mods (I only have 2), new save, removing sims 4 folder, lower graphics and even uninstalling and reinstalling the game. The only thing so far that has been working is windowed screen and I’ve added my build, hair and clothing cc slowly and it’s loading in 10 seconds like it’s supposed to. I’m still slowly adding the rest of my cc. But is this just a bug I have to deal with til it’s fixed? Or is there a solution? Please help!!
Please fix my game - can't play
Its been saying I cannot play for the past 2 weeks I cannot play cuz it keeps saying you guys my game and it doesnt allow me to play I bought about 80 Euros of packs to than get denied and saying the problem lays with you guys help me fix it [CM edit - descriptive title and CAPS]
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