Forum Widgets
[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 saves/user content disappearing (PC)
Overview jump to: Restoring missing saves jump to: I want OneDrive to keep syncing my files jump to: I don't want OneDrive to sync my files jump to: I want to get rid of OneDrive jump to: My saves aren't in OneDrive jump to: My saves still aren't appearing in-game In Windows, the most common cause of Sims 4 saves or other user files disappearing is OneDrive. User files are stored in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, and if no Sims 4 folder is present there, the game will make a new one with no content. It won't look elsewhere for saves or other user content. OneDrive syncs the contents of Documents to cloud storage by default. This syncing may have worked fine for some time, but it can fail for one reason or another, and the result is that the user files are removed from local storage. Then when Sims 4 is loaded, saves, Tray files, and mods and custom content are missing, with the only option being to start a new save. If you have a Mac, please use this thread instead: [READ FIRST] Saves, CC/Mods or Library items disappeared? iCloud issues | EA Forums - 10979712 ↑ Restoring missing saves The first place to look for missing files is within OneDrive's cloud storage. Go to onedrive.com, click Sign in in the upper-right corner, and enter the email address and password associated with your Microsoft account. Please check both My files and the Recyle bin for your missing content. OneDrive does only preserve data in the Recycle bin for 30 days for a free basic account, or 93 days for some premium accounts. If that time has passed, the files may be permanently deleted. If you find your missing files, click them to select, then right-click and select Restore: Once you've downloaded the files from OneDrive, you may need to rename them or move them to the correct folder, as in, the one Sims 4 is reading. If you need more help with this process, please read this. To prevent this in the future, you can change OneDrive's settings. Or you can stop syncing or get rid of OneDrive entirely. If you've never used OneDrive, or it doesn't have your saves, please see this. ↑ I want OneDrive to keep syncing my files If your OneDrive has enough space for all your files, the simplest workaround is to tell OneDrive to keep the Sims 4 user folder on your computer. Right-click the folder and select "Always keep on this device." Please double-check that OneDrive has enough storage, or you may run into more trouble. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen and select Settings: Under Account, you'll see the current and total storage: If your OneDrive is full, or your "The Sims 4" folder is larger than the storage you have, you can choose to stop automatically syncing Documents overall, or the Sims 4 folder, or some subfolder, for example the Mods folder. (Please see the next section below.) You can still manually upload files to OneDrive as you choose. Or you can buy a subscription for more OneDrive storage. However, an external drive or USB stick is a one-time purchase and a cheaper long-term solution than a subscription, so consider your options before subscribing. ↑ I don't want OneDrive to sync my files The first step is to make a backup of your "The Sims 4" folder, the one in Documents > Electronic Arts. Right-click it and select Copy, then right-click the location where you want your backup to go and select Paste. If you don't have an external drive or USB stick handy, you can paste the folder into your computer's Downloads folder, which OneDrive doesn't sync. The simplest change is to tell OneDrive not to sync the contents of Documents at all. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, select Settings > Backup, click Manage Backup, and under Documents, click Stop backup, then confirm the choice. Now you can restore the backup version of your Sims 4 folder to Documents > Electronic Arts, and the game should read your data. If you're not seeing your saves in-game, please read this. If you want to get more granular, you can choose to not sync the contents of the Electronic Arts folder, the Sims 4 folder, or any folder inside. First, make a backup of this folder; as above, you can store it on an external device, or in Downloads. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, open Settings > Account, select Choose folders, deselect the folders you don't want OneDrive to sync, and click Okay. Once you deselect the given folder, it will be removed from your computer and stored only in the cloud. You can now restore the backup copy you made, and OneDrive won't sync it. If you forgot to back up this folder, you can still download it from onedrive.com. If you're not seeing your saves in-game, please read this. ↑ I want to get rid of OneDrive If you want to get rid of OneDrive entirely, first make a backup of any synced folders you want to keep. You can right-click the folders and select Copy, then right-click where you want the backups to be and select Paste. An external drive or USB stick is ideal, but if you don't have one handy, you can use your computer's Downloads folder, which OneDrive doesn't sync. You can also find your files later by signing into your Microsoft account at onedrive.com. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, select Settings > Backup, click Manage Backup, and click Stop backup for all three categories, then confirm the choice. The reason to do this is to move the default locations of these folders out of the OneDrive folder on your computer, which might otherwise be a more complicated process. Next, right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen and select Settings > Account, then click Unlink this PC. It's unnecessary to uninstall OneDrive—without a link to a Microsoft account, it has nothing to do. After the above and before you do anything else, please double-check that your Documents folder is no longer in OneDrive. Type "command" in the Windows search box, open Command Prompt, and enter this command: reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal" This will spit out the location of the Documents directory for this Windows account. The file path should no longer include OneDrive, but if it does, as here: Then you'll need to change the location manually. The simple way is to right-click Documents in the left panel of a File Explorer window and choose Properties > Location, then Move, then click This PC, then choose this: C:\Users\[your username]\Documents Click Apply, then Yes. You may get an error that says "Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected." The normal workaround is to stop OneDrive from backing up the location of Documents, as described above. If this hasn't helped, you can change the location of Documents by editing the relevant registry entry: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/operation-to-change-a-personal-folder-location-fails-in-windows-ffb95139-6dbb-821d-27ec-62c9aaccd720 Please be very careful when editing your computer's registry. One simple typo can have significant consequences. Make a backup before you do anything: click File > Export, and save a copy of the entire registry. If you mess up the edit, just restore the backup by double-clicking the saved file. You can check your work with the same Command Prompt command as above. This also applies to the Desktop and Pictures folders if they've previously been directed to OneDrive. ↑ My saves aren't in OneDrive If you don't use OneDrive, or you can't find your saves there, you can search your computer for the saves. Open a File Explorer window, click This PC in the left panel, and enter Slot_ in the search field in the upper-right corner. When the scan finishes, if it's found any saves, click one and select the "Open file location" menu button (or right-click the file and select "Open file location"), and you'll jump to wherever the save is, which will hopefully be where the rest of your user files are. Move the saves and any other files you'd like to keep to the relevant subfolders within the Sims 4 folder the game is reading, as it appears in-game: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/ If your saves still aren't appearing in-game, please read this. If your content has disappeared, and it's not hidden on your computer and not in OneDrive, it's worth doing a virus scan. This is not to say you definitely have a virus, only that it's a good idea to check. Download Malwarebytes (the free trial is fine) from here: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download Open it, click Scan > Custom Scan > Configure Scan, check all the boxes for all scans and for all your drives, and let it do its job. This can take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, so you may want to set the scan to run while you're doing something else. If you'd like someone to take a look at the results, please start your own thread and attach the report. ↑ My saves still aren't appearing in-game The two common reasons your saves and other user files might not load in-game is that they're in the wrong folder or they're named improperly. To make sure the files are in the correct folder, load the game and find the full file path to that folder, as described here: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/ To see the full file path of a given file or folder, right-click it and select Properties > General, then look for the Location. If you're having trouble opening the correct folder, click This PC in a File Explorer window instead, then double-click the correct drive (probably C), and open the corresponding folders from there. OneDrive may also have renamed the saves to avoid duplicate files or folders. For example, after changing some settings back and forth, I wound up with this in my saves folder: Saves need to be named in a specific format: Slot_ followed by an eight-digit hexidecimal (base-16, so numbers 0 to 9, letters a to f) number followed by .save , with no extra characters. Each save needs to have a unique number as well. All of these are valid save names: Slot_00000006.save Slot_0000000c.save Slot_00000012.save In the above screenshot, for the affected saves (red arrows), I would delete the - Copy and the space and also renumber the saves, as other saves already have those same numbers. The order in which you number the saves doesn't matter. Choose whatever names are convenient for you, although Sims 4 has occasionally been unable to read saves that start with a digit other than 0. Saves with a .verx on the end are backups of your main saves: the game saves the data from the last five times you saved your progress before the current one. These can be renamed in the same way; once the .verx extension is deleted, the game will read these files as well. The same principles apply to Tray files: they need to be named properly and in the correct Tray folder. But because Tray file names can be more difficult to work with than saves, please start your own thread asking for help if you need it. In that case, include a screenshot or two of the contents of Tray so that the person helping you can identify the problem. Include the address bar, above the list of files, in the screenshot, as in my saves screenshot above. ↑
GAME CRASHING after installing Enchanted By Nature
Ever since installing Enchanted by Nature my save game isn't loading at all. Just crashed instantly. I tried to reload my old save file, it loads but after i'm done using CAS the game crashed. I tried to load make a new game without mods and still the game crashing again after 5 mins of gameplay.
How do I fix this ugly anti aliasing on floors?
Hello there all, I have a bit of an issue with my anti aliasing.... it used to be able to be fixed in nvidia inspector, by using Sparsegrid AA x8 and MSAA also on x8, I have the anti aliasing fix on and the compatibility bits on ( I think). However my anti aliasing on floors is absolutely ugly. Also on plants. My AA in game is also on. If you look you see that the part nearest to your view is fine, its the part after thats jagged. I added attachments for my nvidia inspector settings + my issue. I play on everything maxed out, btw. 2560x1440p RTX 4060 AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 2x8GB 3200MHz windows 11, 25h2 Hope someone can help me out!Invisible Furniture
I am having an issue with furniture disappearing, or, more accurately, turning invisible. Sometimes it'll turn visible again if my sims travel to another lot and come back, but they will also stay invisible sometimes, even when restarting the game. The furniture is still there, however, because I can't place a replacement item in the same spot. This has happened several times, once with a desk and chair with no issues around it, but the other two times, the pieces of furniture (dining chair and couch) were next to plants that had been placed with MoveObjects On. Other pieces of furniture next to plants placed with MoveObjects On has remained visible, however. Windows 11 Home 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor 32.0 GB RAM installed, speed: 5600 MT/s 1.86 TB storage Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-14900KF (3.20 GHz) NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070
Flashing white screen and game crash
Hello, I've got a problem since a few days. No matter what I do in the game (CAS, Gameplay or Build mode), the screen start flashing white and after stay on white screen. I must force restart the computer. I dont use any CC or mod. Yesterday I reinstalled all the game properly and update all the drivers. I've got a good computer for the sims. Today the problem is still here, I'll try to make a new part and it happened 4 times in the CAS. It isn't possible to play like that. Everytime I have to restart everything. Thanks to you. Have a nice day.
Packs/DLC No Longer Exist???
I had a problem a little while ago where my most recent packs were shown as unowned. Luckily, the problem seemed to have solved itself. Unfortunately, the problem is back again, but worse. The game seems to think that multiple packs don't even exist? It's past the point of saying they're unowned; they're not even there to begin with. It is almost like my game has somehow reverted back to a previous version. When I look in the in-game store, the packs are all glitched out. This is extremely upsetting. I did not spend so much money on this game only to have my purchases constantly disappear and have the game glitch out. FIX THIS EA. THIS IS RIDICULOUS. And yes, I repaired the game in the EA app, uninstalled/reinstalled it, cleared the cache in the EA app, etc. I've been troubleshooting for hours and nothing has worked. I removed all mods/cc and nothing has worked. Why does this keep happening? Is my game corrupted? If I cannot play with what I purchased, I expect a refund. This is ridiculous.
Helppp please
Hi guys! I moved my sims game to a hard drive a while ago, I ended up having lots of trouble with it most recently and FINALLY I was able to get it to work. I decided to buy a few more packs and now they won’t download. Correction- I had 2 expansion packs download but when trying my stuff packs it keeps pausing randomly, or saying this folder doesn’t exist. Please can someone else. I’ve done everything under the sun. I’ve changed the names, the paths, deleted, redownloaded . Deleted certain folders, cleared cache, got a new cord, tried different ports. I don’t understand this. I can’t, I’m so exhausted I’m just annoyed becuase I just spent over $60 bucks and now I can’t play the stuff I want. If there’s anybody that went through this that can help me out I’d appreciate it so much.Best non-gaming laptop for the sims 4
Hi! I’ve recently been looking for a non-gaming laptop that is suitable for the sims 4, with mods, cc and the game packs. Is having a non-gaming laptop the best? Or is it best to have a gaming laptop? As I would like to have a non-gaming one for school work as well. Thank you!
(PC) Constant Crashes
Since the July 1st update, I've encountered constant crashes to desktop which I've never experienced before. Here's a list of everything I've done as well as a dxdialog attached: NO mods or CC Updated Nvidia driver Repaired game Deleted cache files Started brand new save games Played offline Moved the entire Sims 4 folder out and started fresh The one thing that seems to work is deleting the Options.ini file so it regenerates when I load up the game. But soon after it starts crashing again. It will crash in build mode, CAS, world management, loading screen, etc. I'd appreciate any insight into fixing this. Thanks!Best Computer Setup for Jam Packed Sims 2026
I know this has been posted before, but I can't find anything newer than 4 years old, and technology changes rapidly. Does anyone have any recommendations for a set up to play the Sims 4 (and future games) with all packs, along with lots of mods and cc? I have a Macbook right now and it's not cutting it. The graphics are getting bad, and my game is getting slow. I would really like to get into storytelling and sharing these stories on YouTube and other social media. So I guess I am also asking what would be a good set up that would run the game with the above, along with the necessary creative tools to edit photos and videos. (I can always use the Macbook for the editing, but just in case there is something out there that handles both well, I thought I'd ask!) Thank you for your help, and Happy Simming in the New Year!Game keeps crashing at loading screen
Hi guys, as the title says, every time I open up the game, it crashes right after showing the game title. I've been trying a few solution provided but still am unable to get it load. What I've done so far: Uninstall and reinstall both sims4 and EA Downloaded Nivida game driver, tried to run sims4 from there Didnt install anything related to razer, i dont know where to find RazerChroma in my files Really appreciate your help on this as i'm not very tech savvy! Thank you all in advance! My Dxdiag as attached.game keeps crashing not sure what to do:(
I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this but I have been trying to get this game to work for like 3 days now. I don’t have an amazing computer just a windows laptop with windows 11 that used to run sims 4 just fine. I deleted the app for awhile but i just tried to redownload and play 3 days ago and it will not let me play for more than 5 minutes without crashing. I checked my graphics driver and everything else it seemed like i needed to check but it still doesn’t work. it seems like my computer is compatible so im just kinda stumped right now. I also took all of my mods out so i know it’s not an issue with any cc or mods. at least i think so lol. anyways any advice would be deeply appreciated!!!!!!
Read First
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
Share your feedback 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.
