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Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
3 years ago

Re: 🛠️ Creating a symlink in macOS to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive

@princesskiaaa_

Yes, but……

What do you mean by your Sims 4 game in your Documents folder? Where is the base game and Sims 4 Packs folder installed?

It’s really not a good idea to install just your Mods folder on an external drive, you should move the Sims 4 folder or, and this is my preference, the Electronic Arts folder. To be clear, the Electronic Arts folder which is currently in your Documents folder as confirmed in my previous post.

8 Replies

  • princesskiaaa_'s avatar
    princesskiaaa_
    3 years ago

    Yes I thought it would be possible to store only my mods folder but I was originally trying to move my entire Electronic Arts folder to the hard drive and run my game from there I couldn't get the symlink to work that was the part I was stuck on. If I move my entire folder and my origin app to my hard drive would it work like that?

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    3 years ago
    @princesskiaaa_

    No. The game installation (base game + Sims 4 Packs folder) which is downloaded from Origin is completely separate from the Sims 4 folder that contains your saves, mods etc.

    The game installation does not require the symlink.

    The Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 folder requires the symlink.
  • princesskiaaa_'s avatar
    princesskiaaa_
    3 years ago

    Okay I am going to try and wipe my hard drive and see if I can try the symlink again. I honestly just want to move my entire game Origin and all to my hard drive because sims is the only game I play on there anyway.

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    3 years ago
    @princesskiaaa_

    Yes, having the game and Electronic Arts folder on the external can work. What is your game library location showing in Origin? Origin > Preferences > Installs & Saves, could you post a screenshot of that too.

    Could you also post a screenshot of the contents of your local Documents folder on your Mac?

  • princesskiaaa_'s avatar
    princesskiaaa_
    3 years ago

    I gave it a rest on trying to move the folder and start redownloading a lot of cc I lost lol

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    3 years ago
    @princesskiaaa_

    Great, and the game loads ok from the external?

    I would try:

    Create a new folder on the external drive, call it “Previous EA folder” or similar, and move that existing Electronic Arts folder that is on the external into it. Then, empty the trash on your Mac, close all apps including Origin, eject the external drive and restart your Mac.

    Once your Mac has restarted, plug the drive back in and open it so the contents fully load in Finder. Next, open Origin. It will probably want to repair the game and all packs because the drive has been unplugged so wait for that to finish.

    Once all that is done, try the guide again so do step 1 and move the Electronic Arts folder from your Documents folder to the external then do step 2 and create the symlink.
  • princesskiaaa_'s avatar
    princesskiaaa_
    3 years ago

    Okay I will try that! Thank you, I I’ll come to this post and let you know how it goes 😁

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