Re: Different Sims 4 files

Thank you so much for answering!

I would like to move both things to the external drive.

@AnnaBonany12  First, I'd suggest making two separate folders on your external drive so you're keeping the game's program files and the user data separate.  For example, you could create a Games folder and a Data folder, or whatever you want; the point is to direct the two sets of data to different locations.

If you installed Sims 4 through Origin, or you installed it through the EA App but can still use Origin, you can use Origin's built-in Move Game function to move the game's program files to the location of your choice.  If you don't still have Origin installed, you can download it from here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Origin-Client-Web-Technical/Downloading-and-installing-Origin-Windows-and-Mac/m-p/11915666

Make sure the EA App and its EABackgroundService aren't running in the Task Manager before trying to open Origin.  Then open your Origin game library, right-click on the Sims 4 icon, select Move Game, and choose the folder where you want the game to go.

If you installed Sims 4 through the EA App and can't run Origin anymore, which some people can't, you'll need to uninstall the game and reinstall it in the location you've chosen.

Steam has a Move Game function, called "Move install folder," under Properties > Local files.  Right-click the game tile in your Steam library to see this function.

For the user folder, you'll need to create a symbolic link, as described here:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/02/moving-windows-documents-folder-to-external-drive-via-symbolic-link.html

However, please use the exact file path to the location where you're creating the symlink rather than writing %userprofile% in the command.  If you're not sure what the full file path is, launch the game and find the file path here:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/

Additionally, if you play in Spanish and are redirecting the Sims 4 user folder itself, rather than the Electronic Arts folder, you'll need to use "Los Sims 4" rather than "The Sims 4."  (The only other affected languages are German, French, and Dutch.)  If you like to switch languages, I'd suggest moving the entire Electronic Arts folder, since that has the same name no matter what language you're currently playing in.

If this doesn't work for you, please post the full file path of the Sims 4 folder, as seen in-game, as well as the location where you want the user folder to be on your external drive.  Please also copy and paste the command you used, or post a screenshot of the command prompt window with the command showing.

Hello! I am having the same issue and have been trying to find out how to solve it for days now. The issue is that the game cannot see the old save files and mods (along with other saved content) that I have transferred over from my old computer, using an external drive. I don't want my game on my C Drive, I am trying to install it on my D: Drive. For some reason when I download the game on the NEW computer, the only files I see are (Data, Detal, Game, _Installer, support, bin, and I think all of my DLC files). Even though I copied over all of my saves and mods, I have nowhere to put them since the only folders are the ones previously mentioned. All of the advice I am finding is outdated, and I don't have access to the Origin app anymore so I don't believe I can fix it that way. No matter how many times I reinstall this game it keeps showing me these folders. Also when I install the game on the new computer I cannot find the .exe file that opens the game. How should I fix it? Thank you for your help.

@Caramelyn  You've installed Sims 4 on D: that's what the Data, Delta, and pack folders are.  The Sims 4 user folder is always going to be in Documents > Electronic Arts.  If the game doesn't see that folder, it'll create a new one.

The way around this is by creating a symbolic link, which is the same advice as before and applies equally well now.  It's independent of the Origin/EA App transition.

When creating the symlink, please do NOT direct the game to look in the Sims 4 folder that contains the game's program files.  Create a separate folder on D, for example D:\Data or D:\EA, and put the Sims 4 user folder you want the game reading inside that.

Ok! I figured it out somehow. Just you telling me where the documents were stored was very helpful. The game downloaded where I needed it too and now the correct folders are in my electronic arts folder where they needed to be. Thank you so much for your help and the quick response 🙂

@puzzlezaddictHello, i have gone through the steps including finding my user path. When i get to the step in making a symbolic link where i have to type the command in, it says “The system cannot find the path specified” and ive spent an hour trying to figure out why it says this. I’ve also tried creating a different folder in the external file to put the user file in as you recommended in a previous post, but it still said the same thing. I’m going to attach a screenshot just in case ive messed something up in the command? If you could let me know what might be wrong it would be helpful, thanks!

@CutiecatPuffydog  What is the path where the Sims 4 user folder would be, and what is the path to the folder you want the game to read?  The first is the path you see in-game, and the second is whatever is on your external drive.  Please list both; you can write [username] instead of your actual username if you want.

The Sim's user data files being in the Documents folder is the most asinine thing I've ever heard of. Free OneDrive accounts (which a lot of people use) on Windows 11 forces the Documents folder to be synced with the cloud. The free OneDrive tier maxes out at 5gb, so it doesn't take long for the Sims to max out the OneDrive storage. 

My Niece came to me and was asking why her OneDrive wasn't syncing any more. I finally figured out that this is why. So, I figured, ok, I'll just configure the Sims user data folder to be where I wanted it to be. But no, we're SOL.

Storing user data (especially data that can be many gigs) in Documents by default a terrible idea, not allowing it to be configured by the user is ridiculous. Unbelievable. 

@stoltzyplus  You can use a symbolic link to direct the user folder elsewhere:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/02/moving-windows-documents-folder-to-external-drive-via-symbolic-link.html

You can of course move the location of the Documents directory away from OneDrive so that no data is auto-synced.  I understand that not everyone wants to do this, but it's a viable option, and it's not too difficult to manually copy files you DO want synced to the OneDrive version of Documents.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#Disabled

As for user configurations, that's asking for trouble.  Plenty of Sims 4 players don't even know they have a user folder, and some of them would choose a location protected by Windows or otherwise inaccessible.  At least every Windows system will always have a user Documents folder, and Sims 4 should be able to read from and write to it.

I tried the symbolic link and that doesn’t work because OneDrive follows it too when syncing files.

As you say, you can actually disable syncing (“backing up”) of the Documents folder. It just took me a while to find, as they changed how it worked since last time I used it. So removing Documents did the trick, but now my niece doesn’t have a standard Documents folder for putting, well you know, DOCUMENTS! I just created a Documents folder on her Desktop and told her to put her files there.

I think Sims using that folder by default is fine, whatever their reasons are, but I think they should also have an advanced setting, so power users have other options.

I don’t think Steam has this issue.

@stoltzyplus  There should absolutely be a Documents folder in C > Users > username (not inside OneDrive).  If it's not there, you can recreate it, and you can edit the registry to designate it as the Documents directory:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/operation-to-change-a-personal-folder-location-fails-in-windows-ffb95139-6dbb-821d-27ec-62c9aaccd720

Steam definitely has this issue in that Sims 4 reads from the same folder as it would with an EA App install.