Re: Accidentally deleted my 'saves' folder. I recovered them, but they don't work.

@Igor_The_Vegan  I would guess that your saves were permanently damaged when you deleted them, and if so, there's nothing you can do to fix them.  Data recovery programs don't recover every byte, just enough that the programs that run them can usually open the files and make do.  For example, you might be able to fix a text document or spreadsheet with missing or corrupt entries.  And the data recovery programs often guess at what certain missing values should be, rebuilding a somewhat-intact file from the pieces.  But this doesn't necessarily work for Sims 4, and the game can't fix certain issues with save files; you might be at that point.

What you can do now is test all the saves, including the backups, to see whether any are intact enough to play forward.  Even if not, you may be able to rescue your sims: save them to the in-game library, then place them in a new save.  Here's how to manually recover a backup:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/recover-backup-save-game/

I would definitely try as many saves and backups as you can—these might not all be damaged to the same extent and in exactly the same way.  It's kind of a long shot, but your chances increase the more files you have to test.