SIMS 4: Taking very long time in "Preparing to Download"

Hi. I just learned that Sims 4 has recently been made available for Mac. So I decided to purchase online via Origin everything available to download. However, it's been almost 30 minutes and all it shows is "Preparing to Download". Bad thing, it won't start downloading. I'm new with Origin and would like to hear from you if this is a "usual" occurrence, or if I need technical help from EA or Origin. Please let me know what you know about this odd event. Been waiting too long and really excited to start playing.

Thanks in advance!

gameplay issue

Anonymous
10 years ago
Check behind the Origin window, the "agreement" window came up BEHIND the actualy physical origin one, so it wasn't downloading because I hadn't accepted it yet. If it's taking a long time, just minimize it to check if there is a secondary window asking you to do something.

19 Replies

Gallifreya
8 years ago
I had the same problem. It was being caused by having two computers on my home network both logged into Origin. Logged out of one and hey presto the Sims4 started up on the other PC.
Anonymous
8 years ago
me as well
Anonymous
7 years ago
Hi!
I've had the same issue with my macbook where origin wouldn't resume downloading the update. I cleared the cache and downloaded the latest version of origin as they recommend. After that, my update was stuck on "preparing download."
I did a software update on my mac, and problem solved!

Check if your laptop is up to date. Sims started to update straight away after finishing the software update.
Anonymous
7 years ago
I'm having a similar issue on PC. My expansion packs weren't downloading so I had to uninstall Sims 4 and I'm reinstalling it. It's been hours and it's only at 15%. I cancelled the download then restarted it on a stronger internet connection and it still isn't working. I cleared my cache, removed background apps, and even restarted the download to try to speed it up. It's not my computer because Steam downloads much bigger games at a faster pace.
EA_Darko
Community Manager
7 years ago
@93123126

Can you try the following steps please:

Disable all background programs on your system (including Steam). You can also do this with a clean boot

Temporarily disconnect all other devices that you don't need from your network

Use a wired connection

Make sure Origin is accepted in your anti-virus and firewall

You can also try using Safe Mode Downloading via Origin which is under Application Settings, Advanced
bpgk
6 years ago
@EmChapman95 Thanks this helped me too
kimbobutter
6 years ago
@angeldelarue thank you so much I was about to throw my computer out of the window if I hadn't seen your comment
1lgco2urv3sm
2 years ago
clearing the cache helped alot
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
2 years ago
For issues downloading Sims 4 in Windows, please use the EA App forum:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports-Technical-Issues/bd-p/ea-app-bug-reports-en

Since this thread is quite old, I'll lock it here.