Hi all,I got some questions about both the tray and saves folders for Sims 4, respectively. Regarding the files in the tray folder (in the directory where the game plays from, not the backup) is it safe to delete the files prior to the lastest date? For example, I did a bunch of stuff today in my Sims 4 game (May 10 date) and have some files from May 8 and May 6. Can I delete the May 8 and May 6 files while retaining the May 10 files in the tray folder? This is all backed up, just trying to save space as everything I save in Sims 4 accrues rather than overwrites. Also, to be clear the tray folder is where the household and changes to the world (blueprints) are stored, right?Likewise to the tray question above, can I delete older save files? Do they accrue if you save multiple times in a single day or do saves accrue per save you make? Does anything get overwritten?Your help is much appreciated. Namaste.

@kittell17 Save just overwrites your current save. So does Save and Exit the game, Save and Exit to Manage Worlds and Save and Exit to the Main Menu. It does not accrue and it does not create separate new saves.Save As lets you create a new save with a different name and it will accrue if you use it often. I use it to create a backup every time I play and delete the earlier backups. So I always have 2 current save files for just in case something goes wrong so I don't lose all my progress. I also play a big game with over a 100 households and most of my lots are now custom which I either created or downloaded from the Gallery. All of that is in a single save. I don't want to lose thousands of hours of play so I make sure I have backups of everything. Keep in mind that the last file you saved, regardless of title, is the one that gets loaded the next time you start the game with the big arrow on the Main Menu. To load any other save, you need to use Load Game which lets you pick which save gets loaded.As I said earlier, the Tray folder contains the items in your Library. Deleting them will usually not mess up your active game. It will just remove things from your Library. The dates associated with the files there are simply the date and time you saved a lot or household to your Library. Deleting anything there will delete them from your library. Each item in your library has multiple files.I do not recommend that you delete files directly in either the Saves or Tray folders. You really do run the risk of ruining your current save or the items in your library if you do. It is much, much safer to use the in game methods to manage both your saves and your library. Everything you save in either folder creates multiple files for each save or library item. Deleting even one of those files associated to a save or library item will mess up whatever the thing was you saved. If you still want to test the effects of deleting files directly though, I recommend that you make a copy of your entire Sims 4 folder and put it somewhere safe like on your desktop so you don't mess up your game if things go wrong. Then have at it to see first hand what happens. Tbh, deleting files from either folder is not going to save you any appreciable drive space. What really takes up storage is cc. If you download a lot of cc and add it to your game, it can add up quickly. It also can have a detrimental effect on your game in a lot of ways. I do use cc and mods but I manage what I have and try to keep the amount down and only keep things I use regularly. Another thing that can add up quickly is screenshots and using the in game photograpy. All those files are stored in the Screenshots folder. To max the photography skill, it takes between 90 and 150 photos per sim. You can delete those without a negative effect on the game except that any portraits you take will go black if the file it uses is deleted so you need to pay attention to what you are deleting.Hope this helps you.

Forum Discussion

kittell17

6 years ago

Solved

Tray & Saves Folders

Hi all,

I got some questions about both the tray and saves folders for Sims 4, respectively.

Regarding the files in the tray folder (in the directory where the game plays from, not the backup) is it safe to delete the files prior to the lastest date? For example, I did a bunch of stuff today in my Sims 4 game (May 10 date) and have some files from May 8 and May 6. Can I delete the May 8 and May 6 files while retaining the May 10 files in the tray folder? This is all backed up, just trying to save space as everything I save in Sims 4 accrues rather than overwrites. Also, to be clear the tray folder is where the household and changes to the world (blueprints) are stored, right?
Likewise to the tray question above, can I delete older save files? Do they accrue if you save multiple times in a single day or do saves accrue per save you make? Does anything get overwritten?

Your help is much appreciated. Namaste.

gameplay issue

CGrant56
6 years ago
@kittell17
Save just overwrites your current save. So does Save and Exit the game, Save and Exit to Manage Worlds and Save and Exit to the Main Menu. It does not accrue and it does not create separate new saves.
Save As lets you create a new save with a different name and it will accrue if you use it often. I use it to create a backup every time I play and delete the earlier backups. So I always have 2 current save files for just in case something goes wrong so I don't lose all my progress. I also play a big game with over a 100 households and most of my lots are now custom which I either created or downloaded from the Gallery. All of that is in a single save. I don't want to lose thousands of hours of play so I make sure I have backups of everything.
Keep in mind that the last file you saved, regardless of title, is the one that gets loaded the next time you start the game with the big arrow on the Main Menu. To load any other save, you need to use Load Game which lets you pick which save gets loaded.
As I said earlier, the Tray folder contains the items in your Library. Deleting them will usually not mess up your active game. It will just remove things from your Library. The dates associated with the files there are simply the date and time you saved a lot or household to your Library. Deleting anything there will delete them from your library. Each item in your library has multiple files.
I do not recommend that you delete files directly in either the Saves or Tray folders. You really do run the risk of ruining your current save or the items in your library if you do. It is much, much safer to use the in game methods to manage both your saves and your library. Everything you save in either folder creates multiple files for each save or library item. Deleting even one of those files associated to a save or library item will mess up whatever the thing was you saved.
If you still want to test the effects of deleting files directly though, I recommend that you make a copy of your entire Sims 4 folder and put it somewhere safe like on your desktop so you don't mess up your game if things go wrong. Then have at it to see first hand what happens.
Tbh, deleting files from either folder is not going to save you any appreciable drive space. What really takes up storage is cc. If you download a lot of cc and add it to your game, it can add up quickly. It also can have a detrimental effect on your game in a lot of ways. I do use cc and mods but I manage what I have and try to keep the amount down and only keep things I use regularly.
Another thing that can add up quickly is screenshots and using the in game photograpy. All those files are stored in the Screenshots folder. To max the photography skill, it takes between 90 and 150 photos per sim. You can delete those without a negative effect on the game except that any portraits you take will go black if the file it uses is deleted so you need to pay attention to what you are deleting.
Hope this helps you.

9 Replies

CGrant56
Hero+
6 years ago
@kittell17
The Tray folder is where all the lots and sims that are in your library are stored. You can delete them directly but your library will be empty. So anything you've downloaded or saved to your library will be gone. I do not recommend you delete those files directly. It is best if you go into your library and delete what you don't want there as each item has multiple files.
Anything in the saves folder can be deleted but I would not recommend deleting those files directly either. You should go into the game and delete the saves you don't want to keep using the load game button or you can go on into your game and into a lot and then use the Save As option to pick and delete the saves you don't want. When you mouse over the saves in either place, a little x pops up that is used to delete the save. Again, each save you have has multiple files so by deleting them directly you run a risk of messing up your active save.
kittell17
6 years ago
Hi @CGrant56
Thank you for your help and response. I'm a total noob with Sims 4, so please bear with me.
To be clear, in regards to deleting saves I would need to do "save as" during gameplay in order to create a brand new save, and safely delete an older one? Doesn't the "save", not "save as" overwrite the previous save, or does it accrue?
I'm only playing as one household and populated the other worlds, including the one with my active household, with other Sims, lots, etc. It seems to me that the save folder may likely be less of an annoyance than the tray folder.
As for the tray folder, I understand that deleting the contents (especially with no backup) can really mess up my game, etc. What I am not quite clear is , is it okay to delete the older files according to it date? For example, today's date will have a bunch because I did some changes here and there. Are the tray files dated today independent of the rest or does everything in that tray file feed off each other, so to speak?
Thank you for your assistance
CGrant56
Hero+
6 years ago
@kittell17
Save just overwrites your current save. So does Save and Exit the game, Save and Exit to Manage Worlds and Save and Exit to the Main Menu. It does not accrue and it does not create separate new saves.
Save As lets you create a new save with a different name and it will accrue if you use it often. I use it to create a backup every time I play and delete the earlier backups. So I always have 2 current save files for just in case something goes wrong so I don't lose all my progress. I also play a big game with over a 100 households and most of my lots are now custom which I either created or downloaded from the Gallery. All of that is in a single save. I don't want to lose thousands of hours of play so I make sure I have backups of everything.
Keep in mind that the last file you saved, regardless of title, is the one that gets loaded the next time you start the game with the big arrow on the Main Menu. To load any other save, you need to use Load Game which lets you pick which save gets loaded.
As I said earlier, the Tray folder contains the items in your Library. Deleting them will usually not mess up your active game. It will just remove things from your Library. The dates associated with the files there are simply the date and time you saved a lot or household to your Library. Deleting anything there will delete them from your library. Each item in your library has multiple files.
I do not recommend that you delete files directly in either the Saves or Tray folders. You really do run the risk of ruining your current save or the items in your library if you do. It is much, much safer to use the in game methods to manage both your saves and your library. Everything you save in either folder creates multiple files for each save or library item. Deleting even one of those files associated to a save or library item will mess up whatever the thing was you saved.
If you still want to test the effects of deleting files directly though, I recommend that you make a copy of your entire Sims 4 folder and put it somewhere safe like on your desktop so you don't mess up your game if things go wrong. Then have at it to see first hand what happens.
Tbh, deleting files from either folder is not going to save you any appreciable drive space. What really takes up storage is cc. If you download a lot of cc and add it to your game, it can add up quickly. It also can have a detrimental effect on your game in a lot of ways. I do use cc and mods but I manage what I have and try to keep the amount down and only keep things I use regularly.
Another thing that can add up quickly is screenshots and using the in game photograpy. All those files are stored in the Screenshots folder. To max the photography skill, it takes between 90 and 150 photos per sim. You can delete those without a negative effect on the game except that any portraits you take will go black if the file it uses is deleted so you need to pay attention to what you are deleting.
Hope this helps you.
kittell17
6 years ago
@CGrant56 Yes! Thank you! 😉 My only complaint is that I wish Sims 4 was easier to keep track of each saved Sim and household like how it was for Sims 3. And I'm glad that the file size for tray and saves won't get too large. Thanks again.
kittell17
6 years ago
Hi all,
I want to preserve the original founder couple that started my Sim household family tree. I know about the tray folder and have backed them up before they aged, had babies, etc. My question is, after I uploaded this original couple to the Gallery, does this preserve them as they are forever, and for future downloads, say if I should lose my backup of the tray files with them? I'm just trying to find a backup solution to a backup solution, if you know what I mean.😉 Thanks!
CGrant56
Hero+
6 years ago
@kittell17
You can save every lot and sim to your library at any point and the Tray folder is where all that is stored on your computer. So if you want to keep them forever then you will need to make a copy of that and put it somewhere safe. You could also just save the entire Sims 4 folder.
About once a week, I make a copy of my full Sims 4 Tray and Saves folders so I can recover if I have some sort of major problem. In the game, I also use 2 save files and rotate which one I use every day so if something should happen, at most I lose only one day's progress in my game.
Hope this helps.
kittell17
6 years ago
@CGrant56
Thank you. So if I upload any households to the online Gallery it won't preserve them? I mean, the tray folder makes sense. I have been doing as you have instructed, certainly. I am just curious if uploading to the Gallery adds an extra punch to preserving a household.
CGrant56
Hero+
6 years ago
@kittell17 I really don't know the answer to that as I only use the Gallery to download things other players have shared there. But I really don't think it is intended to serve as a backup for players. Imo, it was created as a way for players to share their creations. I have no idea how long anything may be remain there.
kittell17
6 years ago
@CGrant56 Fair enough. Thanks anyway. 🙂