Winrar files taking up too much space

@gypsygeee I make back-up copies of my Mods folders for both Sims 3 and Sims 4 and store them in a safe place on an external drive (just in case anything bad was to happen to my game folders) and I delete any compressed files I've downloaded from various CC/Mods sites. All of their content is in the Mods folders so the compressed files would basically just be duplicates to my back-up.

Btw- I also make back-ups of my Saves and Tray folders (just in case).

Here is a link to a great article on keeping your Sims 4 game healthy and tips on CC and Mods, in case you are interested:

https://simscommunity.info/2018/08/08/the-sims-4-how-to-ensure-a-healthy-game/2/

Good luck, I hope this helps :D

Oh no! I keep my Rar files in my downloads folder and keep only the extracted ones in the sims folders for the game. I have copies of the sims 3 and sims 4 folders for game play but like I said I have been keeping ALL of my winrar compression files as well. And although they aren’t in the sims folders I fear with the amount I have it could be what’s causing the slowness as well? 

Also with content becoming outdated, once you’ve extracted and played for however long, how do you end up knowing which and what custom content has become outdated or not? 
I have so much cc and noticed sometimes when they change outfits the patchy glare shiny error in their appearance happens but can’t ever figure out what is the cause or what item it may be as, as you know a lot of items go into dressing the sim character, could be hair, jewellery, shoes, piercings, god knows! HOW DO YOU FIND THIS OUT?! 

Yes I have done that as I would have a heart attack if I went to play and something happened to my files/folders haha. 
I honestly think I spend more time downloading then building/playing the game 🤦🏻‍♀️
I just wondered if it was necessary or a good idea to keep the win compress files or whether to get rid of them as I already have the Sims 4 folder backed up on a USB. That way I can finally delete all these win files that take up 40 gigs worth.
But on that note! With the sims 3 folder and files, most of them are the blue sims 3 logo file not winrar?  Can I delete them or do you actually have to keep those ones? When I used to play sims 3 after I would download let’s say a shirt, I would double click the cc file and it would open up on sims 3 and take a few minutes to be added to my custom content library or whatever it was. Which is different to the sims 4. 
I spent so much time confused and googling with the sims even after playing for years. So annoying. 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ADVICE AND LINK 😊

@gypsygeee Sims 4 custom content items (i.e. things like clothing, hair, makeup, etc.) do not become obsolete as often as mods do but it can still happen. Often the indication is exactly how you described it-- it might look fine in CAS but it will give your Sim a patchy, shiny or other odd appearance in live game mode. Unfortunately the only method of sorting them out that I know of is trial and error. Something like this can still be manageable though. You could try something like a mini 50/50 method on a single Sim. For example, when you see a Sim with the patchy, shiny look in their Everyday outfit you can open them in CAS, take note of any CC items they are using, and then spread those CC items out over multiple outfits like this:

- Everyday 1 has the CC top and everything else EA
- Everyday 2 has the CC bottom and everything else EA
- Everyday 3 has the CC shoes and everything else EA

- Everyday 4 has the CC accessories and everything else EA

- Etc.

Then go back to live mode and check each of the outfits until the shiny, patchy Sim thing comes back. You can create up to 5 Everyday outfits and if that is not enough just use a different outfit category. If all of their outfits are glitched then it is likely something like hair or a tattoo that all outfits are sharing. Once you've identified the bad CC you can remove it from your game and delete all of the extra outfits for that Sim. I don't know of any way of fixing bad CC. I'll ask around if this is something Sims 4 Studio can do and I'll update this thread if I learn anything new.

Sims 3 is a much different and more complex story than Sims 4. It might be best if you were to separate those questions to a new thread on the Sims 3 Tech Issues forum (Mac or PC depending on which one you are using) where they will get more attention from experienced Sims 3 players who might not be checking the Sims 4 forums. The short answer might be the files with the blue Sims 3 logo are .Sims3pack files and not compressed RAR files. I would not recommend deleting any of those until this can be sorted out better.

I hope this helps :D

#stayandplay