Seeking Tips for Moving Current Save to New Computer

Just copy paste your ENTIRE Sims folder onto a storage device of your choice (for instance a flash drive or a cloud service you know and trust, just make sure it's big enough) and then replace the sims folder in your new computer saying yes to any questions that asks if you want to replace a file/folder.

Your Sims folder is located (I assume you have windows?) in your documents folder inside the Electronics Arts folder. At least it is for me and I have windows 10.

I agree with the above. I transferred my entire Sims4 Folder onto a flash drive, as a backup just prior to the Infants drop. This has been a saving grace for me. I made a copy of the copy to play the game. I've had to do this a second time, not fully realizing that the glitch that ended up in the newest Save As, was due to some cc I had in the MODS FOLDER. I hadn't even placed it in the lot. Sheesh. I deleted that entire save and made a second copy of the copy from the stick. All is well, so far. My gaming rig flat out gave up the ghost. Turned out the drive was no longer consulted when I turned the computer on. No communication whatsoever. Best of luck, it would be such a shame to lose your story and all of the work you've put into it. Be sure to just made a copy of what you save, if you use a flash drive, so if something goes wrong, you can resurrect it. (I don't use clouds, I don't trust them at all.)

I once just emailed saves and any mods I was using to myself so I could put it on any computer then when I reinstalled I exchanged whatever I emailed.

what persons above said,with copying ALL, you have identical copy of your game. Library, pictures, all. :)

However, If you only want to transport your saves, as those are, its enough you copy and paste only "saves" folder (and mods folder of course if you use those or cc!)

Congrats on the new laptop!

I've gotten into the habit of saving a copy of my Sims 4 folder once a week to an external hard drive. Then I'll delete the previously saved folder from the hard drive. Can't be too careful. Especially with the EA App still a bit unstable.

Ditto to those above.
But, are you saying that after spending all that time on your current safe, you don't actually make a back-up??? :O The backup of your user data is what you would need for the new computer. After installing the game, you would simply replace the new user data "the sims 4" folder with your backup. I backup my save at least every month because I too would hate losing it all.

I think I read in the past that the game might perform better if folders are recreated, so if that is true you might consider adding the content of those folders instead of the full thing. It should work fine even if you do the full thing, and I guess a new computer will not cause lagging anyway :wink:

• Saves folder

• tray folder

gallery will keep everything that you have shared public even without tray
and the tray is not connected to things you have placed down in your saves

but just to be safe I would transfer the tray

thats pretty much all you need

except if you use mods n cc then add those before playing any of your saves using the mods and cc

and also screenshots videos etc if theres something left in the folder would be good idea to store separately
the photos you have in game stay even if the folder is empty though

also yes its good to keep backup versions of your precious save files separate from game folder
I tend to create backup file everytime before I update my game or after I have done some major changes to my save

to do this you just copy your the sims 4 folder
and have the copy on memory stick or in different folder you know game can't grab it from

Thanks folks...

I've been backing up my Save folder for a while now (I've actually got backup saves almost back to the start of my Wyrd Girls story) but I haven't been making a habit of backing up the Tray or other folders. With my computer on it's last legs and the new one not arrived yet, it sounds like daily backups of the entire Sims 4 folder is... well, a little overboard but better safe than sorry.

So, thanks again. I really appreciate everyone's input. Any other thoughts or suggestions would be welcomed.

I always back up the whole folder. If you have the space and don't mind waiting a few minutes then why not? No harm at all.

You only briefly mentioned your old computer. Unpleasant noises can be as simple as fans going out.. which are easy to replace but if it's a laptop then nevermind. But of course a mechanical drive can easily go out too making noises.

My husband's desktop sounded like a lawn mower being started. I bought him all new fans and told him don't bother narrowing it down. It was the fans in this case.