non tech savvy; mods installed but not showing in game play... pls help!!

Start with the installation section in How to Use Mods and CC. Pay particular attention to exactly where the right folder is and how to use (and not use) subfolders. Please note 18+ mods are NOT supported here.

See these links for issues that can be caused by your syncing software (Sims hates it!) or antivirus: 

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-4-technical-issues-pc-en/current-issue-sims-4-savesuser-content-disappearing-pc/11838402

https://forums.ea.com/kb/the-sims-helpers-blog-en/pc-managing-onedrive/12636625

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-4-technical-issues-pc-en/current-issue-anti-virus-blocking-user-folder-screenshotsgallerymods-/11778999

Hiya! Fellow Mac player here. The only thing I can think of is that, for whatever reason, the EA file that holds all of the necessary stuff for the game isn't appearing in the right place. The EA file needs to be in the Documents section to actually run the mods. So if you go into the Finder and click on the Documents section, it should be there. As far as using an external drive goes, you can download the games themselves onto it to keep the storage on your computer clear (when you go to download the games in the EA app, there should be an option for choosing where the games are downloaded, click on that and choose your external drive), something I've done myself, but you have to move the actual EA file that contains the mod folder into your Documents section. If it's on your external drive, then the mods you've installed will not show up at all in the game. If it helps, I had no idea what I was doing when I first started playing with mods and cc because I had only played the Sims 3 and I didn't need mods or cc to enjoy gameplay, so when I got the Sims 4 for free a couple of years ago, I downloaded the game, loaded in, saw how bleak everything was, closed out of the game and then tried figuring out how in the heck to get those things in my game. It took me a couple of tries, but I eventually figured it out. Hope that helps!

Signed

A fellow millennial who is also sometimes technology illiterate. 

thank you, I appreciate the help and links!

hi! thanks for the help, I do have the file in documents, so sadly it seems to be something else.. guess I'll just continue with how it is. appreciate it! and happy gaming :-)