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Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
3 years ago

🛠️ Creating a symlink in macOS to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive

This is not to be confused with installing the actual Sims 4 game on an external drive. The game installation location is determined in Origin/EA App. As internal storage gets smaller we're forced ...
external drive
file structure
icloud
mac
annakristineb97's avatar
annakristineb97
4 years ago

Hi!

My Mac barely has no space left. Therefore, I need to move my Sims mods onto my external hard drive. I've understood that this also means I need to move the game itself. Can anyone give me instructions as to how I successfully move mods and Sims 4 onto an external hard drive on a MacBook?🙂

Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
4 years ago
@annakristineb97

You don't need to move the game as well although if you're running out of space it may not be a bad idea. To move the Sims 4 user folder you need to create a symlink. Instructions for both here:

Base game and packs - move the base game and Sims 4 Packs folder onto the external then change the game library location in Origin. You will probably have to do this too https://bluebellflora.com/2020/11/26/external-drive-not-showing-in-origin/

Storing the Sims 4 folder on an external drive - https://bluebellflora.com/saving-your-sims-4-folder-to-an-external-drive/
  • annakristineb97's avatar
    annakristineb97
    4 years ago

    Thank you so much! I'm working on it right now, but I can't get past step 4 on the instructions. It says: "On the left menu click on Computer then double click on the ‘/‘ that appears next to a picture of your hard drive. You should see four folders – Applications, Library, System, Users". I don't see "Computer" anywhere. Is it equivalent to "Anna's MacBook Pro" which you can see in the photo?

    • Bluebellflora's avatar
      Bluebellflora
      Hero+
      4 years ago
      @annakristineb97

      Is that the window that comes up when you click to choose the location in Origin? It looks like they’ve updated it since I wrote the guide as your external drive is showing below Macintosh HD and Network. I can’t check my install at the moment but will see if they’ve updated it when I get a chance tomorrow 🙂
      • annakristineb97's avatar
        annakristineb97
        4 years ago

        Oh, I see. Thank you so much🙂

  • dsjunee's avatar
    dsjunee
    3 years ago
    @Bluebellflora Hey I'm just confirming that if we follow the second link do we only move the mod/cc folder or the whole game? I just want to move the folder but keep the base game on my Mac
    • Bluebellflora's avatar
      Bluebellflora
      Hero+
      3 years ago
      @dsjunee

      The game can be installed wherever you want it to be. You can choose the file path in Origin > Preferences > Saves & Installs > Game Library Location.

      The Electronic Arts folder will always be created in the Documents folder if there is no current Electronic Arts folder there.

      Similarly if there is an Electronic Arts folder in the Documents folder, but no Sims 4 folder in the Electronic Arts folder, it will create a new Sims 4 folder.

      Similarly if there is a Sims 4 folder within an Electronic Arts folder within the Documents folder, but no Mods folder in the Sims 4 folder, the game will recreate one.

      The only way to move the Electronic Arts, or Sims 4, or any folders within the Sims 4 folder, to another location successfully is to create the symlink.
  • HeyTifferz's avatar
    HeyTifferz
    2 years ago

    Hey! Please help me! I followed it step by step, I granted the full disk access to origin but when I go to play its saying its already running 

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