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Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
8 years ago

Sims 4 not opening since December '17 patch? Please read here first

Since the December 2017 patch there has been a big increase in Mac users not being able to open their game. This could be related to a variety of issues so let's see if we can find a common issue or just help those who aren't sure about troubleshooting their game. If you're running a version of macOS prior to 10.11 El Capitan please consider upgrading to the latest version your Mac supports.

If you are having trouble launching your game please try the following steps in this order. Try to launch your game after each step to see what works for you:

  1. Go into Documents > Electronic Arts and move the Sims 4 folder to your desktop.
  2. Turn off any antivirus you may be running, firewall, or 3rd party apps which 'clean up' files.
  3. Right click on the game in your Origin games library and select Repair Game.

  4. Run the Origin reset tool.

  5. Go into Origin > Preferences > Origin in-game and disable Origin in-game.
  6. Go into Origin > Preferences > Notifications and turn off all notifications.
  7. Go into Origin > Preferences > Application > Start Up Options and disable Automatically start Origin and Origin Helper Service
  8. Create a new user account on your Mac and try to load the game in that account.

Try the super repair:

  1. In your Applications folder right click on the Sims 4 app and select Show Package Contents.
  2. Navigate to Contents > Mac OS.
  3. Right click on The Sims 4 and select Move to Trash. Don't drag the file as it will only move an alias and leave the original in place. If there is another file in the folder, The Sims 4.par, leave it alone.
  4. Now open Origin, click on The Sims 4 in your Games Library and click on Download

If any of the steps above resolve your issue please take a minute to post here with what worked for you - it can help others!

If you're still having problems please provide more information on your Mac. You will need to provide all the information asked for in this thread - https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-4-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4612396#M162. Just providing some information is not enough, ALL of that information asked for is important, even if you don't see the relevance, others will.

Thanks.

mac

15 Replies

  • marekita09's avatar
    marekita09
    Rising Novice
    8 years ago

    Whenever I try to launch the Sims 4 game from Origin, it opens to the windowed screen, (which I have set) and it stays black for a little bit with the rainbow spinning circle for 30 seconds to a minute, then the game quits and my Origin screen opens again. I have a lot of mods installed inside of my mods folder. I use a MacBook Air to play and I haven't encountered any problems with my Sims 4 game before this. Does anyone have any advice on how I can fix this? I don't really have access to any fancy equipment or anything professional, and I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game but I lost all of my mods. I don't know what to do. 

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago

    So I have tried everything I can think of to make my Sims game open. I've deleted and redownloaded Origin, uninstalled and reinstalled Sims, removed my mods, updated my computer, updated Sims, and repaired the game. Nothing has worked. I even tried putting my Sims 4 folder on my desktop as I saw on another post, and that didn't work either. Please help!!!

    I have a MacBook Air, with OS High Sierra 10.13.3, if that helps any. 

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    8 years ago

    @marekita09 @AinsleyyK

    I've moved your posts to this thread I've set up as the forum is being swamped with users reporting the same issue. Providing the information asked for and trying the steps suggested may help to work out the issue which so many are experiencing.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago

    So after much troubleshooting and following the steps. What worked for me was going to the Sims 4.app > Contents > MacOS > deleting that file. Restart Origin, redownload the game, and it should work after that. I have closed and reopened multiple times, have expansion packs installed and mods installed, game is still working normally.

    *Note* this caused the game in the "root" Applications folder to break and create a new one in ~/Applications

    I only have one user on my computer so I'm leaving it there but others may want to try/test and move it to the root location for all users to access.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago
    Yes, those are the instructions, though the symptoms that post presents were not what I had. My game wouldn’t get past the maxis logo and would freeze.
  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago

    Help! I can't open Sims 4 nor can I open my Origin app. I tried a  so many things, I even deleted all of my cc even. Every time I would click on one of the apps it would load for a second and then it would stop and do nothing. I searched online if anybody else had this problem, but for some reason it just will not work for me. Can someone please help me. ☹️

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    8 years ago

    Hello! My sims 4 haven't been working since I updated my mac to High Sierra, but I just wanted to let everyone know that it started working again when I turned off origin in game! Thanks for this thread!!! Lifesaver. 

    @lilwinter16 do you know why origin in game is a problem? Bit boring. I hope it get's fixed! 🙂

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