@snotbubble25 Are you saying your saves and other user data are NOT on the external drive? It sounds like you at some point tried to move them there, so please double-check.
If you've ever had OneDrive running on this computer, please check that too, specifically onedrive.com, both My Files and the Recycle Bin. It's possible some saves were uploaded at some point, and if so, they should still be usable.
Finally, please download Everything, from VoidTools, which is a free and highly efficient search tool, much better than the one built into Windows. Open it and search for Slot_ , and post a screenshot of the results. Expand the window sideways, if necessary, so the full file paths are showing. Do the same for TS4_x64 as well so I can see if another full or partial copy of the game is hiding somewhere.
Thanks for responding! They're not there, unfortunately - not the most recent. There was a lot of moving things around just to try and make the game work, because the loading screens were insane on the external drive. Unfortunately, I moved them back to my computer before having the ingenious idea to uninstall the Sims program, because otherwise it kept downloading multiple times in different places. I didn't realise it'd remove absolutely everything, right down to the screenshots. I thought it'd be like it not being downloaded. MyOneDrive isn't synced. Uninstalling was the big mistake, my recycle bin didn't have enough memory to save anything.
To make matters worse, I can't install the game back now. The files aren't going where they should go, it doesn't recognise my packs, it only installs the base game, and it's putting every single Sims files in one folder. I don't know what to do, I can't even try and start again.
@snotbubble25 Please uninstall Sims 4 and the EA App with Revo Uninstaller, as described here:
Make sure you rename any Sims 4 folders that contain old saves/Tray files/etc. before proceeding, that is if you have anything you want to keep.
When you reinstall the EA App and are ready to download Sims 4, create a new folder on the root level of the drive of your choice, either on the internal or the external, and tell the App to install the game there.
I've uninstalled and installed the EA App like you said. I've downloaded The Sims 4, and it goes into my documents folder. All of the Data, SP, EP files etc, Game file, GP, is all in Documents/The Sims 4. That's where my Screenshots, Mods etc are meant to be, but they're not. I've tried to move them C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 but it just deplicates them. I set the install location to C:/Program Files/EA Games/ but it's not going there. When I try to play the game, it needs repairing and once that's done, it starts downloading the packs all over again. I'm stuck in an endless loop.
@snotbubble25 Again, you need to choose a different location for the game's installation. You should always have that option when you click Download. Uninstall the game with Revo again, restart your computer, and choose to reinstall elsewhere.
I took this screenshot for something else, but you can see the install location and the option to change it above the info I highlighted in red:
