Correct procedure to move The Sims 4 file to another drive?

@Naephyr  This reminded me of a problem users reported a few years ago with the user folder in French:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-INPUT-PC-MAC-FR-Duplicate-game-folder/td-p/9645409

The issue is that the spaces you type are not the ones the game uses, and I guess the spaces the symlink command creates aren't the same either.

What I would suggest, as a hacky workaround, is to move the new Les Sims 4 folder (not the symlink) to the desktop, copy its name, and rename the symlink with this copied text.  Then see whether the game uses the symlink correctly.

@puzzlezaddict Hi, thanks for trying to help me! It does seem to be a Space problem, because after I changed the name of the symlink as you said, a new folder was no longer created, but the game won't launch anymore: I'm getting an error message saying the Sims 4 already is running, even though it isn't. It happened even after I logged off every app and restarted my PC. And then when I switched the symlink's name back with "my" spaces, the game launched but I'm back with the original problem of a new Sims 4 folder hahaha...

@Naephyr  Please remove your Mods folder from the destination folder (where the symlink points to) and try again.  If that doesn't help, empty out the destination folder entirely.

There are many causes of the "already running" error:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-already-running/m-p/13276380

not all of which will apply here, but there are two main themes: that the game objects to something in the user folder, and that it can't access that folder at all.

@puzzlezaddict Hello again, I tried every solution up to the Test user, but I still have the "alraedy running" issue when i change the symbolic link's name, and if I don't change the name, a new folder is created once again 😭

@Naephyr  Try creating the symlink with the Electronic Arts folder instead.  It's not localized—the name is "Electronic Arts" in every language—so this might get around the issue.  And put this Electronic Arts folder inside a different folder on your secondary drive, for example the path might be D:\Game Data\Electronic Arts.

If that doesn't help, try creating the symlink, still with the Electronic Arts folder, in a new admin Windows account.  I'm not saying your main account is the problem here, only that this is a useful test.

If that doesn't help either, let me know how the drive is formatted.

@Naephyr  Do you mean the game created a new Sims 4 folder in the destination where the Electronic Arts symlink was pointing?  If so, that would be normal, and the fix would be to dump your data inside the folder the game created.

I'm glad moving Documents is working, but it's not a good long-term solution.  If the external drive is ever disconnected while Windows tries to access Documents for any reason, you'll have a problem on your hands.  So I would suggest moving Documents back, not into OneDrive but just to Users > your username > Documents, and trying the symlink again with the Electronic Arts folder.

@puzzlezaddict I tried it again with a new Test user, but the same thing happened:
I have a E:/EAGames/Electronic Arts folder, which contains my original Sims 4 folder, and I make a symlink in my C:/Documents which creates a "linked" Electronic Arts there. That folder is empty, but when I launch the game, it still creates a new Sims 4 folder within C:/Documents/Electronic Arts even though it's supposed to be linked to the one in my external drive ☹️

Also I moved my Documents to my D drive, which is physically inside my computer, so it should be safe for now ~

@Naephyr  Thanks for testing.  I'm not sure why this is happening, I mean I understand the issue with how spaces are encoded, but you should at least have been able to rename the Electronic Arts symlink using the name the game itself generates.

At any rate, it's not important now that Documents is on an internal drive.