Different Sims 4 files
Due to the latest update there was no storage left in my computer so I decided to move the Electronic Arts file to an HDD. After i moved the file the sims 4 re-downloaded but the files are all messed...
Forum Discussion
@puzzlezaddictHello, i have gone through the steps including finding my user path. When i get to the step in making a symbolic link where i have to type the command in, it says “The system cannot find the path specified” and ive spent an hour trying to figure out why it says this. I’ve also tried creating a different folder in the external file to put the user file in as you recommended in a previous post, but it still said the same thing. I’m going to attach a screenshot just in case ive messed something up in the command? If you could let me know what might be wrong it would be helpful, thanks!
@CutiecatPuffydog What is the path where the Sims 4 user folder would be, and what is the path to the folder you want the game to read? The first is the path you see in-game, and the second is whatever is on your external drive. Please list both; you can write [username] instead of your actual username if you want.
The Sim's user data files being in the Documents folder is the most asinine thing I've ever heard of. Free OneDrive accounts (which a lot of people use) on Windows 11 forces the Documents folder to be synced with the cloud. The free OneDrive tier maxes out at 5gb, so it doesn't take long for the Sims to max out the OneDrive storage.
My Niece came to me and was asking why her OneDrive wasn't syncing any more. I finally figured out that this is why. So, I figured, ok, I'll just configure the Sims user data folder to be where I wanted it to be. But no, we're SOL.
Storing user data (especially data that can be many gigs) in Documents by default a terrible idea, not allowing it to be configured by the user is ridiculous. Unbelievable.
@stoltzyplus You can use a symbolic link to direct the user folder elsewhere:
You can of course move the location of the Documents directory away from OneDrive so that no data is auto-synced. I understand that not everyone wants to do this, but it's a viable option, and it's not too difficult to manually copy files you DO want synced to the OneDrive version of Documents.
As for user configurations, that's asking for trouble. Plenty of Sims 4 players don't even know they have a user folder, and some of them would choose a location protected by Windows or otherwise inaccessible. At least every Windows system will always have a user Documents folder, and Sims 4 should be able to read from and write to it.
I tried the symbolic link and that doesn’t work because OneDrive follows it too when syncing files.
As you say, you can actually disable syncing (“backing up”) of the Documents folder. It just took me a while to find, as they changed how it worked since last time I used it. So removing Documents did the trick, but now my niece doesn’t have a standard Documents folder for putting, well you know, DOCUMENTS! I just created a Documents folder on her Desktop and told her to put her files there.
I think Sims using that folder by default is fine, whatever their reasons are, but I think they should also have an advanced setting, so power users have other options.
I don’t think Steam has this issue.@stoltzyplus There should absolutely be a Documents folder in C > Users > username (not inside OneDrive). If it's not there, you can recreate it, and you can edit the registry to designate it as the Documents directory:
Steam definitely has this issue in that Sims 4 reads from the same folder as it would with an EA App install.
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