EA app doesn't recognize that Sims 4 is already downloaded to my account.

@SimSeeker  What antivirus do you use?  And where is Sims 4 installed?  For the latter, open your EA App game library, click Sims 4, and select Manage > View properties:

These two issues may or may not have the same root cause.

Hello,

I have Norton. Sims 4 is in the EA folder under Documents. I will do what you mentioned if it happens again today.

@SimSeeker  Just to make sure, you checked in the EA App, and the App says Sims 4 is installed into Documents > Electronic Arts?  I ask because that would account for the issues you're seeing and is also a problematic setup in general.  If this is in fact the case, I would strongly recommend uninstalling the game and reinstalling elsewhere.

If you're going to uninstall, first make sure the App is closed and the EABackgroundService is NOT running in the Task Manager.  Create a folder on your desktop called Backups or whatever you want; just don't put "Sims 4" in its name.  Open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and move the saves and Tray folders to the folder on your desktop.  You can also move Screenshots and Recorded Videos if you want to preserve those, Mods if you currently have any mods or custom content installed, plus Options.ini if you don't want to have to reset your in-game options.

Uninstall Sims 4 and then the EA App with Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine).  Reinstall the App, then install Sims 4 somewhere else.  The default location of Program Files\EA Games is fine, as would be a new folder you create for this purpose.  The game should NOT be installed into Documents.

If you get an error anywhere in this process, please post a screenshot.