EA App states game is already running when it's not

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Try moving the entire Sims 4 user folder (the one in Documents > Electronic Arts) to the desktop.  If you get an error when trying to move it, or it copies rather than moving, stop here and let me know.

Otherwise, try again to play.  If you see the same error, restart your computer, then pause OneDrive syncing, that is if OneDrive is running at all.  To see the option, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

If that doesn't help either, please set exceptions in your antivirus for TS4_x64.exe and EADesktop.exe.  Even if you only use Windows Defender, Controlled Folder Access might be the problem, and you can set the same exceptions.  Don't enable it if it's not already running.

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

Hi @puzzlezaddict 

Thank you for your response. I tried all these and still yielding the same result ☹️

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Please try playing in a new admin Windows account.  Make it local, as in, don't link it with your Microsoft account.  You'll be able to open the EA App and (try to) launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything, but your saves and other user content won't be available.  That can be addressed later; for now, just let me know whether this works.

Sorry for the delayed response on this. I attempted your suggestion and switching profiles seemed to fix the issue. Is there anyway I can have this working on my main profile on the device? 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  It's sometimes difficult to fix this kind of issue, but one thing you can try is running the takeown command on your Documents folder.  You're going to use this command:

takeown /F "C:\Users\username\Documents"

Write your actual username for this Windows account (your main one) instead of username.  Since the syntax needs to be exactly right, please copy this command to a Notepad file, substitute in your username, and then copy that string when you're ready to use it.  Hit Windows key-X and choose either "PowerShell (Administrator)" or "Windows Terminal (Administrator)," whichever option is offered, paste the command into the window, and enter.

Then restart your computer and try again to play.

If OneDrive is syncing the contents of Documents on this computer, please let me know.  To find out, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, if it's present, and select Settings > Backup > Manage Backup.  Don't change any settings; just let me know whether OneDrive is backing up Documents or not.

Hi @puzzlezaddict 
So I tried your latest suggestion and it’s still giving me the same message when I attempt to launch the game. ☹️ 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Is OneDrive syncing Documents?  I do have another suggestion you could try, but I need to know beforehand whether OneDrive is in the picture.

@puzzlezaddict 
I’ve had One Drive disabled so no documents or anything is syncing 

@LadyLucinaTwitch  Okay, please create a new folder on the root level of the drive of your choice, called Documents (exactly that, nothing else in the name).  So C:\Documents would be fine, but not C:\some name\Documents.  Use the built-in Windows process for moving the location of Documents as described here (option one):

https://www.elevenforum.com/t/move-or-restore-default-location-of-documents-folder-in-windows-11.8708/#One

If you get an error when trying this, let me know what it says.

@puzzlezaddict 

I attempted your suggestion and followed the steps shown in Option One but received this message: "Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected. Access is denied."