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stormywanderer's avatar
stormywanderer
Rising Rookie
10 days ago

Existing Save Files Dont Register

Every time I open the game it asks for me to  start a brand new save. This is happening regardless of the or backed up Sims 4 files with my saves and Steams cloud storage. I have 4 existing files from various times that I save my game, which I started from scratch on 7/6/25. They are still in the my save folder and I kept copies of them through the following processes:

  • Used Steam Game Properties to verify file integrity.
  • Then  uninstalling and reinstalling Sims 4 from scratch. This included deleting any cache and going directly into program files to remove all sims 4 data so it could install fresh
  • Removing the save files, starting, then re adding the same files. 
  • Removing mods and starting with a fresh game, clean game does not correct the issue. So I know its not any mods (I only use 4 mods at that)
  • I have done the whole restart PC thing
  • No error codes found

Ive spent well over a thousand $ in this game and Im for sure ever going to buy anything from Sims ever again if my saves are gonna just poof after 1 day of use :(

5 Replies

  • stormywanderer​  The three saves with the .verx on the end are backups of the main save with the same number, so they wouldn't load as-is.  To make them usable, change the number and delete the .verx extension, for example:

    Slot_00000005.save
    Slot_00000012.save

    However, that won't help if the saves aren't in the correct location.  Please find the folder the game is reading, as described here:

    https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/

    Right-click one of the saves in your screenshot and select Propeties > General.  Compare the Location to the location of your user folder.  The file paths need to match exactly; the game won't see the saves if they're anywhere else.

    If the saves are in the correct location, according to Sims 4 itself (as in the link above), try renaming one of the backup saves to see whether it shows up.

  • stormywanderer's avatar
    stormywanderer
    Rising Rookie
    8 days ago

    I already know how to find the user folder, since I have been using mads as stated above and the user folder is required for that. Also does not solve the issue as in my screen shot I clearly show the main save and the 3 versions below it. The main save does not work.

  • stormywanderer​  Windows can change the location of the Documents directory after an update, and Sims 4 follows the location of the Documents directory.  So please double-check that the user folder is still where you expect it to be.  It takes a few seconds and would save you a lot of time if this turns out to be the problem.

    If the saves are in the right place, please try recovering one of the backups.  It's also possible that your main save is now corrupt, and that's why it's not loading, but one of the backups might be viable.

    If the saves are intact (not corrupt) and in the correct location, they WILL show up.

  • stormywanderer's avatar
    stormywanderer
    Rising Rookie
    8 days ago

    I submitted this ticket before the update, I have confirmed where the folder is and it is fine.

    That does not disclude that face that there is no reason why my save should be corrupt or how that happened tho. I literally only made one building on it and that is it. 

  • stormywanderer​  It happens.  Sometimes it happens for no apparent reason.  So please recover a backup and see whether it shows up.  If you're not willing to do this, there's nothing anyone can do to help you.

    And just in case it's not clear, this is not EA customer support.  This is a player-helping-player forum, with the EA employees mostly being community managers that handle forum-related tasks.  They're not developers or QA.  And there is no place at all where you can ask someone from EA to fix your save.