external drive

@beachedwhaale  This isn't typical behavior; it seems like something is tripping up the EA App.  Do you have the App set to start with Windows?  If so, try disabling that and only opening the App when your external drive is already plugged in.  Additionally, after closing the App, kill the EABackgroundService in the Task Manager before disconnecting the external drive.

When the App doesn't see Sims 4 as installed, you can try reinstalling it to the same location.  The App may simply verify the files and finish the install process rather than downloading everything from scratch.  This has usually worked for me during testing.

Additionally, make sure the external drive always receives the D letter, that you haven't first plugged in anything else that's been assigned D.  And if you use a third-party antivirus, set exceptions for TS4_x64.exe and EADesktop.exe.

Having this same problem on windows. Anybody got a solution?

@rabbits1918  Does your drive have the same letter assigned to it as it did when you installed Sims 4?  If for example the drive was previously D and is now E, that would explain the issue.

Other than that, how is your drive formatted?  Click Windows key-X, select Disk Management, and you'll see it there.

Hey guys,

I am having the same issue, and I've tried all the tips here. It's still not detecting my files. Is there a way to just repath them?

@Klapan02  Please find the location of the folder Sims 4 is using, as described here:

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

Compare it to the location of one of your saves.  You can right-click the save itself and select Properties > General, then find the Location.

If this doesn't help, please post both locations here.  Please also post a screenshot of the contents of your saves folder, as in, I'd like to see the save names and dates.

I described how to deal with saves that aren't loading, but if some other content isn't loading instead, just substitute in those files.

Hi,

Just to clarify, my base game is saved in my Documents/Electronic Arts folder, but all the add-ons are on my hard drive. I haven't had an issue with this before. So in the photo attached you can see that I have the default directory for my base game and saves. 

@Klapan02  To be clear, these are the saves that aren't loading?  What folder is Sims 4 currently reading, according to the game itself?  I ask because your save files look somewhat small, enough that they might be corrupted; but they could also simply be in the wrong Documents folder.

The location where the game itself is installed is unrelated.  If all your owned content is loading, you don't need to worry about that.