Message: sims game is running

I have sims 4 on steam and on EA app. I originally tried to move my game to an External drive. I thought everything was OK but I keep getting the message that the sims 4 is running. I was tempted to do a factory rest on my laptop because I can't play my game but I honestly dont want to do that. I'm not sure if I deleted something that was needed. I do have dlc on steam and EA. But I play through steam. Can someone give me some advice on if this is fixable or am I at a lost