Re: Transfer Sims 4 from external hard drive to laptop

@hannahrosie365  If you're talking about the game's installed files, as in, what you download from Origin, it's more efficient and less error-prone to simply download fresh from your Origin game library.  Sign in on the new laptop, open your Origin game library, click on Sims 4, and you should see a Download button.

For your saves and other user-generated files, you can transfer them or the folder they're in easily enough.  This folder is in Documents > Electronic Arts, and the safest thing to do is to zip that folder (right-click and select Send to > Compressed file) first.  Then you can transfer it your external drive or upload it to cloud storage and download it on the new laptop.

The best practice is to launch the game once on your new computer before adding any files.  Once you've confirmed that the game is working, you can unzip the Sims 4 folder and start moving over the files you want to keep.  Many of the files in that folder are extraneous and will be replaced as necessary, so only transfer the ones you know you want to keep.  Here's a description of everything in your user folder:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/

If you need more help with or get stuck on any particular step, just let me know where you're having trouble.