Sims 4 not launching

Hi, please help. Yesterday I found Sims 4 will not launch, I had just played Sims 4 earlier and closed the game then when I went to open it again the shortcut threw up an error (apologies I did not screen shot the error code). I have now uninstalled and reinstalled all SIMS 4 game and add-ons and uninstalled and reinstalled the EA app. I have cleared the cache on the app, I have restarted my computer many times. I have repaired the Sims 4 games many times. I have checked my antivirus and turned it off (briefly) to see if that helped - it did not.

When I press play on SIMS in the app it minimizes the app but does not reveal the game screen. I eventually have to go into task manager to stop the EA app and it often has up to 7 files open trying to load or seeming to load the game. At times the app reminds me to 'close' the active game before exiting out but there is no active game. I actually do not even have any files in my electronic arts file - all empty.

I have played it for years with no issue. Playing on PC. DxDiag attached.

DxDiag.txt152 KB

Beautbooks
1 year ago
@puzzlezaddict I found the issue! I needed to repair all editions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables on my PC. I repaired them all and restarted my computer and Sims launched for me. I have since restarted the Sims and it launched and let me back into the games saved etc.
Thank you so much for your help! I would not have gone looking if I didn't already narrow down a lot of things thanks to you!

18 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@Beautbooks I do see the problem: reg query is part of the command, but you haven't copied that part.
Beautbooks
1 year ago
Wonderful, thanks!! I knew I was doing something wrong. Below is the response (now I am inputting the command correctly).
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders
Personal REG_SZ C:\Users\bjaal\OneDrive\Documents
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@Beautbooks I don't know for sure that OneDrive is the issue here, but that's the next place to look. Here's how to get rid of it entirely:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#Remove

If it's not running at the moment, scroll down a bit to the link that describes how to move the location of Documents via registry edit. Follow the instructions exactly, change only the Personal value, and see whether you can play.
Beautbooks
1 year ago
@puzzlezaddict I found the issue! I needed to repair all editions of Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables on my PC. I repaired them all and restarted my computer and Sims launched for me. I have since restarted the Sims and it launched and let me back into the games saved etc.
Thank you so much for your help! I would not have gone looking if I didn't already narrow down a lot of things thanks to you!
herawesomenesss
1 year ago
my game done the same, I have tried all troubleshooting options given by EA help and nothing has worked!
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@herawesomenesss As a test, please try playing in a clean user folder. Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content. (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.) Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just let me know whether you can get far enough to start a new save and play in live mode for a bit.

If that doesn't help, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
livbeckley1
1 year ago
Hi there,
my sims wouldnt open either. However, after following the advice above and moving the sims 4 folder out of the ea folder, the game has loaded as a new game. I was just wondering what the next steps are as i havent added any folders back yet.
Thankyou!
Beautbooks
1 year ago
Hi @livbeckley1 I simply began playing in a new save file. What I had previously uploaded to the gallery stayed. Playing a new save just creates its own folder.
If you have save files of Sims and Lots that you want to continue to use, and you think the files may have been part of the issue, then trial moving one save file at a time into the electronic folders and opening the game.
If you don't think there was an issue with any of the files then try moving them all back into the Electronic file, and see how that effects the game.
Sorry I am not near my computer to get the exact file names, but where you moved them from, you can move them back.