sims 4 unable to start because game data is missing or damaged

ok i moved it to the desktop and it works now, thank you so much!

I have gotten my sims 4 game to work, unfortunately when i opened the game none of my sims 4 households were there that I can resume on nor was any of my custom content. What should I do?

@siahchick90  Did you move the Sims 4 folder to the desktop as described in this thread?  If so, then that folder contains your missing saves and other content.  You can just move the files to the new Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts, but do so in batches, testing each time to make sure the game still works.  If you get the same error again, you'll know that one of the files you just moved is a problem, and you can split the last batch and retest until you find out which one.

Saves are in the saves folder, saved households and builds in Tray, screenshots in Screenshots, and mods and custom content in Mods.  It's best to leave behind any other files and let the game generate new ones instead.

but i have mods and i dont want to play without my mods.

@AdrianaRivero623  No one is saying you can't use mods.  You just can't use broken or outdated mods.  Find some that work and use those.

I tried this and uninstalled the game and app multiple times but none of my cc works I literally put one cc file in and everytime I get the same “game data is missing or damaged” error. My mods seem to work just not my cc. When I take my custom content folder out my game works just fine. I downloaded a lot of stuff today so even the new stuff still gives me the same message. Does this mean I have to delete all my cc?

@MrsSimmiee  Have you taken steps to move the Sims 4 user folder to an external drive or USB stick?

Also, please try downloading one new cc item using a different browser.  Make sure to select "save file" rather than "open," and if the download is in .zip form, use Windows itself to extract the file (right-click, Extract) rather than a third-party tool.