Sims 4 Won't Launch?

@12242212  To be clear, you've removed the Sims 4 folder from Documents > Electronic Arts and not put anything back?  Did a new Sims 4 folder spawn, and what do you see inside?  I want to make sure that nothing from your old folder was restored, for example if you use OneDrive, it could have redownloaded your data.

If this isn't the problem, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

A new folder respawns when I move the folder out- it doesn't have anything in it, I can't remember exactly but I think it was The Sims 4 folder and then a single file within that folder. something like that. Here's the dxdiag.

@12242212  Your dxdiag is full of errors from a component of the EA App, so the place to start is by uninstalling and reinstalling the App.  Please remove it with Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine), and restart your computer before reinstalling the App.

If this doesn't help, I do need to know what's in the Sims 4 folder that shows up again, and whether it shows up on its own or only the next time you try to launch the game.  Please also let me know whether OneDrive is running on this computer, even if you don't use it.

So, I tried uninstalling the EA App, restarting my pc, and then redownloading; it didn't work so I removed the Electronic Arts folder again to see exactly what was in it. It's Electronic Arts>The Sims 4>saves>steam_autocloud.vdf. I do have one drive on my pc and the cloud- I guess- is synced for all of my steam games. Here's a new dxdiag just in case. 

@12242212  That one file shouldn't stop Sims 4 from launching, since saves aren't read until later in the process (and that's not a save anyway).  But please do try pausing OneDrive syncing, which you can do by right-clicking the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen.

If that doesn't help, please set an exception in your antivirus, or Windows Defender's Controlled Folder Access if it's active, for TS4_DX9_x64.exe, which is the new executable for the game if you haven't opted into using DX11 instead.

So I went to pause OneDrive and I think unlinked all of my files on my PC. As for the antivirus, I set an exception for the DX9 but the same thing as before is happening with the game- it says it's running in Steam but never actually opens. Is there anything else I could do?

@12242212  Pausing OneDrive shouldn't unlink anything.  There are a lot of different options though, so maybe you chose a more drastic intervention.

At any rate, please create a new admin user account on your computer and try playing there.  Make it local, as in, don't link it with your Microsoft account.  You'll be able to (try to) launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything, but your user content won't be available, which is fine for the purposes of this test.

@12242212  Thanks for the update; I always forget about family sharing conflicting with EA games.  And don't worry about taking up my time.  I'd rather learn something new (or re-learn it, as it were) even if it takes a little extra effort.