Sims won't load since recent update

KBees37  Please try playing in a clean user folder.  Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you've moved but temporarily unread by the game.)  Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just start a new save and see how it runs, that is if you can get that far.

If you still can't play, please provide a dxdiag.  Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

Hi, thank you for assisting.

This did work, the game ran and I was able to start a new save. How can I go about getting my old save back? I copy and pasted the contents of the original folder into the one for the new game I've run, but it gets stuck on the loading screen again.

KBees37  Moving the entire original Sims 4 folder, or its contents, into the new folder just reintroduces the source of the problem, so I'm not surprised it didn't work.  Instead, please separate out the content, or create another new Sims 4 folder if it's easier.  Test your mods and custom content, if you have any, in the new folder.  You can use the 50/50 method if you have a lot of files to sort through:

https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content#The_50.25_Method

Once you've done that, move over the contents (the files, not the folders they're in) of the saves and Tray folders, plus Screenshots and Recorded Videos if you care about those.  Tray holds your saved households and builds.  The rest can be discarded, as the game will recreate the data on its own.

I have moved the contents of each folder and have pinpointed the issue - the most recent save is the only one that causes the game to crash past the loading screen, it appears to have corrupted. I moved each other file over one by one and opened the game each time to see if it caused the issue, but it did not so it is my recent save. Is there a way of recovering this file?

I moved all the items from the tray over first then opened the game, and it did not seem to recognise it, the game had still reset.

KBees37  You can try recovering a backup version of this save.  The game keeps the data from the last five times you saved before the most recent one, and these are all usable saves when renamed.  Here's how to recover them manually:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/recover-backup-save-game/

The Tray folder contains saved households and builds, but it doesn't place them in your new saves.  They're just available in your in-game library.  Were they not present there after you moved over the folder?  If so, please make sure the individual files are all directly in ...The Sims 4 > Tray, not in a subfolder.