Various Hot Keys not working

bonesisthebones​  It's possible another app is running in the background and capturing the nonworking keys.  So please start by disabling any apps you use that come with overlays: Steam, Discord, etc.  Disable the EA App in-game overlay as well, under Settings > Application.

If that doesn't help, please try playing in a clean boot:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

If this helps, you can selectively reenable services until you find the culprit, then either leave that disabled or (if it belongs to an app you want to keep using) let me know what it is so we can try to fix the underlying issue.

Hi, even though it all was confusing (I am not a tech person) I tried and followed the directions as best as I could, and nothing worked. My hotkeys are still broken. I disabled all in the overlays and that didn't help. I used the link and followed all the instructions and that didn't worth either. I'm not sure what else there is to do.  

bonesisthebones​  Since the usual steps didn't work, I'll merge your posts with the bug report for generic hotkeys not working.  Please note that EA_Solaire has asked for saves from affected users and added instructions for providing them to the first post.

My (WASD), (<>) and my arrow hotkeys are not working in build mode. I've already posted something before and was given a bunch of solutions and none of them are working. Then I was suggested to post here. It only started happening on (01/30/2026) and even after the update (02/03/2026) it still isn't fixed.  

Since the most recent update my hot keys and mouse scroll stop working randomly. The directional arrows stop working or do something different along with the WASD keys. All other keys either don't work or don't do what there supposed to. I've restarted the game, restarted the laptop multiple times. Sometimes it did nothing other times it would work from a few minutes to maybe an hour. I thought it was a laptop issue. However I've had a tech friend factory reset my laptop, which included uninstalling all packs and EA app. Reinstalling windows 11. He also did I BIOS update on me laptop aswell.  All was working fine on my laptop for 2 days untill he reinstalled the EA app and the Sims 4/any packs have. Everything was still working fine at this point. However by the time I loaded in to the game my mouse scroll and keyboard stopped working properly. I came out of the game a clicked to 'repair game' and restarted it. It worked for 5 minutes and stopped. I've also tried turning of the in game overlay as was suggested on a thread I saw, but this did nothing. As I said this has only happened since the last update. 

Since the last update, my wasd and arrow keys are not working. Despite the sims 3 camera being enabled, the camera does not move when wasd or arrow keys are pressed.

Fixes i have tried that did not work:

restarting game, repairing game, restarting laptop, removing mods, disabling and enabling the sims 3 camera, resetting all game settings, checked  the ctrl key (is not stuck).

The game is completely unplayable like this. Please help!

My WASD keys aren't working (they do nothing, I expect them to move the camera) and my TAB key instead of entering Free Camera, it moves the camera back, as if it was the S key instead. I've tried a bunch of different things, including:

• Deleting Options.ini
• Removing mods
• Game repair
• Complete fresh reinstall
• Updating PC Drivers
• Changing from Nordic keyboard to US configuration
• Removing any and all external overlays while in-game
• Enabling DirectX 9 in Settings
• Only having base game installed
• Performed a clean boot
• Performed a clean uninstall

But nothing worked.

Curiously, my wife has the exact same computer as I do as we built it together and for her the TAB and WASD keys work as intended.

I don't know what else to do...

EDIT: Also found out 'Backspace' key moves the camera right. Seems I am having the same exact problem as this person, but the other thread never got a solution sadly.

Updated with March 17 patch but sadly I'm still having the same issue where TAB moves the camera back (as it if were S), BACKSPACE moves the camera right (as if it were D) and WASD keys do nothing. The only way for me to enter Free Camera mode is to manually click on it in the Camera button on the top right. The problem is that WASD keys still don't work even in Free Camera mode, so I can't move the camera. It's really frustrating.

Hello all,

If any of you are still encountering this on the latest game version (without mods), would you be willing to share your save file(s)?

If so, please send me a private message with a link to the file. Instructions can be found here: https://forums.ea.com/idea/the-sims-4-bug-reports-en/information-how-to-send-user-files-to-the-sims-4-team/5048472

Thanks!