[PC] Managing OneDrive
OneDrive can cause various Sims 4 issues, including data loss and crashing. This guide explains how to manage OneDrive settings. This guide is only for Windows.
Overview
OneDrive is a cloud syncing service built into Windows, and it does have benefits for some users. However, OneDrive can alter or remove Sims 4 user data, including saves. It can also occasionally cause crashing or prevent the game from loading.
jump to: I want OneDrive to keep syncing my files
jump to: I don't want OneDrive to sync my files
jump to: I want to get rid of OneDrive
jump to: My files aren't in OneDrive
jump to: My files still aren't appearing in-game
Note: It is possible, depending on your version of Windows, that you won't see all options covered here. If you're missing the one you want to use, pick another.
If you have a Mac and need help managing iCloud Drive, please use this thread instead:
[READ FIRST] Saves, CC/Mods or Library items disappeared? iCloud issues | EA Forums - 10979712
Why does this happen?
User data, including saves, is stored in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4; the game will not look elsewhere. If this folder doesn't exist in this exact location, the game will create a new one with none of the preexisting content. The files inside also need to be named in a very specific format, or else the game won't read them.
When allowed, OneDrive redirects and manages the contents of the Documents directory. By default, it attempts to sync the entire contents of Documents with cloud storage. However, the allotment of space for a free account is only 5 GB, which is far lower than the size of many Sims 4 players' folders. Going over this limit results in some data not being synced or older files being deleted.
OneDrive can rename files, or download older versions of files where newer ones exist, or both at the same time; this can happen without warning. Additionally, when the computer's internal storage is low, OneDrive can remove some data from the computer and keep it only in cloud storage. And the syncing process can fail due to a system or connection issue as well.
Finally, OneDrive can occasionally lock up the Documents folder and block Sims 4's access to it, causing a crash or preventing the game from opening at all. This shouldn't happen on default settings, but it is one consequence of changing settings incompletely or improperly.
Various OneDrive configurations, including removing it entirely, are covered below.
I want OneDrive to keep syncing my files
If your OneDrive account has enough space for all your files, the simplest workaround for disappearing files is to tell OneDrive to keep the Sims 4 user folder on your computer. Right-click the folder and select "Always keep on this device."
Please double-check that OneDrive has enough storage, or you may run into more trouble. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen (or sometimes it's hidden in the Tray; expand it by clicking the ^ icon) and select Settings:
Under Account, you'll see the current and total storage:
If your OneDrive is full, or your "The Sims 4" folder is larger than the storage you have, you can choose to stop automatically syncing Documents overall, or for some setups at least, the Sims 4 folder or some subfolder, for example the Mods folder. (Please see the next section below.) You can still manually upload files to OneDrive as you choose. Or you can buy a subscription for more OneDrive storage. However, an external storage device is a one-time purchase and usually a cheaper long-term solution, so consider your options before subscribing.
I don't want OneDrive to sync my files
The first step is to make a backup of your Sims 4 folder, the one in Documents > Electronic Arts. Right-click it and select Copy, then right-click the location where you want your backup to go and select Paste. If you don't have an external drive or USB stick handy, you can paste the folder into your computer's Downloads folder, which OneDrive doesn't sync.
If your folder is very large, it will take some time to copy. If it's larger than the amount of storage currently free on the drive where you're pasting it, you'll get an error. You can check the free and total storage of all connected drives by opening a File Explorer window and clicking This PC in the left panel. If the drive in question doesn't have enough space, choose another one, or back up only the files you absolutely don't want to lose.
The simplest way to prevent OneDrive from syncing your data is to tell it not to sync the contents of Documents at all. Right-click the OneDrive (cloud) icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, select Settings > Backup, click Manage backup, and under Documents, click Stop backup, then confirm the choice.
Now you can restore the backup version of your Sims 4 folder to Documents > Electronic Arts, and the game should read your data. If you're not seeing your saves or other user files in-game, please see the last section of this guide.
If you want to get more granular, you may have the option to choose not to sync the contents of the Electronic Arts folder, the Sims 4 folder, or any folder inside. [Note: These options are not available for all users.] First, make a backup of this folder; as above, you can store it on an external device, or in Downloads.
Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, open Settings > Account, select Choose folders, deselect the folders you don't want OneDrive to sync, and click Okay.
Once you deselect the given folder, it will be removed from your computer and stored only in the cloud. You can now restore the backup copy you made, and OneDrive won't sync it. If you forgot to back up this folder, you can still download it from onedrive.com.
If your saves or other user files still aren't showing up in-game, please see the last section of this guide.
I want to get rid of OneDrive
If you want to get rid of OneDrive entirely, first make a backup of any synced folders you want to keep, including the Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts, and possibly folders in Desktop or Pictures. You can right-click the folders and select Copy, then right-click where you want the backups to be and select Paste. An external drive or USB stick is ideal, but if you don't have one handy, you can use your computer's Downloads folder, which OneDrive doesn't sync. You can also find your files later by signing into your Microsoft account at onedrive.com.
If a folder you're copying is very large, the process will take some time. If it's larger than the amount of storage currently free on the drive where you're pasting it, you'll get an error. You can check the free and total storage of all connected drives by opening a File Explorer window and clicking This PC in the left panel. If the drive in question doesn't have enough space, choose another one, or back up only the files you absolutely don't want to lose.
Right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen, select Settings > Backup, click Manage Backup, and click Stop backup for all three categories, then confirm the choice.
The reason to do this first is to move the locations of these directories out of the user's OneDrive folder; this is otherwise a more complicated process.
Next, right-click the OneDrive icon in the lower-right corner of your screen and select Settings > Account, then click Unlink this PC. It's unnecessary to uninstall OneDrive—without a link to a Microsoft account, it has nothing to do.
After the above and before you do anything else, please double-check that your Documents folder is no longer in OneDrive. Restart your computer. Type "command" in the Windows search box, open Command Prompt, and enter this command:
reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal"
This will spit out the location of the Documents directory for this Windows account. The file path should no longer include OneDrive, and if it does not, you're done with the process.
If you do see OneDrive in the file path, as shown here:
Then you'll need to change the location manually.
The simple way is to open a File Explorer window, right-click Documents in the left panel, choose Properties > Location, then Move, then click This PC, then choose this:
C:\Users\[your username]\Documents
Click Apply, then Yes. You may get an error that says "Can't move the folder because there is a folder in the same location that can't be redirected." The normal workaround is to stop OneDrive from backing up the location of Documents, as described above. If this hasn't helped, you can change the location of Documents by editing the relevant registry entry:
Please be very careful when editing your computer's registry. One simple typo can have significant consequences. Make a backup before you do anything: In the registry editor, click File > Export, and save a copy of the entire registry to somewhere convenient. If you mess up the edit, just restore the backup by double-clicking the saved file. [Note: This backup doesn't get updated, so it becomes stale the moment the registry changes for any reason. Only use it to revert an unwanted or erroneous edit immediately after the backup is made.] You can check your work with the same Command Prompt command as above, after a restart.
This also applies to the Desktop and Pictures folders if they've previously been directed to OneDrive.
My files aren't in OneDrive
Please see this guide for other causes of missing user data (Windows only):
My files still aren't appearing in-game
The two common reasons your saves and other user files might not load in-game is that they're in the wrong folder or they're named improperly. To make sure the files are in the correct folder, load the game and find the full file path to that folder, as described here:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/
To see the full path for a given file or folder on your computer, right-click it and select Properties > General, then look at the Location.
If you're having trouble opening the correct location, click This PC in a File Explorer window instead, then double-click the correct drive (probably C), and open the corresponding folders from there.
OneDrive may also have renamed the saves to avoid duplicate files or folders. For example, after changing some settings back and forth, I wound up with this in my saves folder:
Saves need to be named in a specific format: Slot_ followed by an eight-digit hexidecimal (base-16, so numbers 0 to 9, letters a to f) number followed by .save , with no extra characters. Each save needs to have a unique number as well. These are examples of valid save names:
Slot_00000006.save
Slot_0000000c.save
Slot_00000012.save
In the above screenshot, for the affected saves (red arrows), I would delete the - Copy and the space and also renumber the saves, as other saves already have those same numbers. The order in which you number the saves doesn't matter. Choose whatever names are convenient for you, although Sims 4 has occasionally been unable to read saves that start with a digit other than 0.
Saves with a .verx on the end are backups of your main saves: the game saves the data from the last five times you saved your progress before the current one. These can be renamed in the same way; once the .verx extension is deleted, the game will read these files as well.
The same principles apply to all other files in the Sims 4: they need to be named properly, and be in the correct subfolder if applicable. Here again, if you see extra characters like - Copy or - [computer name], those don't belong and should be deleted. You can see how these files should be named in this guide:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/
If your saves or other files are correctly named and in the correct location, but still aren't being read, or you can't figure out how to rename the files or where to move them, please create your own thread in the PC tech forum. Provide screenshots of the folders' contents that show the file names, and include the address bar, above the list of files, in the screenshots.
