[PC] How to Clean-uninstall Sims 4
Introduction jump to: How to Uninstall jump to: Can't Uninstall Uninstalling Sims 4 the normal way (through the EA App or Steam or Epic) removes the game's program files and some associated data, but not close to everything. So for certain types of game issues, or when the regular uninstall process has failed to address a problem, a clean uninstall is warranted. There are several ways to perform a clean uninstall. This guide uses Revo Uninstaller, a free and reliable tool that removes a game and a number of hidden files at the same time. If you've already uninstalled Sims 4, you can use a tool like Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine) to search for and remove leftover files. I would NOT recommend removing these files manually, as you may miss some or accidentally delete data you wanted to preserve. Since you're already installing Revo and uninstalling Sims 4, I suggest clean-uninstalling the EA App as well, for a fresh start. Note: These instructions should work for many other games, but I haven't thoroughly tested anything aside from Sims 3 and 4. So while the process should be safe, I can't guarantee its success. How to Uninstall Download the free version of Revo Uninstaller (not the registry cleaner, you don't need a paid version, and the portable version is fine) from here: Revo Uninstaller (download page) Before proceeding, rename the Sims 4 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts to something that doesn't include the words "Sims 4." This will preserve your saves and other user data. In case you install the full (not portable) version and need to find it later, the executable is RevoUnin.exe and installs to C:\Program Files\VS Revo Group\Revo Uninstaller by default. Launch Revo, find Sims 4 on the list, right-click, and select Uninstall. Revo may list a couple other packs it finds and ask if you want to remove them as well. This is normal, and say yes. Note: The application size Revo lists is only for the base game, but all installed DLC (expansion/game/stuff packs/kits) will be removed as well. You may also want to uncheck the box to create a system restore point, especially if your computer is low on storage. You don't need this restore point for this particular purpose. Revo will note that all add-ons will be removed; click Yes again. When the game is uninstalled, select Moderate under "scanning modes," and click Scan. If you already tried to clean-uninstall the game and it didn't work the first time, choose Advanced instead of Moderate. When the scan is finished, you'll see a list of leftover registry entries. Click Select All and delete them. These will be recreated when you reinstall the game. You'll now see a list of leftover files and folders. Click Select All again, but before clicking Delete, review the list for anything you might want to preserve. Anything in a ProgramData or AppData folder should be removed. When you're satisfied that you won't delete anything essential, click Delete, confirm the choice, and click Finish if the window is still open. EA App Since you've already installed Revo and are probably troubleshooting a technical issue, it would be best to uninstall the EA App as well. As above, right-click its entry, select Uninstall, cancel the system restore point, and the EA App may open a window. Click Uninstall, then in the Revo window, click Moderate under Scanning modes, and Revo will present a list of registry entries. Click Select All, then Delete: you don't need or want to preserve these entries. For the leftover files and folders, click Select All, review the list and deselect anything you'd like to keep (this is unlikely, but it's worth checking), click Delete, and you're done. Close Revo, and restart your computer. Reinstalling Download a fresh copy of the EA App installer from here: Download the EA app Reinstall it, then Sims 4. If you play through Steam or Epic, that's fine, just install through that launcher instead. It is probably unnecessary to uninstall the Steam or Epic launcher, and for Steam at least, doing so could remove other Steam-installed games. For troubleshooting purposes, I would strongly suggest installing to a new location in a different folder than where the game was previously installed. Do NOT install Sims 4 anywhere inside Documents or Downloads or on the Desktop. The folder you choose should be at least one level deep on the drive of your choice, for example D:\Games\The Sims 4, not simply D:\The Sims 4. Launch the game once and make sure all your packs are loading properly. If they are, you can restore your saves, Tray files, mods and custom content, screenshots, and recorded videos (if you want to keep them) from the Sims 4 user folder you renamed before uninstalling the game. Move these files to the corresponding new folders within Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, and you'll be able to pick up where you left off. For further information on which files to restore, please see this guide, starting with step 9: Clean User Folder Approach ↑ Can't Uninstall If Revo Uninstaller does not find Sims 4 on the list of installed apps, look for a green plumbob logo: Revo may list the game under a different name. If you don't see that either, uninstall through the launcher you're using (EA App/Steam/Epic), reinstall the base game—no need to download all your packs—and try using Revo again. If that doesn't work either, or you can't uninstall the game through the launcher of your choice, close the EA App and kill the EABackgroundService in the Task Manager's background processes list. Then delete the Sims 4 folder that contains the game's program files. Make sure you delete the correct folder. The program files folder contains subfolders like Data, Delta, and Game; the user folder contains subfolders like saves and Tray. If the folder you're viewing has both types of subfolders, move the saves, Tray, and Mods (if you use mods or custom content) folders elsewhere, plus Screenshots and Recorded Videos if you care about those, then delete the Sims 4 folder. Once you've deleted this folder, you can reinstall the base game and try to use Revo again. Or you can use a different tool, for example Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine), to search for and remove hidden files. Check the files and folders the tool finds to make sure it does NOT delete the Sims 4 user folder. Back to Introduction[PC] Choosing where Sims 4 data is stored
Overview Sims 4 takes up a lot of space, sometimes more than a computer or drive can comfortably fit. This guide covers options for moving game data elsewhere. jump to: Benefits and drawbacks jump to: Installing to a custom location jump to: Moving the Documents folder jump to: Moving the user folder via symbolic link This guide is for Windows. Mac users, please see this article. Installing and playing this game results in two separate Sims 4 folders: one that contains the game's program files and one that contains user data. Program files are what the EA App installs, in the location of your choice, or C:\Program Files\EA Games by default. User data consists of saves, Tray files, mods, etc., and the game always expects this folder to be in Documents > Electronic Arts. If the folder isn't there, the game will create a new one with no content rather than looking for the data elsewhere on your computer. These folders can be stored almost anywhere you want, but they should never be combined. Doing so comes with a variety of risks, up to and including permanent loss of your saves. If the Sims 4 folders will be on the same drive, create separate parent folders to contain them, for example D:\Games\The Sims 4 and D:\Sims Data\The Sims 4. Benefits and drawbacks The main benefit to moving your game data is freeing up space on the drive(s) that currently contain it. For the overall health of your computer, your system drive (C) should always have at least 25-30 GB free, more if you're frequently working with large files. Other drives need at least some free space too; how much depends on general usage and the type of drive, with mechanical drives (HDDs) especially slowing down significantly when close to full. The game's program files will occupy just under 70 GB with all current packs installed; the size of the user folder depends on what you place in it, of course. A large custom content collection can be hundreds of gigabytes and might not fit on a smaller system drive at all. Some people also organize their data in such a way that it's more convenient to use custom locations for games and associated files. The main drawback is that the speed of a secondary drive, especially an external one, is unlikely to match the speed of your system drive, so loading times may be noticeably slower. A solid state drive (SSD) is much faster than an HDD, but the connection between an external drive and your computer could be slower than the drive itself. (This is not a problem for a secondary internal drive.) For best results, look for online reviews that measure the actual read/write speeds of the drive rather than simply referencing the listed specs. Other drawbacks are mostly user error: forgetting the details of a setup, deleting a symbolic link, losing an external drive, that kind of thing. OneDrive can also cause problems; this guide covers your options for managing OneDrive settings and how to implement them. Managing OneDrive ↑ Installing to a custom location EA App jump to: Steam The EA App will install all games to C:\Program Files\EA Games by default, but during the install process, you can select a different folder under Install Location. This location can be almost anywhere, but it should not be on the root level of the drive. For example, if you're installing to a new drive D, create a folder, e.g. D:\Games\The Sims 4, and install Sims 4 into that; don't install directly to D:\The Sims 4. If you've already installed the game and want to move its location, it would be best to uninstall through the EA App (Sims 4 > Manage > Uninstall), then reinstall to the new location. However, if your download speeds are slow enough that reinstalling would be a burden, you can try a workaround first. Close the EA App and make sure the EABackgroundService is NOT running in the Task Manager. Right-click the Sims 4 folder that contains the program files and select Cut. Right-click empty space inside the folder where you want the game to go and select Paste. Wait for your computer to finish transferring the data, which will take some time. When the transfer is done, open the EA App, which will see Sims 4 as uninstalled. Tell the App to download to the new location, where you pasted the program files, and it may simply verify the files and finish the install process. Or it may redownload part or all of the data—I had mixed results when testing this. If the process doesn't work correctly, you'll need to properly uninstall and reinstall the game. It's probably unnecessary to do a clean uninstall, but if you've made a mess of things (or think you might have) and want to remove all game data, please see this guide to clean-uninstalling: How to Clean-uninstall Sims 4 Steam Steam downloads games to your Steam library, which is located here by default: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common To change the location of this library within Steam, select Steam > Settings > Storage, click the arrow to the right of your drive name, and click the + Add Drive button: Under Add a new Steam library folder, select Let me choose another location, then click Add and choose the folder you'd like to use. The new folder must be empty and not on the same drive as any other Steam library. You can also change the location of an already-installed game. Create a new Steam library, as described above. In the same Storage tab, find Sims 4, check the box to its right, and click Move. Steam will do the rest. ↑ Moving the Documents folder If you would like to store your Sims 4 user data (saves, mods, etc.) on a secondary internal drive, the simplest way is to move the location of the Documents directory for your Windows account. Your computer will have several Documents folders, but Windows designates only one per account as the directory, and this is the location Sims 4 uses as well. DO NOT move the Documents folder to an external drive. Doing so can have serious consequences for your computer, particularly if the secondary drive is ever disconnected, either physically or in software. This guide covers how to move the Documents directory and common errors: Move or Restore Default Location of Documents Folder in Windows 11 If you still can't move Documents, the problem may be OneDrive, and you may need to prevent OneDrive from syncing Documents at all. Please see this article for help: Managing OneDrive ↑ Moving the user folder via symbolic link These instructions cover moving the Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts, which contains saves, mods, and other user files. This does not apply to, and is not necessary for, the program files, as in, what the EA App or Steam installs. This part of the guide is based on this article, written by holger1405 , and adapted with permission. jump to: Creating the symlink jump to: Common errors If you're moving the Sims 4 user folder to an external drive, or you're using an internal drive but don't want to move the entire Documents folder, you can create a symbolic link to tell the game where to look for your data. You could instead create a symbolic link for the Electronic Arts folder, for example if you want to move data for Sims 3 and 4 at the same time. These instructions are written with moving the Sims 4 folder in mind, but the principle is the same; just change the file paths accordingly. It is also possible in theory to move a subfolder inside Sims 4, e.g. Mods, but in practice, this can lead to files not loading or showing as corrupted, so it's generally best to move at least the entire Sims 4 folder. You can use almost any location you want, but you'll avoid certain complications by placing this folder inside a parent folder, not directly on the drive, for example D:\Sims Data\The Sims 4 rather than D:\The Sims 4. The folder should not be anywhere inside Program Files, and no other data should be inside this Sims 4 folder. Creating the symlink First, find the location of the current folder. Even if you think you know where it is, please check anyway—this location can change for various reasons and without notice. Open the game, click Options > Game Options > Screen Capture, and look at the Location Path: This is the file path you'll use in the symlink command later. If it's inside the OneDrive folder, and you have no use for OneDrive, it would be best to address this first. Please see this guide. Otherwise, copy the file path the game shows you, open a new text file (Notepad is fine to use), and paste the text. Delete everything after "The Sims 4" as it won't be used. Close the game, open a File Explorer window, and navigate to this Sims 4 folder. Right-click this folder and select Cut. Navigate to the location where you want this data, right-click the empty space, and select Paste. Wait for the process to complete, which may take a while if your Sims 4 folder is large and/or the drive you're using is slow. Right-click the Sims 4 folder you moved and select Properties > General. Highlight the Location, and copy and paste it into your text file. Now you'll create the command you're going to use. Create a new line in the text file and paste this text: MKLINK /J "[location 1]" "[location 2]" Replace [location 1] with the file path you copied from within the game. Replace [location 2] with the Location of the Sims 4 folder after you moved it. Don't change anything else. The command will look something like this: MKLINK /J "C:\Users\username\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" "E:\Sims Data\The Sims 4" Note that the file paths in the command need to end with the same folder name: the name of the folder that's the subject of the symlink. If you're playing in Spanish, French, German, or Dutch, your folder name will be localized (e.g. Los Sims 4), so be sure to account for that in both parts of the command. Search in Windows for Command Prompt and select the Run as Adminstrator option. Highlight the command you created above, starting with MKLINK. Paste it (ctrl-V) into the Command Prompt window, and enter. You should see "Junction created for..." in the window: and also a symbolic link (a folder icon with a black arrow on it) in the original location of the Sims 4 folder you moved. Test the game and make sure your data loads correctly. If it does, you're done. You can undo the symlink by dragging it to the recycle bin. Then move your Sims 4 folder back to the original location so your data loads again. Common errors User data doesn't load: Double-check the file paths in your Command Prompt command to confirm they point to the correct locations. Make sure all the data is present in the location where you moved it. It's possible the files were not all moved correctly—you may have cut off the process too soon or moved the wrong folder. Please see this guide for further reading about missing user data. "The system cannot find the file path specified": This means the folder where the symlink is supposed to be created doesn't exist, so the Electronic Arts folder in the example above. Load Sims 4 and double-check the location the game is reading; delete the new Sims 4 folder that will have spawned in this location before attempting to create the symlink again. "The syntax of the command is incorrect": You've probably added or removed or replaced a bit of the command, for example one of the quotation marks. Create the command from scratch again, copying and pasting each component rather than writing it out. "Cannot create a file when that file already exists": This means that in the location where you want the symlink, which is where the folder was before you moved it, a file or folder with the same name already exists. (That would be "The Sims 4" in the above example.) This can happen if you choose to Copy the folder rather than Cut; or it can happen if the folder is inside OneDrive, and your OneDrive contains a synced copy of the Sims 4 folder that it downloads to your machine before you can create the symlink. Remove this folder, and if necessary, pause OneDrive syncing. Right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, or sometimes hidden in the Tray (^ icon), to see the option: Then run the command again. If none of this helps, please create your own thread in the Sims 4 PC tech forum. Post the command you used and the error, if any, you received. Back to Overview[PC] Sims 4 Crashing Troubleshooting Guide
Overview jump to: Start troubleshooting This guide will walk you through a basic troubleshooting sequence for a game that's crashing or won't start. If nothing here resolves the issue, create a new thread describing the problem and listing the steps you tried; the helper that replies can pick up where you left off. Note: This guide is for Windows only. For crashing on a Mac, please start with a clean user folder as described in this guide. If it doesn't help, post in the Mac tech forum. Other common issues: Missing DLC (expansion/game/stuff packs, kits) Missing user content (saves, mods, Tray files) Game failed to load, error code xxx:xxxxxxxx; or endless loading Lag/bad performance: create your own thread as described below The game is crashing your whole computer: create your own thread as described below Is your game installed and updated, and can you press Play? Yes | No You do not have the option to launch the game Update loop If you're caught in an update loop, repairing should fix it and give you the updated version: Clear the EA App's cache Repair the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair OR Steam > Sims 4 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files) If you can now play, confirm the game is updated by viewing the version number in the lower-left corner of the Main Menu Other common EA App errors "Game ownership disabled or deleted" "You don't have access" "Something went wrong" "The app couldn't connect to the internet" If you're seeing one of these errors, and the thread has an accepted solution, please try the suggestions in that post, or provide the information requested. If the suggestions don't help, or there is no marked solution, post in that thread. If you're seeing a different error, please look for a relevant thread in the EA App tech forum, and create a new one in that forum if nothing matches your issue. State your game (Sims 4) and platform (Windows), and post a screenshot of the error. ↑ Does the game start when you press Play? Yes | No, I get an error | No, and no error If yes, can you get to the Main Menu and load a new save? Yes | No Does the error come from the EA App, Steam, or Windows? This is what EA App (left) and Windows (right) errors look like: Please look for your error in the relevant list below, and follow the instructions in the first post or accepted solution. If that doesn't help, post in that thread. Common EA App errors: "Game license is invalid" "The game license has expired" "Failed to launch game" "DisplayName field missing from registry" "The Sims 4 is already running" Common Windows errors: "Unable to start: Initialization error at start up." "Unable to start: The Sims 4 is already running." "Unable to start: Cannot start because game data is missing or damaged." "The requested operation requires elevation." "There's a problem with your game's setup. Please reinstall your game." Steam: link2EA error The link2EA error points to an issue with the EA App, not Steam. Please uninstall the EA App, restart your computer, and reinstall it. Run the App and Steam as an admin: right-click each one's desktop shortcut and select "Run as administrator." Confirm that both game libraries have loaded fully before trying to launch Sims 4. If this doesn't clear up the error, uninstall the EA App with Revo Uninstaller (the free, portable version is fine), and use the Advanced scanning method when asked. Restart your computer, download a fresh copy of the App installer, and run it as an admin. Open both the App and Steam as an admin, and try again to play. If none of these matches your error, create a new thread in the EA App tech forum if the error is from the EA App or Steam, or the Sims 4 PC tech forum if it's from Windows. ↑ Clean folder/factory reset Open Documents > Electronic Arts and move the Sims 4 folder to the desktop. This will remove, but not delete, your saves and other user data—the game cannot read the files when removed, but they will be intact in the new location. When you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content. Please see this guide for more details about testing with a clean folder: Clean User Folder Approach If the folder copies instead of moving, or you get an error when trying to move it: Now try again to play. Does the game open, can you get to the Main Menu, and can you start a new save? Yes | No Cannot play after factory reset If OneDrive is running on your computer, whether you use it or not, please pause syncing as described under the spoiler in the previous section. Please also check your antivirus for any recent actions involving Sims 4 or the EA App. If you find anything, allow the process and/or set exceptions for the game (TS4_x64, TS4_DX9_x64, TS4_Launcher_x64, and TS4_x64_fpb; or the Bin folder that contains them) and the App (EADesktop.exe). This guide covers a few common antivirus programs: Add Exceptions to Anti Virus Programs For other programs, check the publisher's online documentation for instructions. If neither step helps, please create your own thread, as described below. ↑ Time to test an old save Open the Sims 4 folder you moved to your desktop, and open the saves folder inside. Sort it by modified date, and find the newest file that ends in .save. Right-click the file and select Copy. Open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > saves, right-click the empty space, and select Paste. Because you're copying rather than moving the save, you don't need to worry about the effects of missing mods or custom content. Do not add this content back yet. You can now test your old save in the new Sims 4 folder. Can you play it? Yes | No If not, can you load and play a backup of this save? Here's how to recover one. Yes | No What happens when you try to load your old save? If you're not testing in a clean user folder, please remove your Mods folder and delete localthumbcache.package. You don't need to save your progress when testing the save, so don't worry about the effects of removing mods or custom content. Test your save, or a backup if your main save isn't loading. If one of the following happens: Immediate crash "Game failed to load, error code xxx:xxxxxxxx" Booted back to the Manage Worlds map without an error Endless loading when trying to enter a household or lot Please see this master thread for troubleshooting steps, as well as what information to provide if and when you need further help, or what bug report to use. Endless Loading If the save plays fine for a while and crashes later, please create your own thread in the Gameplay Issues forum. State that a new save does not crash (and test to confirm that it in fact does not), and list any pattern you've noticed to the crashing in the main save. For example, the crashes might happen at the same sim-time of day or only on certain lots. ↑ You're ready to play again If adding back mods and/or custom content breaks the game again, please see this post, particularly the section on the 50-50 method/batch testing. If you need further help sorting through your mods or cc, please post in the Sims 4 Mods forum. For more details about restoring the data from your old Sims 4 folder, please see this guide, starting with step 9: Clean User Folder Approach Other than that, you can go back to playing as normal. Still, in case you need it later, make a backup copy of your current save, or the entire saves folder, and store it somewhere else on your computer, not in Documents or on your desktop. ↑ If the above steps didn't help Please create a new thread in the Sims 4 PC tech forum. Provide the following information: A description of the issue The steps you've taken, as listed in this guide, that didn't help A screenshot of any error message you get (use Windows key-shift-S to take it) 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 To attach a text file, use the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons. To attach a screenshot, use the camera (Insert Media) icon. Back to Overview[PC] [Mac] Sims 4 Missing Content (DLC)
This article is about missing DLC: expansion/game/stuff packs and kits. If your saves or other user files are missing, please see the relevant article for your platform: Windows, macOS. Step One: Check the EA App for your missing DLC Open the App and click Sims 4 > Manage > Manage add-ons. Is your missing DLC listed there? It would look like this: jump to: My packs are not listed at all jump to: My packs are listed but grayed out jump to: My packs have a Steam logo jump to: My packs show as owned and installed If your content is missing from the EA App If none of your content is available, you're probably signed into the wrong EA account. If some of your content is available, but some is not, there may have been an issue with one or more purchases, or you've spread the content over multiple accounts. If you are missing Get to Work specifically, you may have been accessing it through an EA Play subscription (directly or through XBox Game Pass) that has now run out. This can be a problem even if you also own a standalone copy of GtW. In all these cases, you'll need to contact EA customer support for any further help. First, go to ea.com, sign in, open Account Settings > Payment and Wallet > Order History, and look for entries for your missing DLC. If you see any orders for your DLC, take screenshots, including the order numbers, so you can provide them to support. If you don't see any such entries, you're probably signed into the wrong account. Check any email address you have access to for receipts or other proof of purchase. This would also likely be the email address tied to the EA account that owns your missing content. When you're ready, contact EA customer support here: Contact EA Help ↑ If your content is listed but grayed out If you're playing on a Mac, any content you own through Steam or Epic won't be available in macOS. This is by design, as these storefronts only offer the Windows version of Sims 4. Still, you can share your thoughts in this master thread. The same is true for any content you access through an EA Play subscription, which is also only available in Windows even when the content has a Mac version as well. ↑ If your content has a Steam logo You will need to install the game and play through Steam (Windows only). Any Steam-owned content can only be accessed through Steam. This is by design. To use your content: Uninstall Sims 4 through the EA App. This should NOT delete your saves or other user content. However, it's always best to make a backup before uninstalling. User data is stored in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, and saves and saved households and builds are stored in the saves and Tray subfolders, respectively. Clear the EA App's cache. Install the game through Steam as well as any DLC you own there. Open the EA App, click Sims 4 > Manage > Manage add-ons, and download your owned packs, but not a second copy of the base game. If you are unable to install your EA App-owned DLC without downloading the base game again, there may be an issue with the link between your Steam and EA accounts, or with your EA account's copy of the base game. It would be best to contact EA customer support for further help. If this doesn't help, or you believe you've only installed the game through Steam, please see the next section. ↑ If your content shows as owned and installed Sometimes this issue can be resolved by restarting your computer, clearing the EA App's cache, and repairing the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair OR Steam > Sims 4 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files). Otherwise, when the EA App thinks your packs are installed, but they don't load in-game, this usually means you have a second copy of Sims 4 installed. The App recognizes your DLC as installed into one copy of the game but is loading from the other, which does not include that DLC. In order for your packs to show up in-game, they must be installed to same location as the base game that the game launcher is using. Uninstalling Sims 4 the standard way, i.e. through the EA App or Steam, or through the Windows Control Panel, may only remove one copy, so further measures may be required. Windows jump to: macOS If you own some content through Steam, please start with this section above. Otherwise, run a search for one of your missing packs. The first step is to identify the affected packs and find their codes, as listed here: Available Packs (DLC) Open a File Explorer window, click This PC in the left panel, and enter the folder name for a missing pack in the search field in the upper-right corner of the window, for example EP19 is for Enchanted by Nature. Wait for the search to finish, which may take a few minutes. You'll see something like this: In the above example, there are three folders labeled EP19: one inside The Sims 4 (the pack itself), one inside Delta (the patch-related data for the pack), and one inside __Installer\DLC (a log of the pack being installed). You can ignore the WORLD files below that start with EP19, as these are not relevant for this issue. In the above screenshot, all the EP19 folders are inside the same overall location: C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 4, where I've installed the game. If, however, you see pack folders in a different Sims 4 folder than the one where you installed the game, or they're in multiple locations, this is probably why the pack isn't loading. For example, here you can see that the only EP19 folder directly inside a Sims 4 folder is inside an Origin Games folder I wouldn't be using anymore: The EA App has installed EbN into a different copy of Sims 4 (in Origin Games) than the one it's loading (in EA Games), which is why the expansion doesn't appear in-game. Note: A newly-released pack may not have a folder inside Delta yet because this folder is only created when the pack receives a patch. You can first try moving the pack folder that's directly inside the wrong Sims 4 folder into the correct one. If you don't know the correct folder for an EA App install, look under Sims 4 > Manage > View properties. For a Steam install, right-click the Sims 4 tile and select Properties > Installed Files > Browse to open the correct folder. Close the EA App and kill the EABackgroundService in the Task Manager's background processes list. Right-click the pack folder in the wrong location and select Cut, then right-click empty space inside the folder where it needs to be and select Paste. You'll need to do the same for the folder inside __Installer\DLC as well. When you're done, repair the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair OR Steam > Sims 4 > Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity of game files), then load a save and see whether the content appears. If this doesn't help, close the EA App and kill the EABackgroundService again. Delete the entire incorrect Sims 4 folder—make sure it's the wrong one—and empty the recycle bin. Clear the EA App's cache (again), open the App, and reinstall the missing pack. If moving folders around or removing one install doesn't help, you may need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall of Sims 4, as described in this guide: How to Clean-uninstall Sims 4 macOS The first step is to identify the missing packs and find their codes, as listed here: Available Packs (DLC) For example, Get to Work is EP01; For Rent is EP15. If you've installed Sims 4 onto an external drive, make sure it's plugged in and recognized. Open Terminal, which is inside Applications > Utilities, copy and paste the following search command, and enter: find / -name "EP01" 2>/dev/null Except instead of EP01 , you'll use the code for one of your missing packs. Don't change anything else about the command. Terminal may take a few minutes to complete the process, so please be patient; you'll know the search is finished when the command prompt reappears. If Sims 4 is installed anywhere on your computer, you will see at least one result. You can ignore the entries that start with System/Volumes, as these are redundant. For the rest, you may see something like this: /Users/username/Applications/The Sims 4 Packs/__Installer/DLC/EP01 /Users/username/Applications/The Sims 4 Packs/EP01 /Users/username/Applications/The Sims 4.app/Contents/Delta/EP01 The first part of the file path must be the same for all three entries, as above. If The Sims 4.app is in a different location, like this: /Users/username/Applications/The Sims 4 Packs/__Installer/DLC/EP01 /Users/username/Applications/The Sims 4 Packs/EP01 /Applications/EA Games/The Sims 4.app/Contents/Delta/EP01 That's the problem. You'll need to move the "The Sims 4 Packs" folder to the same location as the Sims 4.app. In the above example, that would mean moving the Packs folder out of Users > your username > Applications and into Applications > EA Games. If this doesn't work, delete the Packs folder, run the EA App Recovery tool (under the Help menu at the top of the screen, with the EA App in focus), and restart your computer, then redownload the missing packs. If this doesn't help either, please reply to this master thread, and post the results of the Terminal search for at least two of your missing packs. Feel free to remove or black out your username where you see it, if you want, but leave everything else intact. You can copy and paste the results from the Terminal window, or you can use cmd-shift-4 to take a screenshot of the relevant portion of the screen. Back to Step One[INDEX] List of Common Errors
Overview Below are lists of links to threads covering various common errors. The links are grouped by the software that's causing the error: the EA App, Windows, or Sims 4. Please read the first post or accepted solution of the relevant thread for help, or post in that thread if there is no fix or workaround or it doesn't work for you. EA App errors Windows errors Sims 4 errors Miscellaneous errors Here are an EA App error on the left and a Windows error on the right: Here are examples of Sims 4 errors: You can also search this page (ctrl-F in Windows, cmd-F in macOS) for keywords. Any error that doesn't look like the above images is probably not Sims 4-related, but feel free to create a new thread in the PC tech forum or Mac tech forum to ask about it anyway. EA App errors "Game ownership disabled or deleted" "You don't have access" "Something went wrong" "The app couldn't connect to the internet" "Game license is invalid" "The game license has expired" "Failed to launch game" (1) "DisplayName field missing from registry" "The Sims 4 is already running" If you're seeing an EA App error not listed here, please create a new thread in the EA App tech forum. Attach a screenshot of the error to your post. ↑ Windows errors "Initialization error at start up." "The Sims 4 is already running." "Cannot start because game data is missing or damaged." "The requested operation requires elevation." "There's a problem with your game's setup. Please reinstall your game." Any error that includes "Link2EA": Uninstall and reinstall the EA App. "Can't run The Sims 4 with the video card in this system": Post in the PC tech forum, attach a dxdiag to your post. "The game has run out of memory": Post in the PC tech forum, attach a dxdiag to your post. Any error that includes "breakpoint": Post in the PC tech forum, attach a dxdiag to your post. "The cloud file provider is not running": This is a OneDrive-related error. See the Managing OneDrive guide for info and help. If you're seeing a Windows error not listed here, please create a new thread in the PC tech forum. Attach a dxdiag and a screenshot of the error to your post. ↑ Sims 4 errors "Unrecognized Video Card": This error has no negative impact and can be ignored. (2) "Sims Delivery Error" with or without other symptoms when there is no current SDX content available. (3) "Sims Delivery Error" when there is an available SDX: Open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and delete the Content folder. If that doesn't help, see this thread. "The game failed to load. Error code: 800/801" "The game failed to load. Error code: XXX:XXXXXXXX": Refer to this guide. "Game Data Incomplete": Some of your content isn't loading. Load a new save and look around. If you're missing EA content (DLC), refer to this guide. If you're missing mods or custom content, post in the Mods & CC forum. "Items Removed": See "Game Data Incomplete" above. "The game failed to Save.... Error code: X": Refer to this guide. If you want help with a LastException, follow the instructions in this guide. LastCrash files are mostly indecipherable to anyone outside of Maxis. You don't need to provide one unless you're specifically asked to do so. Some game bugs that produce error codes are listed in this post in the Bug Reports forum. If you're seeing a Sims 4 error not listed here, and it happens with no mods or custom content present, please create a new thread in the Gameplay Issues forum. Attach a screenshot of the error to your post. Mod-related errors belong in the Mods & CC forum. ↑ Miscellaneous errors "Mods have been disabled" after you reenable them: See this thread for help. Any error that mentions a mod by name: Post in the Mods & CC forum for help. Any error coming from your console (Playstation/XBox): Post in the Console tech forum for help. Any error that refers to ReShade or GShade: Ask for support on the forum for that software. Back to Overview (1) Even though this message comes from the EA App and states that the problem is on EA's end, it's a generic catch-all error that is usually caused by something on the player side. (2) The Unrecognized Video Card error means your GPU's device ID is not in Sims 4's database, so the game has guessed what your graphics settings should be. It doesn't affect how the game runs otherwise, and you can change the default graphics settings if you want. (3) EA typically announces a Sims Delivery update, so check wherever you get your Sims news. SDX content is included in the next update, so the previous SDX will no longer be provided for download on its own.
