How-To: Recover a Saved GameQuick Links:-
Go Back to Previous Save or Rename a Saved Game-
How Does the Saves Work?-
How To: Find My Saved Games?-
Save Vs. Save As - Differences and what they do-
Quickly Recover A Saved Game (In-Game)-
Sims 4 - How To: Use the Saving System-
Load Game Option is Gone From the Main Menu?-
I'm Missing My Saved Games?!-
Game Won't Save (Tips)-
How to restore a previous saved game in The Sims 4 - From EA Help
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My Family Has Disappeared
Notes:Sometimes you want to play a specific game save, but the game doesn't recognize the file. You will want to rename it, so the game can recognize it again. We're not exactly sure why it happens, but it might have something to do with the way the game saves the files.
Renaming a save file should not hurt relationships, career status or the game itself. It's basically just going back to a previous save.
*Important Note:* It it best not to have too many saved games in the Saves folder. As having too many saved games can cause issues with the saving system. A suggested amount is 25 or less, and keep the older saves in a folder on the desktop or backup media of choice.
If you save the game while building, regardless of what you're building - when you go to load that saved game, it will load the family you previously played. As the game actually doesn't allow you to save the game at the lot your building on.
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Go Back to Previous Save or Rename a Saved Game:There are two ways to get back to a previous save. In-game and rename the file via the Saves folder.
In-game:Click the Load game button - If you've previously saved a game you should be able to find a previously saved game in the Load Game Menu. Click on a game save, click the Recover Save button (in the lower right corner of the menu). If you have several backups, select a backup to recover. - See
this post for more details
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Rename a Saved-Game File in the Saves Folder:Go to: C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\saves
Sort by Date Modified.
[The game assigns the next slot when you do a Save As.]
If you accidentally delete a saved game, there is still hope to restore it. If you open your saves folder, you will see a list of save files. The game creates 5 backup files of your game save.
For example:
Slot_00000002.save (Main/Newest Current Save)
Slot_00000002.save.ver0 (Backup 0) - Newest backup to the main save.
Slot_00000002.save.ver1 (Backup 1)
Slot_00000002.save.ver2 (Backup 2)
Slot_00000002.save.ver3 (Backup 3)
Slot_00000002.save.ver4 (Backup 4) - Oldest backup
Here's an example of what you would see in your Saves folder: (Click image to see larger view)
--- The game no longer has an auto save feature. This means there is no Slot_00000001.save If you still have this file in your Saves folder, it's safe to delete or rename. Deleting it won't harm the game or any other save file.
The file that is listed for loading is one that ends in .save, this is your main save. The others are the backup files the game automatically creates. 0 being the most recent, and the higher the number the older the save.
The 'slots' are where that file appeared in the list of games that you can load in-game.
For example, if you accidentally deleted the second file down, which may have been named My Saved Game 4 by default in-game, unless you give it a name. The rest of the files will now be moved up in the list, but the file that you deleted would now be called '"Slot_00000002.save.ver0" as it was the most recent file to be deleted from the second slot down.
To restore this file, all you need to do is remove the ".ver0" from the end of the file, so that it is now called "Slot_00000002.save" and the game will add it back to the list of games that you can load. You do not have to quit the game for this to work.
If none of the above works, you could try Crinrict's tips:
Save Games disappearing
http://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2014/09/save-games-disappearing/For Mac Users - See Bluebellflora's post linked below:
Sims 3 and Sims 4 not loading save games
https://bluebellflora.com/2017/02/06/sims-3-and-sims-4-not-loading-save-games/Back to top
How Does the Saves Work?:The game assigns the next slot when you use Save As. Slot 1 was the autosave file and is no longer used. So the saving system starts with Slot_00000002.save.
- The .ver0, .ver1, .ver2, .ver3 .ver4 files are backup saves, created when you use Save in-game.
** After it saves the 5 original backup files, it starts over making new backup files and
will overwrite the old backups as you continue saving using Save.
If Save is continually used, the game progress gained or family played maybe lost. This is why it's important to use Save As, give the save a new name, save often and back the files up in case they are needed later.
Note the most current backup will always be .save.ver0 of your most current save slot. An example is shown below using Slot_00000002.save.ver0 (Click image to see larger view)
The files start out saving with a number ( 2-9 as 1 is reserved for the Autosave slot) and then after the numbers are used, the game starts saving with alphabetical letters ( A-F ) then goes to 10 - 19 and 1a - 1f, and so on. Technically, you
only need the .save (main save) file - unless you'd like to keep the backup files as well.
*Important Note:* It it best not to have too many saved games in the Saves folder. As having too many saved games can cause issues with the saving system. A suggested amount is 25 or less, and keep the older saves in a folder on the desktop or backup media of choice.
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How To: Find My Saved Games?:Via Windows File Explorer you can find your saved game files with this path:
C:\Users\Username\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\saves
Find Saved Games - In-game:
Click the Load Game button, Select a saved game. Mouse over the tiny folder under the game saves information. Like shown in the photos below: (Click images for larger view)
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Quickly Recover A Saved Game (In-Game):1. Click the "Load Game" button, from Main Menu.
2. In the Load Game Menu, you'll see thumbnails of all saved games.
3. Click a saved game, and click the "Recover Save" button -- which is next to the play button.
4. Rename the saved game. Go back to Main Menu and then Load Game Menu to see your recovered game - Enjoy playing your recovered Sim family!
A detailed walk-through can be found with the link below:
Recover A Game Save (In-Game)
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29328.msg466445#msg466445Back to top
Reference Link:
How to restore a previous saved game in The Sims 4
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/the-sims/the-sims-4/how-to-restore-a-previous-saved-game-in-the-sims-4/Updated: January.2019
