Disabling Seasions But Keeping its Stuff - Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
Improving Sims 4: The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Many players have a lot of save files. Backing these up can avert loss of Sims and prevent a lot of heartache.
Losing your save game in The Sims 4 can go from a minor annoyance to devastation depending how much time you've invested in the game. Saves are stored locally, so hard drive failure and errors can cause you to lose them unless you've backed them up. If you've got to reinstall the game, you may need to do this as well. This is a tutorial to teach players how to properly ensure the safety of their Sims 4 save files - from the game data itself to mods and screenshots.
Where are Saves/Sims/Mods Stored?
If you know about backing up and just wonder where saves are stored, they're in Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Saves. Mods/CC are located in the Sims 4/Mods directory, and Sims, Lots, and Rooms you've made are stored in the Tray folder. There are also Recorded Videos and Screenshots folders here. These five folders contain everything most players would want to backup. If you need more info, read on...
My saves are now safely stored on another hard drive. USB thumb drives are cheap these days, should your desktop computer or laptop lack a second hard drive.
Basic Information: Copy
If you're a total newbie at computers, you need to know about copying. Dragging and dropping files can be useful, but it doesn't make a copy. Open Windows Explorer or Finder (Mac). Navigate to Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 and click on Saves to highlight it. Highlighting something and pressing Control + C will make a copy of that file or folder (Command + C on Mac), which you can then put elsewhere with paste. You can also right-click a folder to get a menu and select copy. Holding Control and left-clicking can let you select multiple folders at once. Be careful not to drag them!
Paste
Once you've told the computer to copy, you are now ready to paste. Navigate to a new place by clicking a drive to the left. There are better places to store files, but for now let's say C: because everyone has one, and right click in blank space to select New Folder, name it Sims 4 Saves Backup. Go into that new folder by double clicking it and press Control + V (Windows) or Command + V (Mac) to paste the file there. You will see the saves folder appear, and all your data will go with it. If you want, you can also make backups of Houses/Sims, screenshots/videos, and Mods you've downloaded by using the information above to copy those particular folders. If you backup regularly, you'll need to tell the computer to copy and replace files so that the new files write over the old ones.
Explore My Mods! Color Picker for Builders, Seasons Tuner, Dine Out Reloaded and a Gameplay Overhaul! Like other modders, I've been working to make The Sims 4 a better game. Check out my many mods here!
Best Places to Store Saves
A safe location is typically another hard drive, because if one piece of hardware fails, you've got it stored on another device until your computer is repaired. So, I recommend a USB thumb drive for this or another hard drive on your computer. You can even burn a copy to DVD if you have the rewriteable kind and know-how. It's good enough to just make a copy and store it somewhere other than the Sims 4 folder on your drive, in a place you can easily access later.
Restoring your Saved Games
If you've got a new install of The Sims 4 or have somehow lost save game information, you can now head to your backup folder and copy the save folder. You can paste it inside The Sims 4 and choose yes to overwrite all files in the save folder. Be careful though, if you have other games that have not been backed up recently you may not want to overwrite them. In this case, go inside your save backup folder and choose the files related to the save you want to restore by dragging a box around them - again press Control + C to copy. You can then go to The Sims 4/Saves folder (where you'll see all save games listed) and paste that individual file. They are named in a strange way, but you may be able to tell which is right by looking at the last modified date on them.
Your downloads from Origin can be backed up in order to avoid downloading them again. Here's a great post by Flynn on the Forum, which explains the process. The game always needs patched after installing anyway, so this will save a lot of time in the process of reinstalling the game. Just invest the time once to backup the game downloads, and you'll be free from redownloading them again. This applies to everything from the base game to expansions and stuff packs.
The Sims 4 Seasons expansion now has options! Want to disable weather or make plants in season year-round? You can do so with my new Seasons Tuner Mod
The past month, I've spent every day tinkering The Sims 4, making quality of life improvements, gameplay changes, and new difficulty settings for the game. If you'd like to learn more about my project, visit the post on Patreon where you can download it now.
Cottage Living Guide! Here is my guide to new features in the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion
You can also find handy Cottage Living Cheats
I have much more to come, since you can actually write a few guides about this pack!
Blender has been incredibly useful in video production, so I made my own Physics and Simulation Improvement Addon that lumps a ton of unique tools into one compact interface.
Snowy Escape Cheats
Lifestyles in Snowy Escape
Climb Mt. Komorebi
Sentiments in Snowy Escape
Rock Climbing
Skiing Skill
Snowboarding Skill
I've released a guide to Sentiments in The Sims 4 & Snowy Escape.
There is a new platform tool in The Sims 4. There's also a new Sentiments system, but it'll take some time to create a guide to that. Players can also use rental lots in any world now by changing lot types of builds in manage worlds.
I've created a massive List of The Best Mods in The Sims 4 that should be very helpful to new players and those who have not yet explored modding and how much it can do for your gameplay.
New - Secrets I have a new guide to secrets in the game. If you prefer, you can also watch a video about secrets in Sims 4.
Nifty Knitting is now available. Learn all about the stuff pack on my guide page here.
NEW - Nifty Knitting CheatsNew features in the Sims 4 June 2020
The Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle Guide
Eco Footprint: How it Works
Neighborhood Action Plans
How to Cheat in Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Civil Designer Career
Insect Farms & Bio Fuel
Fabrication Skill in Eco Lifestyle
Juice Fizzing NEW
Traits and Aspirations in DLC
Gameplay Ideas for Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle
Updated
Trait Cheats Updated
Traits List Updated
Aspirations List Updated
Readers who use adblock or those who'd like to thank me for my efforts can now pledge $1/$5 monthly via Patreon. This helps a lot with server costs and provides some stability for my business.
This is inspired by a new series in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to the full playlist!
I now have a guide page to Tiny Living Stuff where you can learn about Murphy Beds, the new death, as well as the lot bonuses you'll receive if you manage to keep the size of your lot down with this new pack's Tiny Home Lot Type.
New I now have a guide to Making Super Sims in The Sims 4. Look for a text version within the next 72h. It won't have THAT much more info but it will help out as a checklist.
This was inspired by a series, "Let's Play a Super Sim" in which I start at toddler and gradually take on the major bonuses. Here's a link to each part for people who are interested. You can also see the Let's Play as a Playlist on Youtube.
The Sims 4 Discover University has been announced for November 15 for PC/Mac and December 17 for Xbox and Playstation 4 consoles. Click to learn more about the pack, see my summary of the livestream or read our FAQs below.
Other Guides to Discover University:
New Lot Traits: Study Spot and University Student Hang Out
New: Discover University FAQ: Gameplay Features
New Video The Sims 4 Discover University Gameplay Tips Video
More videos coming soon!
Disclaimer This site is not endorsed by or affiliated with Electronic Arts, or its licensors. Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The Sims and The Sims 4 Logo are trademarks of Electronic Arts, Inc. Game content and materials copyright Electronic Arts Inc. and its licensors. All Rights Reserved. All original Guides on this site © Carl's Guides
Comments (44)
How To Back-Up My Game Files
Slot_0000000a.save
Slot_0000000a.save.ver0
Slot_0000000a.save.ver1
to:
Slot_0000000a.save.ver4
then theres:
Slot_0000000b [theres b or c, d, e, f] .save.ver0 (0 to 4)
and the last one is:
Slot_00000013.save.ver4
What do i have to do before being sure i have all my familys when i reinstall it. ( Also when i delete my origin and sims can i be sure that i dont need to pay for it again?)
We've got a walk through on Save files and how to organize them
and the same information but this time all about the Tray Folder and it's files
We have a Technical help Board here where you will find even more info of you can post a specific question if you are still unsure about what to do.
So the Saves folders -has all your saved games, the Tray folder- has all your houses and sims etc you've saved to your in-game library. The Options.ini File has all your player settings, which of course you can always reset once in-game anyway.
I need some help, sorry if this has been asked. I recently set my game's language to German, which made a completely new "Die Sims 4" folder in the EA folder, right next to the "The Sims 4" one. So basically a brand new
German version of the game without my previous saves from the English one is there now. My question is: can I move my save files from the game's English folder to the German one? Also I use mods too (both CAS items and scripts mods), but I guess I can just copy and paste those in the new German save's Mods folder, right?
This might be better answered if you post your issue on the Sims4 Tech Forum: TS4 Tech Forum (link). I don't know why your game is failing to save. I could make guesses such as broken mods etc but if you can ask this at the Tech Forum it will also alert the devs to a possible game breaking bug.
Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 4>Saves
For example in my Saves folder I have 4 versions of save game 'e'. To play an older version I remove "Slot_0000000e.save" to a safe place on my desktop and then rename "Slot_0000000e.save.ver2" to "Slot_0000000e.save" by removing the ".ver2" off the end.
This will make the game now play this older version.
We have a clear How-To to help you do this. How To-(click)
Before going back into Origin and playing your now older version of your game it is important to delete the localthumbcache.package file from your The Sims 4 folder.
If you are still having issues please post on the forum where we can talk you through the process as there are limited characters here. Forum
also, when i rename the files, are they suppose to still be in the same save folder with all the other files?
To stop this from happening gain you need to learn how to save your game so that it will make auto back up saves (save2.ver0 type files).
When saving choose the save file that you are playing and save over it. This creates backup files. We have a whole tech help section on Saving Games (click)on the forum so perhaps reading through this will help you to understand the process. If you need any further help post on the forum and we'll be happy to help you.
Okay SO,
I downloaded a mod and I had decided that after the sims 4 had downloaded the new patch I couldn't be bothered to download a new patch for the mod, so I just deleted it. I went onto my sims and my family and all my progress has been deleted! although the family is still in the 'move in' section but not how I left it, it has gone from scratch. I have saves in my sims 4 folder but when I go onto sims 4 to go into my save back up and load it says there is no recovery back up. PLEASE HELP A FELLOW SIMMER OUT. I have invested so so so much into this family, years. I feel like it could be an easy solution and it could all be recovered I just need some help. If someone could get back to me asap that would be incredible x
If you rename an older auto saved file and then remove the current save file from the same folder then your 'game' will be the older save. Any file within the Saves folder that ends in ".save.ver0" or any other number at the end... are older saves of your game, auto saves. Depending on how often you save your older version of your save with your family in it can be renamed and played. It's like turning the clock back.
Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 4>Saves
For example in my Saves folder I have 4 versions of save game 'e'. To play an older version I remove "Slot_0000000e.save" to a safe place on my desktop and then rename "Slot_0000000e.save.ver2" to "Slot_0000000e.save" by removing the ".ver2" off the end.
This will make the game now play this older version.
We have a clear How-To to help you do this. How To Recover A Saved Game and More...
Before going back into Origin and playing your now older version of your game it is important to delete the localthumbcache.package file from your The Sims 4 folder.
All your vanilla progress should still be there, removing mods shouldn't alter relationships, careers, skills learnt that are from the vanilla game.
Hey, I have one saved game in my new computer. I’m wondering if i can move all my old saves (including households, builds. Etc) from my old computer to the new computer without deleting the new saved game?
Yes easily. Just drag the files out of the Sims 4 folder on your old PC and save them to a portable device, then transfer them to your new PC. Make sure the saves are numbered differently to the ones present on your new PC and then drag them back into the saves folder inside the Sims 4 folder on your new PC.
If you follow the link to our Transfer Sims 4 Game Saves or Sims 4 Folder to Another Computer Guide, you will be able to follow step-by-step
Hey how do you actually open a save file? I don’t know what file is what and I only want to get rid of the ones I don’t like, but I don’t know which is which. It gives an option to open with an app, but no app is listed...
You don't need to open each individual Save File, as this is really fairly technical the best way for you to get rid of game saved files you don't want to play any more is to delete them in-game.
Hit Load Game>mouse over Saves you don't want and click on the 'x'.> You'll get a pop-up window asking 'If You Are Sure' meaning are you sure you want to permanently delete this file. If you are 100% sure you never want to play this file again click the check mark.
This is a safe and tech-free way to delete saves.
Hi, I recently had problems with my game always freezing so I decided to see if moving the file from my documents to my desktop would help but now my game is gone I have it saved but I am confused on the part that says "paste it into the Sims 4". How exactly do I do that?? Do I just go into the sims 4 and paste because it doesn't let me lol. I'm just super confused about where I'm supposed to be pasting. This is probably a really dumb question but I'm not good at this and I just want my game back
Which file did you move? If you moved your entire The Sims 4 folder then all you have to do is move the tray folder, saves folder and maybe the Options.ini file back into the newly generated The Sims 4 folder (which you get when you start the game).
So to find the newly generated TS4 folder...
Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sim 4
Inside the 'The Sims 4' folder is where you'd paste back the moved important folders and files.
However if it was NOT the entire 'The Sims4' folder that you moved then you will need different instructions which I can't help you with until I have more information.
Hello. I would like to make this clear. Copying the entire Sims 4 folder ensures that my entire game has been backed up? All the saved games? I have about 20 something households that need to be saved since I’m thinking of reinstalling the game again because I couldn’t open the game again after updating. Need some advice in this. Thanks!
You are completely amazing!!! Thank you sooo much for sharing the info! I did mine with ease!!
Thank you for creating this article.