Is there a way to delete just one of my save files? [ Edited ]

[drummergirl231]

I went to Documents > EA > Sims 4 > Saves and even though I only have 8 saves there are 48 files in there. I thought, cool, so each save has six things. I just have to figure out which six belong to the save I want to delete. 
Trouble is, when I loaded my game menu and clicked on the file to see when I last played it (August 6th) and then looked back at my Saves folder to look at the dates those files were last modified, there were only 4 things in there last modified on August 6th. So maybe it's not six things per save. I dunno.
How can I make sure I delete this save and only this save, and why oh why is there no in-game option for deleting files like literally every other video game I've ever played in my life? (I saw on a forum someone said there was, but it was from forever ago and then someone else added to that forum that the game might've changed since the other person said that.)

[puzzlezaddict]

@drummergirl231  I've moved your post to the Sims 4 general discussion section.

Each separate save, as viewed in the Load Game interface, has its own slot.  The oldest save is Slot_00000002.save, and the game counts up from there.  Additionally, the last five versions of a given save before the most recent one are also preserved; those are the files labeled Slot....save.verx, with .ver0 being the most recent and .ver4 the oldest.  When you load a save, play for a while, and then save your progress, the save version you loaded is demoted from ...save to ...save.ver0, .ver0 is demoted to .ver1, etc.

What it sounds like is that when you last played this save, you only saved your progress twice, so there are only two files from August 6.  The earlier versions are still from the same save, they're just dated when they were created, not when you last played.  But since all files labeled (in this case) Slot_00000003.save (with or without a .verx) correspond to different versions of the same save, you can remove all the files labeled Slot_00000003 and leave the rest.

If you want to be totally sure you have the correct files, you can move them to the desktop or elsewhere first, then load your game and see what's been removed.  If you accidentally grabbed the wrong save, put the files you moved back into the saves folder and remove something else, then load the game again and check your work.  As long as nothing gets deleted, it can always be restored later.

For future reference, you can also back up the entire saves folder (in cloud storage or on an external hard drive or USB), in case you need it later.  So if for example your hard drive fails or something else happens to your data, you're never in danger of losing all your saves

[CGrant56]

@drummergirl231 

I don't understand why you would want to delete the files directly from the saves folder rather than just deleting the save at the in game menus.  It is much easier, cleaner and safer to use the in game method.   From your post, it sounds like you don't know how to find it so here's how:

There are a couple of places you can delete a save.  You can do it from the "Main Menu" by clicking "Load Game" or you can do it from within the game from the "Options Menu" in the upper right corner and then click the "Save As" menu.  Both lead you to a list of your saves with a thumbnail for each save.  Just mouse over each thumbnail and you will get a small popup that tells you the save name, the household name you were playing when the save was made and date and time of that save so you can be sure of exactly which save it is. A little red X will appear in the upper right corner of the thumbnail.  Clicking on the X will delete the save and all files associated with it regardless of when they were actually saved.  It also gives you an "Are You Sure" popup after hitting the X so you have one last chance to back out if you need or want to.

It is much safer to do it this way since you can't inadvertently delete a file belonging to another save and risk messing it up.

Hope this helps.

[Psychotps]

@drummergirl231 I agree with @CGrant56. It's always best to use the in-game menus to handle things if at all possible.

If for some reason you MUST do it manually, what I would do is just load up the save you want to delete and save it again. Then quit the game and see which file has the latest time/date stamp.

[KatyFaithNorwood]

For me, if I go into the Load Game interface from the main menu, I can see all my saves. If you select one, you can delete it using the trash icon. Then, it goes into recently deleted.

[Sashas0nic]

Hi @drummergirl231 Just popping a few links for you to manage your save files, and to help understand how they work..

If you're needing to work with Saved Games there's a good guide at Carls Sims 4 Guide also, you can go back to an earlier save if you need the "how-to" go to Carls Sims 4 Guide for directions on doing that and salvage from an earlier time before moving.

Hope this helps.

Sasha