February 2023 - last edited September
This is not to be confused with installing the actual Sims 4 game on an external drive. The game installation folder is determined in EA App.
As internal storage gets smaller we're forced to use cloud based solutions to store files and folders or resort to a trusty external drive. Cloud based only storage is not an option for the Sims 4 folder that contains all your saves, Mods, Library items and other user data because the game only looks in one place for your data:
[Your User account] > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4
If there is no Sims 4 folder in that location the game will create a new one. There is no way around this default Sims 4 folder location unfortunately, it is hard coded into the game. Because of this the only option to store the Sims 4 folder on an external drive is to create a symbolic link, otherwise known as a symlink.
Creating the symlink is relatively easy provided you understand the concept of what a symlink is and why you are creating it. You should also be familiar with Terminal on your Mac and the security and permission systems in place in whichever version of macOS you are running as these dictate the ability for the game to access the external drive and whether your Mac user account has permission to grant the necessary access.
You should also make sure you are using a good quality, fast external drive. You get what you pay for and if you bought a cheap drive, with low quality cables, you will most likely struggle to get the symlink to work because it will be too slow. For help buying an external drive and what to look out for read this guide.
I am not going to write step by step instructions here, the post will be far too long. Instead, you can read the detailed and comprehensive guide I wrote several years ago here https://bluebellflora.com/saving-your-sims-4-folder-to-an-external-drive/
If your symlink is not working it is down to user error. It really is that simple. macOS is a Unix based operating system and as such uses Unix commands which are all provided in the above linked guide.
This thread is for consolidating all posts related to the Mac symlink process here at Answers HQ. If you're a Windows user read Crinrict's excellent guide here https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/02/moving-windows-documents-folder-to-external-drive-via-symbolic-lin... What I have provided below are a few of the common issues people face as a result of not entering the commands correctly or having the correct permissions in place.
Common issues reported and the solution:
Always check your external drive has the correct name in Disk Utility:
In addition to checking the external drive mount point above, the following may also be helpful:
Terminal states my access/permission is denied
I'm constantly getting "Unable to start... Cannot start because the below file appears to be corrupted" error message
I keep getting the error message "Unable to start... The Sims 4 is already running"
Terminal tells me No such file or directory
Terminal tells me Directory not empty in Step 1
Terminal tells me File already exists in Step 2 of the guide
If you have iCloud Drive enabled to store your Documents folder in the cloud and Optimise Storage enabled, it will cause issues with the symlink. I strongly advise to disable this iCloud feature otherwise you will have issues, especially if you use Mods. As a reminder, creating this symlink is aimed at people storing their Electronic Arts/Sims 4 folder locally. Using iCloud Drive stores your folder in the cloud and locally. For help with iCloud see this thread https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Saves-CC-Mods-or-Library-items-disappeared...
April 2021 - last edited April 2021
Hello,
I went through the process of following BlueBellFlora instructions on how to create an symlink in order to store my games files on a USB since I was running out of space on my MacBook Air. All the steps went perfectly but once I opened Sims I wasn't able to load any of my saved games, I was forced to start over. Please help!
Also, when I try to reverse the link through terminal I get this message
'
~ % mv ~/Documents/Electronic\ Arts ~/Documents/Electronic\ Arts_bkp
mv: rename /Users/janellejack/Documents/Electronic Arts to /Users/janellejack/Documents/Electronic Arts_bkp: No such file or directory
'
April 2021
April 2021
April 2021
April 2021 - last edited April 2021
Yes, when I click on the alias files it does brig me to the External drive and shows all my save files, mods, etc.
Terminal command used to create symlink were:
mv ~/Documents/Electronic\ Arts /Volumes/JJ/
ln -s /Volumes/JJ/Electronic\ Arts ~/Documents/
April 2021
April 2021
January 2022
I want to keep my sims 4 and mods/cc in a hard drive so it won't take up that much space in my mac, is this possible? will my saved progress be gone??
January 2022