I updated my mac, and my households got deleted

[tinateen122]

So I updated my mac and when I went to play my sims 4, my household was deleted and a new saved game was there. I have no idea what to do but I read comments about someone with the same problem as me, and they had a corrupt file and someone fixed it. Also my mods got deleted and I had to move all my folders back because something weird happened. Can anyone help me??? I am so upset because i worked so hard on this game

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@tinateen122  When you relaunch, the game will look like it's brand-new.  There won't be any saves, or builds, or cc, or anything you've added to it since you started playing.  That's fine—the goal here is to successfully load and play a new game.  So create a sim or family (no need to spend much time getting things right; you'll eventually be deleting everything) and move them into a house.  Play for long enough that you know the game is working correctly.  Save, then quit.

Once you're out of the game, look inside Documents\Electronic Arts.  You should see a new TS4 folder.  Don't touch anything yet, just make sure it's there, and post back.

[Bluebellflora]

@tinateen122

Did you enable iCloud Drive when you updated your Mac? If so your Documents folder is now stored in the cloud so the game cannot find it. Change your iCloud Drive settings and make sure your Sims 4 folder is stored in the Documents folder on your Mac.

[tinateen122]

I read several other people with the same problem so i went to system preferences, icloud drive, presses options and unchecked the box for desktop and document folders. Was i supposed to do that? Or was i supposed to uncheck the whole icloud box? Sorry i literally know nothing about computers and i have no idea how to fix this but thank you for replying.

[tinateen122]

Also I have like 5 sims 4 folders and I have no idea how they got there but I thought i found the one that was mine and it had all my mods and cc in it, but when I went to create a sim, my cc wasn’t there so now I don’t even know if I have the right sims 4 folder or not and I am so confused.

[puzzlezaddict]

@tinateen122  Every time TS4 can't find your game folder, it will generate a new one, and it sounds like every new folder was then moved to iCloud storage.  So the five folders could represent your original one and four attempts to launch the game.  You can certainly go through each one to look for the content you've lost.

If you updated TS4 as well, it may be that you have some cc that's incompatible with the newest patch.  In that case, it would not be surprising that none of your cc was showing up in CAS.  You can go to the websites where you found the cc to check for updated versions.  But if a creator hasn't provided any or confirmed that the content works with the new patch, you'll have to find the problem cc yourself.  You can test it out in batches—any cc that shows up in-game is safe and can be put aside for later.  A batch that doesn't show up will need to be split and tested until you've found the outdated item or items.  I know it's a pain, but the alternative is waiting for each and every creator to update the content and playing without it until that happens.

As far as iCloud options go, the only thing that matters to TS4 is that your Documents folder is not being uploaded.  The box you unchecked takes care of this, and it's what Bluebellflora's website recommends in the link she posted.  I personally disable my iCloud drive (I'm not automatically signed in) until I need it and have unchecked all the boxes so that nothing ends up there unless I manually move it.  But you can do whatever you like.

[tinateen122]

So how exactly do I get rid of the cc that doesn’t work because I have it in my mods folder and it’s super unorganized. Also, I went to create a sim to see if my any cc was there at all and it wasn’t. So, do I have to get rid of the faulty cc before I can see the ones that actually work. Besides the cc, my biggest concern is just getting my original game back and I have tried everything and I have my screenshots, mods, and what seems to be my sims 4 folder. So, do I delete the rest of the folders?? And how will my sims game know which folder is mine?? Sorry I am just so confused and have never had this happen to me before.

[puzzlezaddict]

@tinateen122  Even if you've found what you think is your original game folder, I wouldn't delete the others until you're sure it contains everything you want.  But certainly put the extras somewhere else (like your desktop) so that there's only one game folder available in Documents at a time.  Otherwise, TS4 won't know which one to use and could load from any of them.

As far as cc is concerned, even one bad item can prevent all the good ones from loading, so you'll need to test everything.  Use a clean folder so as not to compromise your existing saves (move the folder that has your saves onto your desktop for safekeeping), and then put a batch of cc in that folder.  If it shows up in-game, it's fine.  If it doesn't, split that batch and test each half.  Anything that works gets set aside somewhere safe (like a separate folder on your desktop), and any batch that doesn't needs to be split and tested again.  Keep doing this until you've sorted through all of your items and deleted the bad cc, and then test the whole group of working cc items one more time.  If it all still shows up, you can put it back into your original game folder, delete the clean folder that you've been using for testing, and put your original game folder back where it belongs.  Then you should have all of your content back.

[tinateen122]

Wait so where exactly am I putting the batch of cc? Do i put it in the mods folder and take the rest of the mods out, or do i put the batch in a new folder? Also do I have to do anything with my faves besides putting it on my desktop? Does putting folders in the desktop effect the game in any way?

[tinateen122]

Also how much should I put in the batch? 10? Or is that too small because i have so many cc and mods.

[puzzlezaddict]

@tinateen122  You can test your cc in whatever pattern makes you comfortable.  Some people split their content in half, then split that half in half again (so quarters of the total) if it doesn't work, then those quarters in half again, etc.  Others test a lower number, like a dozen, at a time.  It doesn't matter.

When you've determined that a batch of cc is working properly, just make a new folder on your desktop to hold it.  You don't need subfolders unless you want them.  When you're done testing, you'll put it all back where it belongs, but for now, the only important thing is to keep it out of the game folder you're using to test.

In case my description wasn't clear, when you test, drag all of your existing game folders out of Documents and onto your desktop, or elsewhere.  Then launch the game to get a new folder.  Then take your first batch of cc out of where it's currently located and put it in the new folder the same way you would if you wanted to play with it.  If you're using mods as well, you should test them separately.  Either keep them out of the game folder you're using to test cc, or if you want to leave them in, make sure they work first.  You can test them the same way as the cc.

TS4 can only read a game folder if it's in its proper place in Documents\EA, so anything on the desktop will be ignored and untouched.