[Info] The Sims 4 macOS Catalina Troubleshooting [ Edited ]

[EA_Mai]

Edited: Check the solution in the comment below!

Spoiler

Looking for help to run The Sims 4 after updating your system to macOS Catalina? These troubleshooting steps and workarounds may help you get back into the game:

The Sims 4 stops working after running on macOS Catalina Beta 11 - what can I do?

Try this:

1. Exit the game
2. Go to Origin menu > Preferences > Origin In-Game > Turn off the setting to "Enable Origin In-Game"
3. Restart game.

I’m unable to start the game, I get a message that The Sims 4 is already running after I have updated to macOS Catalina - what can I do?

Try deleting/moving the UserData.lock file located in /Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4

I’m unable to load my The Sims 4 save files after updating to macOS Catalina - what can I do?

Try generating a new The Sims 4 folder (in /Documents/Electronic Arts) by renaming the current one and restarting the game. Make sure to rename The Sims 4 folder, not just the saves folder. Once that’s done you can move your save files into the newly created /The Sims 4/saves folder.

I’m unable to see My Library creations after updating to macOS Catalina - what can I do?

Try generating a new The Sims 4 folder (in /Documents/Electronic Arts) by renaming the current one and restarting the game. Make sure to rename The Sims 4 folder, not just the Tray folder. Once that’s done you can move your Tray files into the newly created /The Sims 4/Tray folder.

I’m unable to use mods in The Sims 4 after updating to macOS Catalina - what can I do?

Try generating a new The Sims 4 folder (in /Documents/Electronic Arts) by renaming the current one and restarting the game. Make sure to rename The Sims 4 folder, not just the Mods folder. Once that’s done you can move your Mod files into the newly created /The Sims 4/Mods folder.

The game hangs/freezes after I mouse over UI in the game - what can I do?

Try updating to the latest Origin version. It will show as Origin Version 10.5.49.31786 or later for Mac. 

Additionally, playing in Fullscreen Mode should avoid this from happening.

If that doesn't help, try this:

1. Exit the game
2. Go to Origin menu > Preferences > Origin In-Game > Turn off the setting to "Enable Origin In-Game"
3. Restart game. Hopefully the freezing no longer occurs.

If these steps didn't help with your macOS Cataline related issue, please, comment below sharing as many details about the issue as possible. Thanks!

[EA_Mai · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone,

We just released a patch for the game to address some of the issues you have been reporting:

Update 10/23/2019 - 1.56.55.1220

Hey Simmers!

Small but important update for macOS players. Catalina players have had a bit of a rough time thanks to some changes in how applications access files. This has made game play a little bumpy. This patch makes things work more reliably for Catalina users!

Additional information:

• Simmers on macOS 10.15 (Catalina) will be prompted to allow The Sims 4 access to the Documents folder. Grant this request.

-SimGuruGnome

Please, update your game and give it a try!

Oh, and if you pressed 'Deny' when the game asked for your permission to access Documents, let's fix that!: go to System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Files & Folders -> Fine “The Sims 4” in list and check the “Documents Folder” check box

[nadahlia]

Help! Since yesterday there's this error message appearing "Unable to start. The Sims 4 is already running", which is not true. The game is nowhere running which I can see through Activity Monitor. I've been trying everything, even switching to a different Apple account but it still didn't work. Even uninstalling every little file of Origin and Sims on my computer did not do the job. Please help I've lost all hope of playing...

[ventrap]

@nadahlia As dmz06 replied a few pages back :
"What I found is that my Sims folder has a "UserData.lock" file in it that, for some reason, causes this problem. To get passed it on my machine I deleted the lock file from "~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/".

Try using Finder to go to your Documents -> Electronic Arts -> The Sims 4 folder and rename/delete/move UserData.log, then try relaunching. If you prefer the command line then open Terminal and try:

rm -rf "~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/UserData.lock"

Then try to launch the game again."

[megan_skeens]

Hi all,

I've been playing The Sims 4 on my Mac for a few years now. In the past couple of weeks, I have been having issues accessing TS4. My system (macOS Catalina Beta 10.15) and my games through Origin have all been updated. Today when I tried to play TS4, I got this error message: 

I'm not sure if there's anything I can do at this point? I read certain posts saying TS4 won't be able to run on certain Mac operating systems, but I am not sure if that affects me or not. I've tried reinstalling Origin, restarting my Mac, made sure that it wasn't actually running on the Activity Monitor, changed permissions on Origin and TS4 (advice I read from another post) but nothing has worked. I'm not sure what else to do, if there's anything at all.

Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks,

Megan 

[tayllah]

Here is the advice from this thread from a few years ago. Hope this helps!

- Close the game (and anything else that's open // save whatever was open)

- Log out of your Mac profile (press the Apple in the top left corner and go down to log out)

- Create a new profile (Don't worry you won't need to keep it, it's just for the brand spanking new settings and files)

- Go into your new Mac profile

- In your files section locate the folder (Electronic Arts) containing the sims 4 game.

- Copy that folder and all of its contents onto a USB

- Log out of your newly created Mac profile

- Log onto the one you usually use (the one you use to play the sims 4)

- Locate your Electronic Arts folder and delete it***
((***If you have specific mods you want go into your Mods folder and place the ones you want onto your USB))

- Now take the mint (untouched) Electronic Arts folder and copy and paste it where the old one was.

You should now be able to play the game :D

((***for the mods make sure the game works first and then log out and add your mods to the new mod folder))

[megan_skeens]

Hi there,

Thanks for the information. Unfortunately, I don't have a USB, so I am going to have to go out and buy one. 

After I posted my issue last night, I did find a solution to get my game to launch. This is what I did: 

"What I found is that my Sims folder has a "UserData.lock" file in it that, for some reason, causes this problem. To get passed it on my machine I deleted the lock file from "~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/".

Try using Finder to go to your Documents -> Electronic Arts -> The Sims 4 folder and rename/delete/move UserData.log, then try relaunching. If you prefer the command line then open Terminal and try:

rm -rf "~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/UserData.lock"

Then try to launch the game again."

So, I've been able to launch the game now, but it's running incredibly slow, freezes, and shuts down. I changed some settings in-game to have graphics on the lowest setting, but that hasn't helped much. 

Sigh.

[Bluebellflora]

@megan_skeens

I've merged your post into the Catalina thread. For the lagginess please disable Origin in-game.

[kiwibluespring]

Well at least there are multiple users with the same issue, and not just myself. Hopefully that alerts the developers and prompts a quick patch update 🤷‍♂️

[glitterbitcxx]

Why is it telling me The Sims 4 is already running? It started this when I updated my Mac to Catalina OS.

[glitterbitcxx]

This worked for me!