Sims 3: Sim icon blank, can't interact with Sim

[Leighbaby13]

So do I copy the .backup files to the .sims3 file, and delete unneeded files, or the .sims3 files to the .backup files and delete unneeded files?

[puzzlezaddict]

@Leighbaby13  Rather than delete anything, it's easier and less risky to just rename the backup file, deleting the .backup extension and giving it a name distinct from your normal save.  So if your save is called SunsetValley, its save folder will be SunsetValley.sims3, and the backup will be SunsetValley.sims3.backup.  If you rename the backup to SunsetValley1.sims3, you'll be able to load it from the Main Menu, and hopefully it won't have the same issue that your current save has.

If you still run into problems, please start your own thread and describe exactly what's happening.  This thread is quite old.

[Jaydrichele]

Years later I finally downloaded hidden springs for some sims 3 fun, and this has happened to me did the whole uni thing, and got her to lvl 10 career and went to Egypt on her return home she was walking around in circles and had no icon not even the boarder of it couldn't click anything her name was changed when I hovered over her in the game, and quit without saving, still didn't work, tried reset sim her actual name nothing happened did reset sim her new name she just vanished then  tried edit town still didn't work found this forum tried the copying back up files and it worked but she has fallen back to lvl 9 career and hasn't gone to Egypt yet but I'm sooooooo thankful all my hours of building up her career and skills and uni degree is still there thank you so much!!! 😍

[puzzlezaddict]

@Jaydrichele  That's great to hear.  Going forward, it's a good idea to periodically use "save as" to rename the save so you have backups should you have other issues.  (The previous save will remain intact under its old name.)  You can delete the oldest backups when you're sure you don't need them.

If you use mods or  are interested in trying, NRaas Traveler makes the travel transition a lot more stable, and ErrorTrap and Overwatch clean up errors and corrupt data in general, making this kind of problem much less likely.

Since this thread is quite old, I'll lock it here.