Sims 4 with my save data won't open

[41111037]

okay, so recently i purchased sims 4. i played for three days, made households and houses, but today when i launched it, it wouldn't open. so i tried a clean boot, didn't work. one forum post i found said to remove the sims 4 folder from electronic arts folder. i tried that, and got the game to open. except, there's a brand new sims 4 folder in the electronic arts folder, and all my save data didn't load.

what's wrong with the folder with the save data? do i have to start all over again? i really don't want to tbh

thanks

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@41111037  Don't move the entire old Sims 4 folder back to its original location, and if you've done so already, please move it back to the desktop.  The point is to move the save files themselves from the old Sims 4 folder to the new one, leaving the rest of the content behind.

If you move only the saves files, nothing else, and the game won't launch, try removing all but one of the saves.  Be sure to leave a file that ends in .save, not .save.verx: those are the backups and won't be loaded.

[puzzlezaddict]

@41111037  Your saves are in the Sims 4 folder you moved, inside the saves subfolder.  Moving the Sims 4 folder doesn't damage the saves or any other content it contains; it just moves the data so the game won't read it.  The point is to see whether the game loads with no user data at all, which it does in your case.

You can now move your saves and the contents of Tray to the new Sims 4 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts and see whether the game still works.  Let me know either way.

[41111037]

I have tried moving my folder with the save data back into the Electronic arts folder, it still yielded the same results. the game refuses to start, steam and origin opens, but sims 4 doesn't.

[TheSuperWolf100]

 @41111037 are your save games corrupted or contain an over save version?

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@41111037  Don't move the entire old Sims 4 folder back to its original location, and if you've done so already, please move it back to the desktop.  The point is to move the save files themselves from the old Sims 4 folder to the new one, leaving the rest of the content behind.

If you move only the saves files, nothing else, and the game won't launch, try removing all but one of the saves.  Be sure to leave a file that ends in .save, not .save.verx: those are the backups and won't be loaded.

[41111037]

i'm not exactly sure what you mean by "over save version", and they aren't corrupted.

[41111037]

moving the single save file to the new folder worked! thank you so much!

[TheSuperWolf100]

@41111037  don't move the entire folder back into documents only move over your save games because outdated mods can cause game issues like example not starting up

[buddabah]

I have the same issue and not sure how to resolve it based on the replies listed above. I think i am currently having issues with onedrive and desktop locations. when you say move save files to electronic arts folder, which ones ? there are heaps within the sims 4 folder e.g scratch, chache, chachestr,configreovveride and more

[puzzlezaddict]

@buddabah  When I said save files, I meant the files that store actual save data.  These are labeled Slot_[number].save and are found in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\saves.  If you remove your existing Sims 4 folder and let the game create a new one, you can copy the files from the saves subfolder inside the old Sims 4 folder into the saves subfolder inside the new Sims 4 folder.

Most of the other files in the Sims 4 folder are expendable and will regenerate as needed.  The only exceptions are Tray, which contains your saved households and builds; Mods, which holds mods and custom content if you use either; and Screenshots, which contains screenshots.  You can ignore the rest, and in fact it's a good idea to do so in case one of those files has become corrupted—leaving it behind means getting rid of that corruption.

If you're not sure what's going on with your folders, feel free to post a screenshot or two; include the address bar above the list of files and folders.