Sims 4 won't open, but it sure thinks it is

[Player_7jmg28pq]

Sims 4 is not opening, but it clearly thinks it is. I haven't played in a long time and went in to Origin to play. When I clicked it to play, it said it needed and update, so I updated it. It said it was ready to play, but when I clicked it, the little blue circle twirled around next to my cursor, but nothing happened. Then I tried to click it again after a few minutes and it said it was already running. I went to Task Manager and it said Origin was running, but not Sims 4. I tried to exit out of Origin and it said I couldn't because Sims 4 was running. I ended the Origin process in Task Manager because I couldn't get out of it otherwise. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling Sims 4, I tried restarting my computer, I tried repairing the game... I don't know what else to do! I don't have any custom content or mods for it or anything. I honestly don't understand what's going wrong. Any ideas would be great!

[Player_7jmg28pq]

By the way, I have also tried running both Origin and Sims 4 as an administrator as well.

[172e3cda00349872]

@Player_7jmg28pq

I'd like to make sure I'm understanding the issue correctly. You've exited the game using Task Manager. Restarted your computer, repaired game and Sims 4 still won't open?

Have you tried a Sims 4 factory reset to help troubleshoot? Move or rename your current Sims 4 folder to Sims4Backup. Launch the game, play a new save to test.

If it's not working, don't save. However, if everything is playing okay then start putting the files back. (list of files and folders below).

- Options.ini (User game settings)
- Tray Folder (Sims/Houses/Commercial lots and rooms)
- Screenshots/Videos/Custom music
- Rest of the save games, if any.
(leave out slot_00000001.save which is the autosave. It is not used anymore.)
- Custom content like clothing, hair, skins, and makeup
- Mods (Put these back one by one to make sure they all still work)

[Player_7jmg28pq]

I can't even get to the point where I would be able to play a new save.

I have done all of that, I click the game and it thinks for a moment and nothing comes up. If I try to exit out of Origin it says that it can't because Sims 4 is running. I try to click play on Sims 4 again, it's greyed out because it thinks it's already running. Task manager shows Origin running, but not Sims 4. Sometimes I get to the point where the little grey boxes pop up to say "Press o to record" "Press Windows Key + G to start" but the actual Sims 4 screen never comes up. Just those notifications over whatever else I have open on my desktop already.

[172e3cda00349872]

@Player_7jmg28pq

It sounds like you might have some kind of screen capture software installed. If you do, you may need to uninstall or disable it to see if that helps.

It has been reported that screen capture/recorders, instant messengers/video chat or VOIP programs, like Discord may cause issues with Sims 4 and may need to be turned off or uninstalled if issues are severe. Also turn off any overlay those programs may cause issues as well. This is to be sure the

program and it's overlay isn't interfering with the game.

If that doesn't help, please share your computer's information with us. https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

You can attach the text file to your post or reply directly. (To attach a file click the browse button just above the Preview button, at the bottom of the

message box.)

With this information we can see if there's any hardware or driver issues.

[Player_7jmg28pq]

To my knowledge I don't have anything like that on my computer. If you're taking about the "press o to record" pop-ups, those are part of the Origin Sims 4 start up and have been since the first time I installed.

[Player_7jmg28pq]

Here's the system info.

[172e3cda00349872]

You have the minimum specs to run the game. Depending on what packs you have installed, that could be an issue. As with each new game patch and Origin update it puts more strain on weaker computers.

I noticed your graphics driver hasn't been updated since last year.

You can try updating the graphics driver, turn off Origin in game, and play in Windowed mode. Turn the graphics down to low to help lessen the stress on the computer.

How to Find devices and updating drivers on your PC - https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/finding-devices-and-updating-drivers/

Turn off Origin In-Game:
Open Origin, Select Origin > Application Settings > Origin In Game tab and click the on/off switch to disable Origin In Game. - This deactivates Origin In-Game, as it has been known to cause problems with games.

Restart the computer, to help the computer refresh itself, and try launching the game again.

Start the game in Windowed mode:
In Origin > Games Library, right-click Sims 4 and select Game Properties > Advanced Launch Options and In the Command Line Arguments, add the following text: -w and click Okay.

[Player_7jmg28pq]

I only have the holiday pack installed and I've run the game in the past with no problem.

I updated my graphics driver, turned off Origin In-Game, restarted my computer, launched Sims 4 in Windowed mode, got the same results as I have been getting, ended the Origin task, opened Origin as an administrator and tried Sims in Windowed mode again and 32-bit instead of 64-bit, still the same results.

I did try to right click the Sims 4 shortcut on my desktop and run that as administrator, but it's still not showing up on the screen. It didn't open up the Origin window or show any Sims screen, but now when I look at Task Manager it does show both Origin and Sims 4 as active processes.

I am very confused about this problem.

[172e3cda00349872]

@Player_7jmg28pq

Have you tried changing the properties of the Electronic Arts folder to share with everyone? See thread linked below to learn how to do this.

Sims 4 Error: Already Running
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-4-Error-Already-Running/td-p/4630221