DIY Troubleshooting Library Part Three - How to Folder Refresh & Game Repair

Sometimes corrupted data can stick to folders and cause errors in your game, even if it's not visible. In this case it is necessary to reset your The Sims 4 folder to how it's been right after you first installed the game. This is commonly called a "folder refresh". We usually recommend doing a game repair at the same time, too. Here's how to do it:

1. Navigate to your "Electronic Arts" folder under Documents and find your "The Sims 4" folder.  

2. Rename your "The Sims 4" folder, for example to "The Sims 4 - OLD". The exact name does not matter, it only matters that the folder will be renamed.

Do NOT delete the folder!

3. Do a game repair:

Navigate to your Sims 4 game on Origin and click the cogwheel button, then select "Game Repair". 

IMPORTANT: You have to wait until it's done!

Be really sure the game is done with ALL packs before you attempt to start it again. It will go through the base game first, then verify and repair all packs one by one, which, depending on the number of packs you own, may take quite a bit of time. Starting the game before it's completely done with all packs may damage the game files. Go grab a coffee while you wait!

4. Start your game. 

Starting the game will create a new, fresh "The Sims 4" folder. You do not need to load a save, loading the game to the main menu is enough. When the main menu is loading, it will look like all your saves are gone - do not worry, they are waiting for you in your OLD folder!

Please note: all of your settings have been set back to default here, including the options to enable Mods and Script mods, so before you quit the game during the next step, we recommend to enable them again and change all options back to how they have been.

IMPORTANT:

If you came to this link from a staff member at Sims After Dark asking you to do a folder refresh, do NOT start Step 5! Instead, please report back to the team member at this point!

5. Exit your game.

Navigate to your OLD folder and move your saves, mods, screenshots and tray folders from this one into the newly created The Sims 4 folder.

If you are doing a folder refresh & repair because you are trying to resolve an error in your game, we recommend adding the folders back one by one and to test the game in between for each folder individually!

Is your error still happening?

If your answer is no, you're done! Happy Simming :)  

If your answer is yes and the error still happens without mods or CC, it could be a game bug, or your save has been corrupted. Test the error in a NEW save (still without mods or cc). If it happens again, check the AHQ for similar reports, or create your own. If it does not happen on a newly created save but still happens on your main save, the problem might be that your save is corrupted. You can try to roll back the save. For guidance on how to do so, please refer to Part Four of our DIY Troubleshooting Guides: "How to Rollback".

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If you think my guides are too complicated or don't explain specific parts well, or if you would like to see a guide on a different topic, or even if you simply think they're awesome and have helped you understand how to do something, I would be very happy to hear about it! You can leave a comment on the posts or contact me via Discord, either on the Sims After Dark server, or via DM. Thank you :)

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