Sims 4 Save Files: Where They Are and How to Back Up or Restore Them

Where are Sims 4 save files?

The game keeps all your user data in one folder in Documents, separate from the game install. Saves sit in the Saves subfolder.

Quick way on Windows: press Win+R, paste %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Saves and press Enter. On Mac: in Finder press Cmd+Shift+G and paste ~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Saves.

Other folders next to Saves matter too: Tray holds your Library (households, lots and rooms you saved, including Gallery downloads), and Mods holds custom content. A full backup copies the whole The Sims 4 folder.

What the files in the Saves folder mean

Each save slot is one file named Slot_ plus an 8-digit number. Next to it you'll find up to five numbered backups and sometimes extra recovery copies.

The slot number has nothing to do with the name you typed. To match a file to a game, sort the folder by Date modified and compare with the dates shown in the in-game Load Game screen.

Two rules from EA worth knowing:

• Backups come from manual saves. EA says the game builds its save points from manual saves (Options > Save, or a Save Reminder). There is one Autosave slot and each autosave overwrites the last; older autosaves can't be recovered.
• The game also keeps longer-range backups. The game's own text says backups "are spread out over the past month to give you multiple points of recovery."

Players on the EA Forums also report that Save As creates a new slot without the .ver history, and that deleting a save in-game can remove its backups too. Keep your own copy before deleting anything.

How to back up Sims 4 save files

EA does not back up your saves for you. The game reads only the local Documents folder, so a copy you make yourself is the only real safety net.

Windows

1. Quit The Sims 4 completely. Never copy or edit save files while the game is running.
2. Open Documents > Electronic Arts.
3. Right-click The Sims 4 and choose Copy (or open it and copy just Saves and Tray).
4. Paste it on your Desktop, an external drive or a cloud folder outside Documents.
5. Rename it with the date, e.g. Sims 4 Backup 2026-11-10.

Mac

1. Quit the game.
2. Open Finder > Documents > Electronic Arts.
3. Select The Sims 4 and press Cmd+C.
4. Click the Desktop (or an external drive) and press Cmd+V.
5. Rename it with the date.

When to back up: weekly for a long-running game, and always before a game patch, a new pack, or adding or updating mods. The Sims Team gives the same advice, since updates and broken mods are the usual causes of a save that won't load.

How to restore a corrupted or older save

Method 1: Recover Save in the game (PC, Mac and console)

1. From the Main Menu choose Load Game.
2. Select the saved game.
3. Choose Recover Save (the floppy disk icon) and pick the save point you want.
4. Confirm and select Play.

The recovered game is created as a new save slot with "[Recovered]" added to its name, so the original stays untouched. If you see "No recovery saves are available," use your own backup instead.

Method 2: Rename a .ver file by hand (PC and Mac)

1. Quit the game.
2. In the Saves folder, find the main file for the broken game, e.g. Slot_00000002.save.
3. Move that file to another folder (don't delete it yet).
4. Pick a backup: .ver0 loses the least progress, .ver4 goes back the furthest.
5. Rename it so the name ends in .save: Slot_00000002.save.ver0 becomes Slot_00000002.save. On Windows, turn on View > File name extensions first so you can see the full name.
6. Start the game and load it. If it still fails, repeat with the next .ver file.

Method 3: Find the bad file (EA's method)

If the game itself won't start, EA's fix is to move the whole The Sims 4 folder to the Desktop, let the game create a fresh one, and test. If it runs, copy your backup folders back one at a time (Saves first), then individual save files one at a time, starting the game after each. The last file you added before it breaks is the problem; delete it from both places.

Move Sims 4 saves to a new PC, a Mac, or a console

To load a moved save you need the same packs on the new machine. If the save used custom content or mods, copy the Mods folder too, or expect missing objects and Sims wearing default outfits.

Installing a downloaded save file

Many creators share full save files (a whole world of rebuilt lots and households). They ship as a .save file, sometimes with a Tray folder.

1. Download only from the creator's own page and read their list of required packs and CC.
2. Unzip it. Put the .save file in Saves. Put any Tray files (.trayitem, .blueprint, .room, .householdbinary, .bpi) in Tray.
3. If you already have a file with the same slot number, rename the new one to an unused number first so nothing gets overwritten.
4. Start the game and use Load Game.

Gallery downloads are different: they go to your Tray Library, not to Saves, and you place them inside your own save.

Save files missing or won't load? Fixes

• Saves vanished after an update or new PC: check whether Windows moved Documents into OneDrive. EA's community guide says OneDrive can alter or remove Sims 4 user data. Look in OneDrive online; right-click the Sims 4 folder and choose Always keep on this device, or stop OneDrive syncing that folder, then put the files back in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4.
• Save loads to a blank or broken world: remove the Mods folder temporarily (move it to the Desktop) and load again. Outdated script mods are the usual cause after a patch.
• "Not all game data could be loaded": the save uses a world or pack that isn't installed. Reinstall or re-enable the pack before saving; saving now loses that data for good.
• Error when saving (e.g. 0x codes): check free disk space, close cloud sync apps, try Save As to a new slot, and test without mods.
• Console save lost or won't sync: try Recover Save first. Console storage and cloud sync are handled by PlayStation and Xbox, so their support is the next step.

Tired of managing save folders?

Half of the Sims 4 save problems above come from files on one machine: OneDrive conflicts, broken mods after a patch, a PC you can't bring with you. LifeSim is a free life simulator that runs in the browser on a computer or phone, with no download and no packs. You can be anyone in any real city on Earth and live a life day by day, with needs, jobs, relationships and AI-driven townspeople. Keep your Sims 4 backups, and try something that doesn't need a Saves folder at all.

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