Installing custom content and mods in your Sims 4 game can be a bit confusing! From knowing where to place the items, to figuring out what to do when your CC doesn't work- there's a lot to know and it can be tricky, especially if you're a beginner. This guide will teach you all you need to know about downloading, installing, and troubleshooting custom content and mods for the Sims 4!
If you don't have the Sims 4 folder inside your Electronic Arts folder inside your My Documents folder then you will need to uninstall and reinstall. If that still does not make a Sims 4 folder inside your My documents folder (after reinstalling and updating via origin) then you need to contact Origin directly. We have tried to help you with this since 6th of September. If you need to alter your resource.cfg file to be able to see inside sub folders that are inside your mods folder, then the resource.cfg that needs altering is inside the mods folder inside your Sims 4 Folder inside your My Documents folder. It is NOT the resource.cfg file inside C:program Files (X86)Origin Games etc. We have told you that Contact Origin for legally purchased games and they can help you via remotely connecting to your computer and see what is happening as to why you do not have a Sims 4 Folder inside your Documents Folder. Most cracked and pirated versions of the sims 4 will not have a mods folder in my documents (in fact no sims 4 folder at all) and you need to contact the person where you got the pirated game from Im not saying it is pirated but people sometimes fudge the truth.. Please Contact Origin via their help link and they will be more than happy to help you. They also have an online chat system where you can talk to them about your issues. They are fast and efficient. Have you actually played the game for it to generate the proper files in My DocumentsElectronic Arts Sims 4 ? If I remember correctly you said you had played it. So these files should be in your Documents folder.
Use the Table of Contents below to easily skip to the section you're interested in:
Table of Contents:Make Sure Your Game Is PatchedClick thumbnail to view full-size
Before you get started with downloading and installing custom content, you'll need to make to make sure your Sims 4 game is up-to-date with all recent patches.
Make sure you are connected to the internet, then open Origin, go to The Sims 4 in your Game Library, click on the Settings tab, and then click on the Update Game button. If your game does need any updates, Origin will automatically download and install them. If your game is already fully updated, you'll get a notification telling you so.
Download an extraction tool
When you start downloading CC, you'll notice that many of the files end in names like .zip, .rar, .7s, and so on. These files have been compressed by the custom content creator so you can download them and put them into your game. However, you can't just place a .rar or .zip file straight into your Sims 4 game. Therefore, you'll need a tool to extract these files.
I recommend using Winrar (which, despite the name, can be used in both Windows and Mac) to extract your files. You can download it here. Once you've finished downloading it, install it on your computer and move on to the next step!
By default, The Sims 4 has an option to disable mods in the game. Before you get started with playing with mods and custom content, you'll need to start up your Sims 4 game and turn mods on (you'll also need to do this after each patch that is released, as the game options default back to mods being turned off).
To do this, start the game, click on the Menu button (the three buttons on the top right corner), Game Options, Other and then tick the Enable Custom Content and Mods box. Then hit the Apply Changes button and restart your game. The next time you start it up, your settings will be saved and you'll be able to play with mods!
Now that your game is patched and you've got a proper extraction tool on your computer, it's time to download some custom content or mods that you'd like to use in your game! If you don't already have one in mind, I've written some articles on some great custom content sites and mods for the Sims 4. Feel free to browse those articles to find something of your liking!
Once you've found the content you want to add to your game, click on the download button on the website.
If you're using Google Chrome as your Internet browser, you'll see the item downloading at the bottom of the screen. Once it's done downloading, you can right-click on the little arrow, and then choose to go to the folder it's downloaded to. Typically, your downloaded items will go into your Downloads folder on your computer.
Open up the Downloads folder and then right-click on the content you've just downloaded. If you're using WinRar, you'll see an icon that looks like a stack of books. Click on the option that says, 'Extract to (mod name)'. The file will then extract into a folder.
Open up the folder and check the contents inside. Usually, you'll just see files that end with .package. This is the file-type used for Sims 4 mods and custom content. You might see some other file types too. Some creators include images of their CC or .txt ('read me') files. These can be safely discarded. If you see file types ending in .ts4script, .bpi, .blueprint or .trayitem- these are also Sims 4 file types, and I'll tell you how to install those below. Do not delete them!
Highlight (use your cursor to draw a box around) the .package files in the folder and then right-click on them and select 'cut'. Now you'll need to navigate to your Sims 4 Mods folder.
To do this, go to Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Mods. Once you're in that folder, simply right-click anywhere and then select 'Paste.' You'll then see the .package files you've downloaded appear!
When you start up your game, the mod or CC you've installed should be there and working perfectly!
Sims 4 How To Install Cc Lots Xurbansimsx
Lots are the name for houses or any types of venues that your Sims can visit in the game. You can also download custom lots to add to your game on various Sims CC websites.
Installing and downloading lots is basically the same process as above, except you place these files in a place in your Sims 4 folder.
Follow all the instructions above, but once you extract your files, paste them into Documents > Electronics Arts > The Sims 4 > Tray. Any download that ends in .bpi, .blueprint or .trayitem belongs in the Tray folder ONLY.
When you open up your game, you'll need to go the Gallery (click on the icon of the photos in the top right corner), then click on My Library. There, you'll find the lot you've downloaded.
If the lot also included custom content, make sure you click on the Advanced option in the Gallery and tick 'Include Custom Content' for the lot to show up.
Now you can place the lot somewhere in your game!
Script mods are ones which change and add-on to the scripting of the game. Things like custom careers, custom animations/interactions, and popular mods like McCommand Center and WickedWhims are all script mods.
Installing script mods is again, pretty similar to installing the other mods listed above. The main difference, however, is that the file type will end in .ts4script. For these kind of mods, you'll still put them into your Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Mods folder, but you'll also need to make sure in your game settings that you have Script Mods enabled.
To do so, click on the Menu (the three buttons on the top right corner), Game Options, Other, and then tick the Script Mods Allowed button. You'll see a warning about script mods. Click OK, Apply Changes, then restart your game.
Your script mod will then be working the next time you play!
If you've installed the CC or mod exactly as describe above, it should all work just fine. However, if it doesn't show up in your game, or doesn't work for some reason, you might need to do some troubleshooting. Here's a list of things to check and try when you run into problems:
If you've tried all the troubleshooting methods and the mod/custom content still won't work, the best thing to do is contact the original creator and let them know. Give them a detailed example of what's happening in the game (i.e. 'Whenever I place down the couch I downloaded, an error message comes up and says 'script call failed'). Hopefully they'll get back to you with an updated version of the content or a way to work around the error. If not, you may just need to uninstall the file from your game.
Uninstalling CC and Mods is as simple as going to your Mods folder and deleting them. Right-click on whichever file you want to get rid of, select Delete, and then the next time you start up the game, that custom content or mod will no longer be in your game.
Hopefully this will never happen to you, but there's always the risk of running into broken or corrupt custom content or mods, while modding your game. If you have issues with your game freezing, crashing, generating 'LastException' files while playing, or other major issues after downloading CC or mods, more than likely, the mod or CC you've installed is corrupted.
Backup Your Saves
Before you start deleting mods and testing them, backup your save game.
Go to your Sims 4 folder, right-click on the folder titled 'Saves' and then copy it. Paste your Saves folder somewhere else on your computer, like your desktop. That way you'll have a 'safe' version of your saved game in case anything goes wrong while testing.
Test Your Game Without Any Mods
Go to your Mods folder and right-click it. Again, copy it to your Desktop. Once you're sure you have a copy of your Mods folder on your Desktop, go ahead and delete the copy in your Sims 4 folder. Restart your game and play it for a few minutes. If you game runs without crashing or having errors, you know the issue is with one of your Mods. If it doesn't, you'll need to go out and repair your game (and the issue is something within your Sims 4 game itself).
Delete Script Mods![]()
Because Script mods do the most changing in the game, they are the most likely to cause major game play errors if they're broken or out of date. Go back to your Sims 4 folder and take out any script mods (custom careers, WickedWhims, McCommand Centre, etc.) and then test your game without them. If the errors are gone, you know that one of your script mods is broken and needs to be fixed or updated.
Delete Recently Added Mods
Identifying the problematic mod can be as easy as deleting the last mod you've downloaded, if the problem cropped up after that. Paste your Mods folder back into your Sims 4 folder and then sort your files by Date Modified. Delete the most recent mod/CC and restart your game, play for a few minutes and see if your game works. If so, you've found the problem mod.
The 50/50 Method
This is pretty simple to do. Make a new folder on your desktop and just call it 'Test Mods' or something similar. Take half of the items you have in your Mods folder and paste them into this folder. Test your game and see if the problem persists. If not, you know the problem content is in that other batch of mods. If so, the trouble mod is still in your game, and you'll need to repeat the process again.
This can be a bit tedious and time-consuming, but sometimes, it's the easiest way to identify troublesome mods when you have a big folder worth of content.
If you're having trouble understanding how the 50/50 method works, view this flowchart from The Sims Wiki.
There's several ways you can organize your Mods folder. I like to do mine by categories, as seen in the picture above. This doesn't really do anything special during the gameplay, but it allows me to easily find content in my folders, install new content, and delete or update old content.
You can organise your Mods folder in any way which makes the most sense to you! You can do it by creator, by categories (like shoes, clothes, hair, etc.), or functionality (buy mode, script mods, etc.).
Keeping your Mods folder organised is highly recommended, just for easier installation/un-installation of Mods as you play The Sims 4.
Rename files to speed up your game
I believe it was back in The Sims 2 when users began noticing that if you have files in your mods folder with special characters (like @ $ # , etc.) in their name, it would slow down the game's loading screen. This still happens in The Sims 4, so the easiest way to avoid long loading times when downloading mods, is to rename any files and delete any special characters in the title.
Just right-click on the file, select rename, and then delete any special characters and spaces. Make sure you don't change the extension type (it should still end in .package).
If you have too many files to do this all manually, there's a great program called the Bulk Rename Utility which will help you rename your files easily.
How to Use the Bulk Rename Utility
Download and install the free program from here.
Once you've finished installing it, go to your Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims 4 folder and right-click on the Mods folder. Click the option that says Bulk Rename Here.
The program will open up and you'll see your Mods folder there. Highlight everything in the folder, and then go to the section that says Replace (3), just below the Mods window. In the Replace box, enter your cursor and just hit the space bar once. This will delete any spaces in the file names.
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Now go to the section that says Remove (5). Tick the 'Sym.' box. This will delete any symbols.
The Mods window will illustrate what the files will look like once you're done; all spaces and special characters should be gone. Hit the Rename button on the bottom right hand corner, hit yes to all the warning boxes, and you will have succesfully renamed all your CC/Mods!
If you have sub-folders, you'll have to click into each of them individually to rename the files inside. Follow the same method described above.
Merge custom content for faster loading
This method is a bit risky, and one I only recommend to experienced modders of The Sims. Merging files really can speed up your loading time, but it can also cause issues, as there's no way to 'un-merge' files once you merge them, and if one of the files breaks within your merged file, you'll have to delete everything merged with it to get rid of the problematic file.
However, merging files can be a great way to speed up your game and organise your game even more; for example, you can merge files by creator, by date, by item type (i.e. you can merge all your custom clothes together, or all your custom hair, etc.) or whatever you like.
Warning: DO NOT MERGE .ts4script, tray files or anything but basic .package files together!
How to Use The Sims 4 Studio to Merge Files
First, you'll need to register for a free account and download the Sims 4 Studio program. The Sims 4 Studio is a free-fan made program for both Windows and Mac users.
Once you've downloaded and installed The Sims 4 Studio program on your computer, open it up and click on Tools > Merge Packages.
A window will open up. Click on the Add button and then navigate to your Mods folder in the window. Highlight all the mods you want to merge together, and select open. Click on the Merge button. The program will prompt you to rename your new merged .package file. Give it a unique name and select Save.
Once the status bar finishes (it will take longer if you have a lot of files to merge), a pop-up will appear saying you've merged the packages successfully.
The program will automatically open up to your Mods folder when done and you'll see both your newly merged .package file as well as your un-merged ones. You can safely delete the old files, OR you can copy and paste them somewhere else as a backup (for example, make an Unmerged Mods folder on your desktop and keep them there), which will make it easier if you do have to delete one of the files in the future.
In the case that you do need to delete a file that you've merged, if you've kept the un-merged files copied somewhere, simply delete the individual file you want to get rid of, and delete the merged .package file from your Mods folder. Then go back into Sims 4 Studio, merge the remaining files as explained above and then put the new merged .package file into your Mods folder.
That's the basics on how to install mods and custom content for The Sims 4, as well as how to troubleshoot, uninstall and keep your Mods folder organised! Got any questions or suggestions that I haven't covered above? Feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to help!
© 2018 Brittany Brown
Custom content is a great way to get much more varied styles within the build and CAS (create a sim) mode. It’s also free and pretty easy to install, just follow the steps below:
On A Mac:
If you play The Sims on a Mac (like me) you’ll need to find the folder ‘Mods’ which is inside ‘The Sims 4’ folder within ‘Electronic Arts’. For me it’s in my documents folder, but it depends where you installed the game.
For a Windows computer:
You’ll need to go into your documents folder (or where you installed the game) then find the folder labelled ‘Mods’ within ‘The Sims 4’ folder which will be inside a folder called ‘Electronic Arts’.
You should have now the folder ‘Mods’ in front of you, if you don’t have a folder called Mods then just create one within ‘The Sims 4’ folder and the game will know it’s a folder for custom content/mods.
Now for the fun part, find some content!I used google to search for content that I wanted, e.g. ‘female tattoo sims 4 custom content’. You can type in anything you like (within reason) and you should get some content. The best site I found for this was The Sims Resource, but it did have a few adverts on there so you might have to be patient once you find something you’d like to download.
Installing the custom content
Once you’ve found something cool and downloaded it, simply go to your downloads folder and copy/cut the item into the mods folder. Make sure if it’s a ‘zip’ file that you open the zip file first and then copy the contents into the mods folder. You can create folders within the mods folder to organise things if you like. Here’s an image of what mine looks like:
When you’ve got some content you love, open your game. If you’re lucky then the game will open smoothly, if some of the content is damaged then you may get a warning message about a specific item. If you get a warning then just remove that item from the mods folder and relaunch the game.
Using the custom content in-game
To make sure custom content plays in the game you also need to turn custom content on during gameplay. You can do this by opening the game options tab, click ‘other’ and then make sure the button which says ‘enable custom content and mods’.
Now when you go into build/CAS mode you should see all your new content there! It’ll have a little spanner next to it so you can see it’s custom content.
Using custom content in the Sims 4 gallery
When viewing/uploading custom content to the gallery, make sure you click on the ‘advanced’ option on the left hand side and click ‘include custom content’ so that you can see what others are making with CC and so you can see your own custom content creations. I’d also suggest adding in the hashtag #cc when using custom content and crediting the creator.
I hope this was useful! If you need a more thorough description then view Carls Sims 4 Guide about CC.
Click to view the full list of custom content I use in my games (and featured in the images in this article)
Click to buy The Sims 4*
Find me on YouTube / The Sims Gallery / Origin / The Sims Forum
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How to install Sims 4 Mods
Only a few easy steps and you will know how to install Sims 4 Mods on your computer, keep reading! Open up the Downloads folder and then right-click on what you’ve just downloaded. If you’re using WinRar application, you should see an icon that looks like a stack of books. Once clicked, it will give you an option that says, “Extract to (mod name)”. The file will then be extracted into a folder.
Open up the folder and check everything that has been downloaded inside. Usually, you’ll just see files that end with .package. This is the file-type specifically used for Sims 4 mods and custom content. You might see some other file types too. Some creators include images of their CC or .txt (“read me”) files. These files can be safely discarded. If you can see file types ending in .ts4script, .bpi, .blueprint or .trayitem – no worries, these are also Sims 4 file types, and you will find out how to install those below as well. Make sure not to delete them! You’re almost there, keep reading to learn how to install Sims 4 Mods.
First, highlight (use your cursor to draw a box around) the .package files you have in the folder. Secondly, right-click on them and select “cut”. Now, navigate to your Sims 4 Mods folder.
To complete this step, go to Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Mods. Once you’re in that folder, simply right-click anywhere in the folder and select “Paste.” You should see the .package files you’ve downloaded appearing in the folder!
When you start up your game, the mod or CC you’ve installed should be there and working perfectly! Congratulations, now you know how to install Sims 4 Mod.
How to install Sims 4 House / Lots Mods
In this chapter, you will learn how to install Sims 4 Lots Mods and move your game to the next level!
Any houses or any venues in the game that your Sims can visit are called – lots. You can also download custom lots to add to your game on various Sims CC websites.
Installing and downloading lots is simply the same process as we have introduced above, except you place these files in a different place in your Sims 4 folder.
Follow all the instructions discussed above to learn how to install Sims 4 House Mods, but once you extract your files, paste them into Documents > Electronics Arts > The Sims 4 > Tray. It’s important to keep in mind – any downloaded file that ends in .bpi, .blueprint or .trayitem belongs in the Tray folder ONLY.
When you open up your Sims game, you’ll need to go to the Gallery (you will find an icon of the photos in the top right corner), then click on My Library. There, you’ll find the lot you’ve downloaded, so now you know how to install Sims 4 House Mod as well.
If the lot also included custom content, you will need to know additionally how to install Sims 4 Lots Mods with such customization. The only thing you need to do – make sure you click on the Advanced option in the Gallery and tick “Include Custom Content” for the lot to show up.
Now you can place the lot somewhere in your game!
How to install Sims 4 Script Mods
Since you’re wondering how to install Sims 4 Script Mods, first, let us explain what kind of mods they are. Script mods are the ones which change and add-on to the scripting of the game. Things like custom careers, custom animations/interactions. Very popular mods like McCommand Center and WickedWhims are also known as script mods.
You may have a rough idea on how to install Sims 4 Script Mods. Installing script mods is once again, pretty similar to installing the other mods discussed above, but the main difference, however, is that the file type ends in .ts4script. For this kind of mods, you’ll still put them into your Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Mods folder, but it’s also important to ensure in your game settings that you have your Script Mods enabled.
To complete this step, click on the Menu (you will see the three buttons on the top right corner), Game Options, Other, and then tick the button “Script Mods Allowed”. You’ll see a warning about script mods, don’t worry about that. Click OK, Apply Changes, then make sure to restart your game.
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Your script mod will then be working the next time you play! Congratulations, now, you know how to install Sims 4 Script Mod and you’re ready to spruce up your Sims game.
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Installing Sims 4 CC
In general, most modifications in The Sims 4 will be delivered as .package files. These usually have a '.package'- extension and are often packed with a compression tool. Therefore, the downloads have often he ZIP or RAR format. While you can open ZIP-Files without problems with the built-in Zip-Extractor of Windows 7/8/8.1, you have to download additional software for RAR-Files.
Installing Sims 4 Package FilesExtracting ZIP/RAR Files
Once you've downloaded the compressed modification, you have to extract the containing package-files. To do this simply use the right click menu. Perform a right click on the compressed file, goto '7-Zip' and select 'Extract Here'. That's it, you have now the package-file.
Installing Package Files
Cut and paste the file(s) into your Mods folder:
Installing Game Mods (.pyo/.py)
Script and Core mods modify game files by custom python scripts. These do NOT get unzipped!
Cut and paste the ZIP or RAR into your Mods folder:
Playing The Sims 4
If you have completed all these steps, you can now start the game. Now a popup window will appear with all loaded modifications, categorized by NON-SCRIPT-MODS and SCRIPT-MODS. If you don't want to see this window again, you just need to uncheck 'View at game start'.
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