Sims 3 save file location

The Sims 3 saves are in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves on Windows, and in the same folder under Documents on a Mac. Each save is a folder named <name>.sims3, with a <name>.sims3.backup of the save before it. Copy the whole Saves folder to back up, and quit the game first.

The saves are in the Saves folder of The Sims 3 folder in Documents:

• Windows: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves
• Mac: Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves. Open Finder, then Documents, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 3.

These paths come from EA Help. The folder is not in the folder where the game is installed. We found no EA page that gives a different path for Steam or the EA app.

You read this on the LifeSim blog. We make a free life sim in the browser that reads Sims 3 saves. We say how at the end.

Each saved game has two items, with the name that you gave the save:

• <name>.sims3: the save that the game loads.
• <name>.sims3.backup: the save before the last one.

EA calls them files, but on your disk each one is a folder. That is normal. Copy and move the whole folder, never single files from inside it.

The Sims 3 folder has other folders that you may want too:

• Library: the households and lots that you saved to the bin.
• SavedSims: the Sims that you saved in Create a Sim.
• Exports: the households and lots that you exported as .sims3pack files.
• Mods: mods and custom content, if you use them.

No. The game saves only when you save it. Players on the Steam forums say that the plain Save of The Sims 3 can go bad, and that this is why neither the game nor the NRaas Saver mod saves for you. The Saver mod only reminds you to save. We found no EA page about autosave in The Sims 3. Keep a backup of the Saves folder.

EA Help gives these steps.

1. Quit the game.
2. Copy the Saves folder, and paste it in another place, such as your Desktop. Name it, for example, Sims 3 backup saves.

To go back one save, also from EA Help:

1. Move the <name>.sims3 folder out of the Saves folder.
2. Rename <name>.sims3.backup so that the name ends in .sims3.
3. Start the game and load the save.

1. On the old computer, copy the whole The Sims 3 folder from Documents\Electronic Arts to a USB drive.
2. On the new computer, install the game with the same expansion packs, and start it once.
3. Paste the Saves folder, and the other folders that you want, into the new The Sims 3 folder.

EA has no page for this move. These steps follow its backup steps. The folders are the same on a PC and on a Mac.

LifeSim is a free life sim that you play in the browser, on a real 3D map of Earth. It reads Sims 3 files as the game wrote them. In the LifeSim builder, open the import sheet, choose The Sims 3, and add one of these:

• A whole save: a <name>.sims3 folder from Saves. LifeSim lists its households.
• One household from Library (a .package file) or from Exports (a .sims3pack file).
• One Sim from SavedSims.

Pick the Sim you play. The others become the people of your life in a real city. Read bring your Sims 3 family into LifeSim for what comes over.

What is the .sims3.backup file?

It is the save before your last one. To go back to it, move the .sims3 folder out, and rename the backup so that its name ends in .sims3.

Does The Sims 3 autosave?

No. It saves only when you save. The NRaas Saver mod can remind you to save.

Where are Sims 3 households saved?

Households and lots that you save to the bin are in the Library folder, and exported ones are in Exports, next to Saves.

Can I play my Sims 3 family in another game?

Yes. LifeSim reads a Sims 3 save or a Library household, and the family lives on in a real city. Bring your Sims 3 family into LifeSim.

We read the EA Help pages on November 4, 2026. The page on missing saves is from 2016, and we read it through the Wayback Machine. The facts on autosave and on saves as folders come from players on the Steam forums, not from EA.

For The Sims 4, read Sims 4 save files. For The Sims 2, read Sims 2 save file location.

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• EA Help: How to recover a missing saved game in The Sims 3 (2016, Wayback Machine copy)
• EA Help: Troubleshoot The Sims 3 on PC and Mac
• Steam Community: The Sims 3 saves are folders
• Steam Community: Why The Sims 3 does not autosave