Sims 4 save file location

The saves are in the folder saves, inside the user-data folder of The Sims 4. On Windows, the path is C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4. On a Mac, the path is /Users/<username>/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4.

Copy the whole The Sims 4 folder to back up your game. Do not copy only the saves folder. This post shows each step, and it shows what to do when the folder is not there.

We opened each source on October 9, 2026. The main source for the paths is a guide from MacMyths. We could not open the EA help threads on this topic. We say which statements come from EA and which come from the guide. You read this on the LifeSim blog. We make a browser life sim, and we say where our game does not fit.

The MacMyths guide lists these items in the user-data folder.

The guide adds a note. A Legacy Edition install can use the folder name The Sims 4 Legacy Edition instead.

The user-data folder is not the install folder. The EA FAQ lists the EA app, and the EA page lists Steam and Epic, as places to get the game. We found no source that says which of them changes the user-data folder. The guide gives one path for all of them.

Your Documents folder may live in a cloud service. The guide describes both cases.

On Windows with OneDrive

Look in %USERPROFILE%\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4. A work or school account can use a folder named OneDrive - <Organization>. The guide warns about Files On-Demand. A file can show in the folder and not be on your disk. Make sure that the files are local before you copy them.

On a Mac with iCloud Drive

If Desktop and Documents sync is on, look in iCloud Drive, then Documents, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 4. The guide gives the Library path ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4.

The guide gives one warning for Mac. Do not turn off iCloud and do not move the folder before you copy it. A synced delete or move can change your other devices.

The guide gives three steps. We add one step at the end.

1. Quit the game.
2. Copy the whole The Sims 4 folder to a different local folder or to an external drive. Include saves, Tray, Mods, and Screenshots.
3. Do not change the copy.
4. Write the date in the name of the copy. A name such as “Sims 4 backup 2026-10-09” tells you which copy is the newest.

The guide says: “Do not delete the Sims folder as a first troubleshooting step.” We repeat this advice. A repair or a reset can change the folder. A copy lets you go back.

Make a backup before you install a mod, before you install a big update, and before you try a multiplayer mod. For mods, read Sims 4 mods.

The EA FAQ gives the method. You copy the saves by hand. The game does not do it for you.

1. Copy the saves folder from the PC to a USB drive.
2. On the Mac, rename or remove the existing saves folder in the Sims 4 folder.
3. Copy the saves folder from the USB drive into the Sims 4 folder on the Mac.

The FAQ says: “The Sims 4 doesn’t support the EA app cloud storage.” So the EA app does not sync your saves for you. You must copy them yourself.

The FAQ adds a purchase rule. Purchases on one system work on all systems with the same EA account. For the Mac version, read The Sims 4 on a Mac.

No. The EA FAQ says that saves and creations on a console are platform-specific and not transferable. The FAQ says the same for purchases and for PC expansions. A PC save does not go to Xbox or PlayStation.

Read The Sims 4 on console vs PC for the other differences.

Do not delete a file when you do not know what it does. We found no source that we could open that explains the file names in the saves folder. The guide only says that the folder holds saved games and autosave-related files.

If your save does not load, do not delete the folder. Make a copy first. Then ask EA support or the EA forums for help, and give them the copy if they ask.

Some do. Paralives is an example. The Paralives news page lists “Patch Notes 0.1.5”. It says that save files can sync on Steam Cloud so that you can continue on a different computer. The Sims 4 FAQ says the opposite for the EA app.

LifeSim is a web game that you open at play.lifesim.com. It has no Sims 4 folder on your disk. We do not describe our save system here, because we did not verify it for this post. For how a LifeSim life starts, read how to play.

Where is the Sims 4 Mods folder?

It is inside the Sims 4 folder. If it is missing, the guide says to create a folder named exactly Mods. The guide says that a mod may not show until you turn on “Enable Custom Content and Mods” in Game Options, under Other.

Where are Sims 4 screenshots?

In the Screenshots folder of the same user-data folder.

Is the folder the same on Steam and on the EA app?

The guide gives one user-data path for each system. It does not split the path by store. We did not open a source that checks each store.

Does the game save in the cloud?

No, not through the EA app. The EA FAQ says so.

We opened the MacMyths guide, the EA FAQ, the EA game page, and the Paralives news page on October 9, 2026. The paths and the list of folders come from the guide. The cloud and copy rules come from the EA FAQ.

We did not check these points.

• The paths on a Steam Deck or on Linux. Read The Sims 4 on Steam Deck for that case.
• The names of the files in the saves folder.
• What EA support says about a lost save. We could not open the EA forum threads.

Check the path on your own computer. Open the game, take a screenshot, and look in the Screenshots folder. The folder that holds the new picture is the folder that the game uses. This is our method. It is not an EA instruction.

• MacMyths: Why can’t I find my Sims 4 folder? Windows and Mac locations
• EA: The Sims 4 FAQ
• EA: The Sims 4
• Paralives: news and patch notes