How To Backup Your User Data (Saves, Sims, Builds, etc.)

Some simmers always say, "Backup your saves", but for noobs or the not-so-tech savvy, this may sound really complicated or confusing, with questions like:

What exactly does it mean to backup your saves? How do you do it and why do you have to do it? 
 

I know this because I was once like that, so, I decided to share what I have learned to simmers who might need help in this area. Note that this tutorial covers both Origin and Steam coz they're basically the same.

 

Backing up your saves means saving a copy of your user data and this is what you do to make sure you have a fallback just in case your user data get corrupted or something goes wrong in your game. This may also be helpful when you're transferring your user data from an old computer to a new one. Read on for the instructions on how to do it.

Before anything else 'though, make sure that your game is not running. Otherwise, save and exit your game.

ORIGIN AND STEAM

1) Open the folder: "Documents/Electronic Arts" (Path may vary depending on your operating system and setup)

Inside The Sims 4 folder are files and folders.  The "saves" and "Tray" folders are the main ones. "save" is where your saved games / progress are stored, while your saved builds and sims are in the "Tray" folder.

Copy these folders to your desktop or anywhere safe like a cloud storage (iCloud, Google Drive, OneDrive, etc.). I personally like to store mine on an external hard drive so that in case my computer itself crashes and needs reformatting/resetting or replacement, my user data are safe, secure, and readily available. I try not to use cloud drives as they tend to cause syncing issues with files stored on my local hard drive. I would only use it as a last resort, and only temporarily.

If you have recorded videos, custom music that you want to keep, or you want to keep your mods and custom contents safe, back them up as well.

Some simmers just choose whatever files or folders they want to keep, create a new folder and paste them there.  But for someone anxious and careless like me, I prefer to make a backup of the entire The Sims 4 folder just to be sure. There are 2 ways to do that:

1) Copy and paste the entire The Sims 4 folder onto an external hard drive or USB flash drive, or upload it to a cloud storage, or;

2) Back it up on the same location. Rename The Sims 4 folder to The Sims 4 Backup (or whatever you want to name it).

Once you launch your game, a new The Sims 4 folder will be automatically generated, so you will see two folders in your My Documents folder: the backup you created (The Sims 4 Backup) and the newly generated The Sims 4 folder which contains default settings of the game.

That's it! Now you have a backup copy of your saves! Do this before a game patch or update, and for when you need to fix your game or your computer. 

Transferring your saves from your old computer to a new one? Here's HOW!

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