As anyone who has ever played any video game ever and been affected by this, the Sims 4 crashing definitely gets in the way of having fun. For a game that's been out for as long as this one (released waaaay back in 2014) you'd think that crashing was a thing of the past. But no.
But unlike when the ice-cream van disappears from view before you can reach it, all hope is not yet lost. We've put together this guide, to help you try to stop, or at least mitigate, the crashing problem on The Sims 4. We can do nothing about the ice-cream van though.
How to fix The Sims 4 crashing
There are plenty of potential ways to improve your crashing catastrophe. Run through each of these, see what applies and what doesn't, and hopefully, by the end, you'll see a noticeable improvement in performance.
Read More: The Sims 4 Lag: How To Fix Lag In The Sims 4
Check system requirements
This may seem obvious, but make sure the computer you are using meets the minimum system requirements for the game. If, somehow, an 8-year old game is too much for your computer to handle, then you are always going to experience problems. Crashing is very likely, and we'd suggest you probably need to consider updating your equipment.
Check for updates
Assumnig your equipment is up to the challenge of running the game, the next thnig to do is check for updates. Most obviously, look to see if there are any pending game updates.
But you should also look for any system software updates, and any graphics driver updates, as these can also interfere with the game if they are out of date. To check for graphics drivers, if you use AMD go here, for Intel, go here, and for NVIDIA, go here.
Remove Your Mods
If your game is fully updated, or you've recently installed a patch, you may notice the game crashing more than it used to, especially if you've installed any mods.
Mods are not screened or supported by the game developers, so can become incompatible when a new update is installed. And if you have multiple mods installed, there's no way of knowing which ones might be causing the game to crash.
In this situation, your best bet is to remove all your mods from the mods folder, then add them back in one by one. Test the game after you add each mod, to see if it crashes. If it does, then you know that mod is causing an issue. In which case, you need to remove it.
Repair Game Files
If you're still experiencing crashes, then it's possible the game files themselves are in need of repair. It's simple to do this sunig the Repair function within Origin:
- Go to My Game Library in Origin.
- Right-click on The Sims 4 and click Repair.
- Wait for the system to do its thing, then relaunch the game.
Stop Overclocking
Overclocking is when your processor and memory work at maximum effort to keep your game running. But while some people do this to try and improve game performance, in some circumstances it can actually have the opposite effect. In the worst case, it can end up damaging your computer.
To stop overclocking, completed these steps:
- Restart your computer, and then press the F2 and Delete keys to enter BIOS.
- Go to Advanced > Performance.
- Select the Overclocking option and disable it.
- Save the changes and exit BIOS.
Run The Sims 4 in Compatibility Mode
Another potential remedy is to run The Sims 4 in compatibility mode. This mode allows software to run as if it were doing so in an older version of Windows, which might help, given the game is eight years old. To do this:
- Right-click on The Sims 4 and select Properties.
- Go the the Compatibility Tab. Check the box labelled run this program in compatibility mode for:
- Select Run this program as an administrator and Disable fullscreen optimizations.
- Click on Apply and Ok to save your changes.
Hopefully, by now, you are experiencing fewer, if any, crashes in the Sims 4. But if you find that none of these remedies has resolved your issue, we'd definitely recommend that you contact the EA Help Team to see if they can make any further suggestions.
Of course, you also have the nuclear option of uninstallnig the game and then reinstalling it. But only do this if you are happy to lose any progress you have hitherto made in the game.