Home› Discussion› The Sims 4 General Discussion
  • Categories
  • Discussions
  • Activity
  • Best Of...
    • Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.

    is there an easy way to transfer saves between computers?

    zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
    in The Sims 4 General Discussion
    I have Sims 4 on two different computers (same Origin account) that my g/f and I take turns playing. Her on a laptop, and mine on a desktop. We plan to use *just* the laptop soon. So the question is, how do I transfer my saves to the laptop without overwriting any of hers? Thanks!
    ~Z~

    Comments

    • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,584 Member
      edited April 2021
      I think the easiest way is to just backup her save file and move it to the desktop and then move yours into the save folder in "Documents" > Electronic Arts > Saves, when you want to play the game. Note that your "My library" in the game will still be shared.

      But if you are going to just play in one, just look at the saves folder and take note of the dates of files in the folder. I believe they all will have different names too so it should not overwrite by default. But just back up the files on the laptop first just in case.
      My Top Song of the Day: Innocence by Avril Lavigne
      832XG3D.gif
    • DeKayDeKay Posts: 81,584 Member
      If you need to copy your My Library items to the laptop, they're in the Tray folder.
      My Top Song of the Day: Innocence by Avril Lavigne
      832XG3D.gif
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      Cool, thanks!! I'll take a closer look at the filenames of the saves. :smile:
      ~Z~
    • Ray_TraceRay_Trace Posts: 509 Member
      I pretty much use Discord with my sister and upload the saves onto there.
      A1hnP0t.png
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      You can upload Sims 4 save games to Discord?
      ~Z~
    • Ray_TraceRay_Trace Posts: 509 Member
      Yep! The filesize is small enough to allow for transfer. I did that in an old version of S4MP where you need the same save file to play with my sister, but now that the saves are synced we only share to each other when one of us wants to make tweaks.
      A1hnP0t.png
    • Calico45Calico45 Posts: 2,038 Member
      I personally recommend making your own user account on the laptop so your files are separate, since accidents happen, but so long as you move files instead of saving over/replacing things it should be fine. I typically transfer via USB.
    • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,544 Member
      We have 2 computers, and I typically play on the one downstairs. But if I get up in the night, or hubby is on that one, then I continue my game upstairs.

      I used to be transferring the saves onto a USB stick but got fed up of the hassle lol, so now I just upload my save to Dropbox at the end of each play.
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      elanorbreton wrote: »
      We have 2 computers, and I typically play on the one downstairs. But if I get up in the night, or hubby is on that one, then I continue my game upstairs.

      I used to be transferring the saves onto a USB stick but got fed up of the hassle lol, so now I just upload my save to Dropbox at the end of each play.

      So you can simply copy your saves from one PC to the other and it won't overwrite existing saves?
      ~Z~
    • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,544 Member
      zoldos9 wrote: »
      So you can simply copy your saves from one PC to the other and it won't overwrite existing saves?
      I am talking about just the actual save file. So long as it has a different save number it will not overwrite another save. So you can't copy a save file into your folder if it is called Slot_00000007 and you already have a save called that in your folder. But you can change the number if you needed to so, for instance, you could change this number to Slot_00000012 and have both save files in your folder.
    • OnverserOnverser Posts: 3,364 Member
      I think the best way to do it is to just change the names of the files, for example if the save is 0000011, add another number on the end and then it won't overwrite any other saves when you transfer them and do that with all the files
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      elanorbreton wrote: »
      zoldos9 wrote: »
      So you can simply copy your saves from one PC to the other and it won't overwrite existing saves?
      I am talking about just the actual save file. So long as it has a different save number it will not overwrite another save. So you can't copy a save file into your folder if it is called Slot_00000007 and you already have a save called that in your folder. But you can change the number if you needed to so, for instance, you could change this number to Slot_00000012 and have both save files in your folder.

      Ah, okay great! Thanks for the info!
      ~Z~
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      Onverser wrote: »
      I think the best way to do it is to just change the names of the files, for example if the save is 0000011, add another number on the end and then it won't overwrite any other saves when you transfer them and do that with all the files

      Good deal. Thanks!
      ~Z~
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      elanorbreton wrote: »
      zoldos9 wrote: »
      So you can simply copy your saves from one PC to the other and it won't overwrite existing saves?
      I am talking about just the actual save file. So long as it has a different save number it will not overwrite another save. So you can't copy a save file into your folder if it is called Slot_00000007 and you already have a save called that in your folder. But you can change the number if you needed to so, for instance, you could change this number to Slot_00000012 and have both save files in your folder.
      Onverser wrote: »
      I think the best way to do it is to just change the names of the files, for example if the save is 0000011, add another number on the end and then it won't overwrite any other saves when you transfer them and do that with all the files
      I tried this and it thought I had no saves, and started a new game. :( I suppose I'll just copy the Tray folder which has my families, and just start new saves. :smiley:
      ~Z~
    • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,544 Member
      I'm not sure if you have to keep the same number of digits in the save name, I always do to be safe. So I would delete a zero if I needed to rename it with a 12 instead of a 7 for example.

      I only transfer my saves that way because of the set-up I have.

      But it would be easier for you, like Calico said above, to create your own user account on the laptop and transfer the save files from Dropbox/USB or whatever into that account. That way, you could transfer your entire EA folder and keep absolutely everything, rather than just your game save.
    • GreylingGreyling Posts: 163 Member
      But wouldn’t that require repurchasing the game for the new account?

      As for the file name, I think it needs to be at least 8 digits, but it can also be more. In the example they give here it’s 9:
      https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/the-sims/the-sims-4/how-to-restore-a-previous-saved-game-in-the-sims-4
    • elanorbretonelanorbreton Posts: 14,544 Member
      Greyling wrote: »
      But wouldn’t that require repurchasing the game for the new account?
      Nah, they would just need to sign into Origin with the same user id and password as before.
    • GreylingGreyling Posts: 163 Member
      Ah, ok :smile:
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      elanorbreton wrote: »
      I'm not sure if you have to keep the same number of digits in the save name, I always do to be safe. So I would delete a zero if I needed to rename it with a 12 instead of a 7 for example.

      I only transfer my saves that way because of the set-up I have.

      But it would be easier for you, like Calico said above, to create your own user account on the laptop and transfer the save files from Dropbox/USB or whatever into that account. That way, you could transfer your entire EA folder and keep absolutely everything, rather than just your game save.
      It's a shared laptop and we always use just one user account. It's all good. I plan to transfer just the Tray folder then start my game(s) over again but will still be able to use the Sims I created. :smiley:
      ~Z~
    • JueJueJueJue Posts: 80 Member
      I play between a laptop and a desktop and I use Dropbox. I copy my saves folder into that when I’m moving to the other computer then just copy and paste it into the right place on the other computer. I’ve been doing this for about 4 years and it’s worked well for me
    • zoldos9zoldos9 Posts: 53 Member
      JueJue wrote: »
      I play between a laptop and a desktop and I use Dropbox. I copy my saves folder into that when I’m moving to the other computer then just copy and paste it into the right place on the other computer. I’ve been doing this for about 4 years and it’s worked well for me
      That would normally work, but I'm putting my desktop in storage and will only be using the laptop. I am going to transfer the Tray which I understand will allow me to access the gallery and all my Sims will be there. I'll just start new games, no worries. :)
      ~Z~
    Sign In or Register to comment.
    Return to top