While The Sims 4 is a simulation game without any intense shooting scenes or action sequences, it can still suffer from lag. This can happen when your Sim is in the middle of a wedding or party, and the screen suddenly freezes. Moving the mouse or clicking on the screen won't restore it to normal.

The Sims 4

With PC gaming, anything can happen. When The Sims 4 gets stuck, however, many players find themselves unable to save their progress. If you force the game to close, you'll lose all of your recent playtime. If you're unsure how to save in The Sims 4 when it's frozen, this article will walk you through detailed instructions for both Windows and Mac to help you through the tough spot.

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How to Thaw The Sims 4 Without Losing Data

Unfortunately, if The Sims 4 is frozen, you'll have little choice but to wait it out, as jiggling the mouse will do little to unfreeze it. Your only option is to force quit the game.

While you can't save your game data by unfreezing The Sims 4, you can save your game before closing out of it. Read on for the most effective solutions, which we've provided for both Windows and Mac users.

How to Save Your Game in "The Sims 4" Using Your Keyboard If It Freezes

When your Sims 4 game freezes, you can easily bring up the save game window by pressing a few keys on your keyboard. Here's how:

# How to Save a Frozen "Sims 4" on Windows

    Press Alt+F4

Don't worry that this method involves pressing Alt + F4 – it's not a joke. In The Sims 4, when you press Alt + F4, the game doesn't immediately close. Instead, a window will pop up asking if you want to save your progress before quitting. Click “Save & Quit” to exit The Sims 4 normally and without losing any data. When you restart the game, you'll pick up where you left off, and the glitch should be gone.

Hold down Alt and F4

How to Save a Frozen "The Sims 4" on a Mac

    Press Command+Q

Just like saving a frozen Sims 4 on Windows, you can press Command + Q on your Mac. A window will pop up asking if you want to save your progress before quitting. Click “Save & Quit” to exit the game normally without losing any data. When you restart the game, you'll pick up where you left off, and it should run normally.

General Procedures for Windows and Mac

In addition to the above methods, you can also save your progress in a frozen game of The Sims 4 by opening the game's command console and entering the quit command. This works for both Windows and Mac.

This is a detailed tutorial.

Step 1: Press Ctrl+Shift+C

Step 2: Type “quit” in the Sims 4 console that appears in the top right corner of your screen.

Type 'exit' in the command prompt to quit

Step 3: Press "Enter," and a save file dialog should appear.

Step 4: Click on "Save", then you can close the game and restart it.

Save The Sims 4

After saving your progress, don't let your guard down. You need to figure out the reason behind The Sims 4 freezing and fix it, or else the constant lagging will significantly hinder your gaming experience.

Causes and Fixes for The Sims 4 Freezing Issues

Here are three reasons why your game might freeze in The Sims 4 that you should look out for:

Computer hardware issue

If you didn't check the system requirements for The Sims 4 before downloading it and your computer hardware doesn't meet those requirements, the game can get bogged down and freeze when it's pushed beyond your computer's capabilities.

Here are the system requirements for The Sims 4, provided by Steam. You can check if your computer meets these specifications:

The Sims 4 System Requirements

If your computer meets only the minimum requirements, try lowering the in-game graphics quality, which will significantly reduce the chances of lag.

Modules and CC Issues

If you have mods and custom content (CC) installed for The Sims 4, make sure they are updated for your current game version. Outdated mods and CC can clash with the game's code after an update and cause issues like lag.

You can check the website where you downloaded the mod or CC to see if the creator has updated it for the new version, and replace the old files with the new ones to keep your game running smoothly.

This is an image and cannot be directly translated, but it appears to be a guide on how to install Mods and Custom Content (CC) in The Sims 4. Mods are player-made alterations to the game, while CC refers to player-created or modified items, clothing, and more within the game. To install them, one typically needs to download the files and place them into a specific folder within the game's directory. This usually involves unzipping the downloaded files and moving them to the Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods folder. It's important to note that installing Mods and CC can affect game performance or cause conflicts with certain game updates, so caution is advised before installation.

Graphics card issue

If your computer meets the system requirements for The Sims 4 and you've added mod files to the game without issue, you'll need to check that your graphics card drivers are up to date.

Here's a guide on how to update your graphics card:

    1. Open Device Manager. 2. Click on the currently installed graphics card under Display adapters. 3. Select Update Driver to update the graphics card.

After doing this, launch The Sims 4 and check if the game still gets stuck.

How to Prevent Data Loss in The Sims 4

For PC games, a freezing issue is just one of the many problems that can occur. To build a safer gaming environment, we highly recommend that you prevent game data loss – use professional backup software, like tools Todo Backup Home, to protect your The Sims 4 save files.

As an excellent PC game save backup helper, Todo Backup Home allows you to customize a scheduled backup plan to safely back up your game data to its offered 250 GB free cloud storage or the disk where you prepare for game file backup. Additionally, with its featured differential backup and incremental backup, this tool can help all gamers automatically back up the latest save files when updating game progress, going all out to prevent any data disaster caused by game crashes or freezing.

Now, follow these easy steps to back up your Sims 4 save files.

Step 1. Tap on "Create Backup" and then tap on "App Data" to initiate the game data backup.

Click “App Data” to start game backup Click App Data to start game backup

Step 2: Once you're in the Application Data Backup section, look for the Game Saves category. Select the save files and configurations for The Sims 4, then click "OK".

Backup The Sims 4 with Todo Backup

Step 3: Next, you need to choose a backup location to save the game data. You can save the backup on an internal or external drive, but for safety reasons, we highly recommend keeping a backup copy on tools Todo Backup Cloud or a NAS device.

Select a location to back up your game data

Conclusion

This post offers solutions to save your game when The Sims 4 is frozen, along with an analysis of the causes behind the freezing issue. After resolving the problem, protect your The Sims 4 progress from potential data loss. You can use Todo Backup Home to back up your The Sims 4 save files, ensuring you're well-prepared for any data crisis.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Does The Sims 4 have an autosave feature?

No, it will not save automatically. You should save the game manually. So, when you want to exit The Sims 4, make sure you press the Esc key and click on the Save button.

2. Will I lose my saved games if I uninstall The Sims 4?

Yes, you can. The save files for The Sims 4 are located at the following path: `Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Saves`. You can find your saved games there and back them up before uninstalling the game. This way, your The Sims 4 files won't be lost.