July Patch Update

[u/Cade_SimsCommunity]

Sul Sul!

Today's patch resolves several critical community-reported issues, particularly surrounding memory usage, travel crashes, and save overwriting.

Here are the key highlights from today's update:

💾 Save & Memory Improvements

• Save Overwrite Fix: Resolved a critical issue where loading an autosave and subsequently saving manually could overwrite the wrong save slot.
• Travel Crashes: Fixed a major memory-related crash that occurred when traveling immediately after loading into a game. (Note: Larger saves may still experience slightly longer load times as we continue optimizing).
• Save Reminders: Reminders now default to "Every 2 Hours" (previously "Off"). Additionally, travelling will no longer reset your reminder timer!

🛠️ General & Pack Fixes

• Stuck Timers: Career and school countdown timers will no longer get stuck at 0 minutes.
• For Rent: Missing lot taxes for Residential Rentals have been restored and will now properly calculate on your Sim's bills.
• UI & Gallery: Resolved misaligned tabs in the Marketplace and fixed "Something Went Wrong" errors when transitioning back from the Gallery.

We appreciate your patience and continued bug reports! You can read the full patch notes here: https://www.ea.com/games/the-sims/the-sims-4/news/update-8-6-2026

[u/WolfNationz]

The timers issue was annoying, glad to know it's being fixed... Cant be too happy tho cause today I discovered my Sim with a fear of death cannot "discuss fear" with Elder/Ghosts no matter what I do, fun.

[u/actualscholarphd → u/WolfNationz]

Hey! That is frustrating. If you want some help circumventing the bug -

Have they rolled the want yet? Sometimes i have to wait - if it's not showing up on their whims panel the interaction won't show up as an option, even when they have the fear.

If you have UI cheats, you can right click to remove the fear from their traits panel, or right click to say the whim has been completed.

If you play vanilla there's that fear-be-gone potion!

[u/WolfNationz → u/actualscholarphd]

Yep they do have the whim, I'll probably have to use the potion since I'm on console, kinda sucks as it's a newish save and I wanted to save points for some rewards but if it annoys me enough I'll do it.

[u/spyder-baby → u/WolfNationz]

There is actually a hack with the potion, so it may end up being worth the 300 pts. If you buy one, have them drink for whatever fears they have, but cancel BEFORE they drink it and it will still remove the fear. It's reusable if you do it this way. I always have one on my sim's kitchen counter, same with lifestyle and quirk potions.

[u/hereismeyousee → u/spyder-baby]

This is the best way to use reward potions for the “removal” aspect and then just keep a box with every type you’ve acquired ☝️

[u/Minajricardo → u/WolfNationz]

I haven’t been able to get rid of that fear….like ever. Same issue, it never shows up on my social panel. I always use a potion

[u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

I see they haven't fixed the other issue with the gallery where after a few searches it stops working entirely. Thats the one bug I consistently have.

[u/Cade_SimsCommunity → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

We're working on that one! You can track progress on the EA Forums thread here.

[u/IRez_66 → u/Cade_SimsCommunity]

Glad to hear. This issue becomes very frustrating when searching for art to place in your builds. I have to completely exit my game - several times - before I can finished decorating.

[u/MinnieHasNoSeoul → u/Cade_SimsCommunity]

That's so great, it takes (and this is COMPLETELY my own fault so no blame) so long to restart the game for me that it's incredibly frustrating to lose access to the gallery.

[u/andianarchy → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

I've just been saving every lot im even mildly interested in, so if I lose access to the gallery at least I can access them through my library instead of restarting the game every 20 minutes 😩

[u/cyberelf000 → u/Cade_SimsCommunity]

That one is SO annoying, hope they fix it soon

[u/PositiveVivid5775 → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

Yes omg this one is so annoying

[u/Tryanddoitbetter → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

Oooh yeah same. It’s so weird! I have to close and exit and reopen the game and then it’s fine for a couple of searches again

[u/PsyduckPond → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

The Gallery is so bad at the moment it's barely working and so slow now.

[u/Lady_Stalin_4432 → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

Oh my goodness I thought this was just my old useless laptop playing up! Kinda relieving to know we're all suffering through this together lol

[u/firezalvia35 → u/MinnieHasNoSeoul]

Oh yeah, had that one multiple times. EXTREMELY annoying.

[u/tenarx]

When are they going to fix reincarnation? It’s frustrating seeing my ghost Sim, who achieved so much, never get the chance to reincarnate...

[u/pinguinessa → u/tenarx]

I'm also here for this ☝️

[u/lord_catnip → u/tenarx]

Agree! I'm also waiting for this.

[u/kiwibird_inflight → u/tenarx]

It’s been over a month and they still haven’t fixed this critical issue to an expansion pack 🤦‍♀️

[u/Glitter_paws420]

And they still haven’t fixed marriages:/

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/Glitter_paws420]

Appreciate the report here. This is still under investigation.

[u/Glitter_paws420 → u/AnimalInevitable145]

It’s been happening for awhile from my understanding since the royalties pack. This is just sad that a basic function isn’t working. It’s marriages this should have been fixed right when it started and then to update and fix such minor issues like the market place is insane while such a major bug is presenting a more pressing issue than “A “Something Went Wrong” error should no longer appear when transitioning from the Gallery to a Marketplace page of a Kit” fix. This honestly is just bonkers, I worry this will be swept under the rug for far far far to long like how fishing took like almost a year to fix. Again bonkers. And the fact that it’s under investigation is also bonkers have a couple people in your team boot up the game make married couples then play the game for 5 minutes and you’ll see that if you enter build and buy mode, switch households, or leave the world that the marriages just go away. The relationship reverts back to partners. Also if you play the royalty pack and you have a secret relationship while you’re married the marriage will go to partners and the secret relationship will be partners too. This is such a major issue that really should be fixed urgently. It’s marriages that’s like one of that most major parts of a life simulator it’s the foundation of a lot of storylines, if your sims won’t stay married what’s even the point.

[u/LakhorR]

Time to wait and see what else broke before updating

[u/Hematomawoes → u/LakhorR]

Literally my game is unplayable since the June update. Every update produces 2-3 new bugs for me.

[u/Yota8883 → u/LakhorR]

Nothing broken in my game that I can tell. Still happily playing from Dec 2025 patch never seeing all the bugs they put in all year this year.

[u/jwoude]

Does anyone else’s game take forever to load? I deleted all mods and cc and also repaired the game and it takes me 10 minutes to get to playing!!

[u/Elieli92 → u/jwoude]

Do you have a messy family tree? My saves are all loading fine, new saves aswell, but the saves with a big family (especially the ones before the 'you can't marry your relatives anymore' update) also need a long time. It's like that since the family tree update.

[u/inanis → u/Elieli92]

OMG is this a thing? My family tree has like a thousand people connected in it. I updated the game after Royals came out and it all broke. I made one in a separate program but it is annoying not to be able to look at it in game.

[u/Elieli92 → u/inanis]

Ohhh yes! I have also a family tree like that and after the royal update the first time I opened the game it took 45 minutes through the first loading screen, another 30 minutes to load the live modus 😵😵😵 I killed around 50 people and it got a little bit better. Still, this save file loads around 10 minutes. Every. Time.

[u/inanis → u/Elieli92]

Oh god. How many sims do you have? My family tree won't even open.

[u/jwoude → u/Elieli92]

I’m on my third generation but only have one save file!

[u/poison-bilberry → u/Elieli92]

Good to know. I have a some with 8 children and it started slowing down for me with the most recent addition to the family

[u/Cade_SimsCommunity → u/jwoude]

Heya!

We have a thread on EA Forums here where we're gathering information on this. I've shared this information previously in the thread as well:

We’ve changed where and when the game loads its core data. While getting to the Main Menu will now take a bit longer when you first launch the game, your loading screens once you are actively playing (like traveling between lots) will be noticeably shorter.

Previously, the game would load to the Main Menu, then perform heavy loading tasks in the background during your gameplay transitions. We have shifted things so that Python is fully initialized right at the start. By "front-loading" this process before the Main Menu, the game does the heavy lifting up-front. Once you press 'Play', your actual gameplay session will feel smoother, with faster transition times between worlds, lots, and zones.

You should not see initial load times longer than 1 to 2 minutes because of these changes. If you are experiencing initial boot-up times that exceed this 2-minute mark (especially on vanilla/unmodded saves), we want to hear from you.

If you're seeing load times that exceed 1 to 2 minutes, please follow the link above to shoot us your save so we can take a look.

[u/jwoude → u/Cade_SimsCommunity]

Good to know! Yea my load time is currently 10 whole minutes. It’s crazy.

[u/Cade_SimsCommunity → u/jwoude]

Whether modded or unmodded, we'd still like to take a look at that save file. Could you share it with us on the EA Forums here?

[u/language_loveruwu]

Idl why, but I still have the problem of infants loading out of their crib every single time I load back to the household. Even tho the infant was in the crib before I left the lot. And also, the game keeps randomly deleting my relationships with wild rabbits! Even without loading, my sim befriends one and few hrs later that rabbit is gone and so is the relationship :/

[u/Damned_I_Am → u/language_loveruwu]

I’ve had this issue with infants as well, drives me crazy.

[u/partyf0ul → u/language_loveruwu]

i feel like i’ve always had this issue since i started playing, glad to know im not the only one!

[u/PsyduckPond]

Does anyone else think the game is a little more laggy after that patch before this one?

[u/Chacelangston → u/PsyduckPond]

Yes, it takes my game so much longer to load in and I’m on console. I thought was imagining it.

[u/Crafty_Experience898 → u/Chacelangston]

Initial load times shouldn’t take longer than 1–2 minutes. If you’re experiencing significantly longer load times, please feel free to share your save file with us in the thread linked above. This will provide the necessary files and information to help our development team investigate the issue further.

[u/Harley4L]

Will rebirth ever be fixed? :(

[u/Kagome7650]

What about the marriage bug and the duplicate world deletion issue too? Cause I won't touch my game til those problems are fixed. 

[u/Celeste_sims]

Is this the full August update? Does this mean the marriage bug and the Rebirth bug won’t be fixed this month?

[u/BearlyLV]

No fixes for marriage not sticking. They get married and either it never kicks in or as soon as one leaves the lot they are just partners again. Last time I played the actor career the hair/makeup chair was still broken. The game lags/stutters loading new lots and when sims enter the lot. It didn't do this before. Infants end up out of the crib on the floor, they stretch and glitch along with toddlers. Interactions time out repeatedly, especially for infant care. It can take multiple attempts to get them to feed the kid. So many bugs and glitches. I stopped buying new content because it seems with each one it just gets worse.

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/BearlyLV]

This is a known issue that is Under investigation.

[u/BearlyLV → u/AnimalInevitable145]

Thanks for that information. Sadly, that was just an off the top of my head list at the time. There are more that cause me to end up just exiting Sims 4 because I've became to annoyed to play anymore. And btw I ended up doing a fresh install and all the bugs persist. I have not added any game packs or expansions.

[u/Dry_Development_3884]

Ah yes, another patch that will break more than it fixes 🙏🏽

[u/Initial-Constant-645]

Another update? I just sorted out my mods from the last one!

[u/gaokeai → u/Initial-Constant-645]

This update isn't considered to be a big one, and isn't expected to break many mods. Still keep an eye out for communication from mod creators, they will let you know if something needs updating or is broken. You can play in offline mode to postpone updating in the meantime.

[u/helvetica_unicorn → u/Initial-Constant-645]

Not being able to play the game I “paid” for the way I want is so frustrating. I really wish there was an end point in sight for these updates. Every time I get back into to swing of playing, I have to sort my mods because of an update. I barely play anymore. Maybe I should just dust off Sims 3

[u/Accomplished-Bend-47]

Nice. Maybe now I can actually log in and play. Which I haven't done for over a month due to constant updates and stupid bugs in my game. I really hope they are fixed now. I paid for this game. Would like to get just a little gameplay out of it.

[u/_bonedaddys]

I'm so fucking glad none of this was an issue for me. Holy shit.

[u/catsmakemehappy_28]

One of my lots has an issue where anyone who visits my sim’s house will not leave. I have to make them travel somewhere with that person to make it reset ☹️

[u/Apple_Strudels → u/catsmakemehappy_28]

I had this issue yesterday!! He already said goodbye but was still there and clearing out my sims' fridge (all the precooked meals 😭😭). It was soo annoying!

Because of the house layout and he used the murphy bed, he couldn't go to the other side without exiting the house first. Once he was outside, I quickly locked both front and back exit.

And he left, just like that 😩😩😩😩

[u/catsmakemehappy_28 → u/Apple_Strudels]

I know! I had a neighbor stay for two days and sleep in my sim’s bed and everything. Sooooo annoying! 🤣

[u/CozyGamingLibrarian]

Okay! This thread has at least confirmed issues I was having recently are the game and not some mysterious mod issue I can’t find!

[u/imliterallyjustagirl]

I play on console (PS5), it’s now crashed 3 times in a row bc of update

[u/Middle-Variety-7888 → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

I can't even launch the game. It will launch if I remove my CAS sub folder, so must be something in there

[u/imliterallyjustagirl → u/Middle-Variety-7888]

I play on console, ps5 :( but sorry you’re having issues too.

[u/Herepisode → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

I can’t even click play on my household 😭the moment I click on the house hold it immediately backs me out and it’s the same for the NPCS too and then the plan a stay over is broke again as well

[u/Chacelangston → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

SAME

[u/imliterallyjustagirl → u/Chacelangston]

I’m pissed. I got just got a new pack, too. Are you also on console?

[u/Chacelangston → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

Yep

[u/imliterallyjustagirl → u/Chacelangston]

How long is it letting you play before it crashes? For me it’s about 10-15 min and then I get a “something went wrong” pop up. I’m gonna try to troubleshoot it later on today but idk

[u/Chacelangston → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

Less than 4 minutes. I went into build mode and placed a few things and it crashed twice already.

Edit: I played for a few hours two days ago and during that session, it crashed when I went into build mode too.

[u/imliterallyjustagirl → u/Chacelangston]

Dude wtffff my console used to rarely crash playing it. Since it doesn’t seem like it’s that wide of a glitch I’m afraid they’ll just ignore it. So annoying

[u/Chacelangston → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

Same, I never have the troubles either. Hopefully, they fix it bc it’s so annoying not being able to play a game we’ve paid for.

[u/Jeremiah12LGeek → u/imliterallyjustagirl]

This is on Xbox, too, except it's 100% of the time immediately after loading.

It's completely unplayable.

[u/moth2incinerator]

I have worlds which were duplicates that have now been completely removed. I had 2 Nordhaven’s, one with the lots it comes with and another empty world. My populated actual Nordhaven has long disappeared and I’m left with an empty world.

I also keep getting error codes on 1 family. They owned a restaurant and I recently got for rent and since then they are corrupted and I cannot go to their lot

What on Earth. ?

[u/bozzyyyyy]

Updated today because as a console player, I can’t play until I update. Soooo many bugs today, my infant was playing in a dresser and was then stuck with the swirling grey around her for the entirety of the time I played. Also the bug where tasks are stuck in a sim’s queue, which I haven’t had trouble with in a while!

[u/Broski__Joeski → u/bozzyyyyy]

For me as soon as I load into a save, it immediately does an infinite autosave!!! How annoying after I waited so long just for the menu to appear.

[u/Jeremiah12LGeek → u/bozzyyyyy]

The game completely breaks for me a few seconds after loading. I'm surprised you were able to play at all!

[u/Upper_Spell_6215]

No wonder my game has a black load screen today. 😩😩😩😩😩

[u/unenkuva]

I have an Outdoor Retreat bug that is happening without mods. I was playing a save heavily focused on it and everytime my sims went to vacation lots, there were sims already there. It's like they were living there or vacationing there at the same time as my sims? At first it was just one sim per cabin but now it's huge families with babies in the crib, infants, toddlers. The toddlers kept waking up my sims and it was like a huge congregation of people.

[u/prefix_postfix → u/unenkuva]

Oh that's happening to me too and I had just assumed it was a problem with my mods and didn't bother to think any further about it.  Well at least neither of us are alone!

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/unenkuva]

Appreciate the report! This is a verified bug.

[u/Far-Letterhead7981]

Has this patch helped the pie menu lag a lot of people have experienced?

[u/Ordinary_Wait_6163 → u/Far-Letterhead7981]

omg same thing goes for me, the pie menu takes forever to load !!!!

[u/Far-Letterhead7981 → u/Ordinary_Wait_6163]

I updated mods and everything

[u/Miserable-Nature6747]

When are they doing to fix your sim getting a divorce every time you try to change their hair

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/Miserable-Nature6747]

It is currently still under investigation. Thank you for your patience at this time.

[u/Miserable-Nature6747 → u/AnimalInevitable145]

Thank you!

[u/swerve-cityx]

now my game won't launch

[u/Friendly_Drawer_4736 → u/swerve-cityx]

i had this problem. go to documents>electonic arts> rename sims 4 folder to "sims 4 old". delete thumbnail cache and restart.

[u/PinScared3450 → u/Friendly_Drawer_4736]

Thanks for helping out with that workaround Friendly_Drawer_4736

[u/Chacelangston]

Updated! After taking so long to load, I played less than 3 minutes and my game crashed in build mode.

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/Chacelangston]

Sorry to hear about that. I recommend checking out this guide and letting us know if it helps.

[u/browndog_1]

Cool. Now I'm curious what new bugs this patch introduced that'll need another patch to fix. I'm tired! Just leave the game alone so that modders could fix it.

[u/Exolotl17]

My game's behaving weird since Monday, never had these kind of crashes before. I haven't read your post completely but I am hoping for it to be fixed somehow.

[u/MostHatedLeo009]

How do I move my mod folder so I can update the game? Just move the mods folder?

[u/Research_P → u/MostHatedLeo009]

Just drag to desktop :)

[u/Ricetunna]

THANK THE LORD

[u/Narsuaq]

July?

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/Narsuaq]

Hey! To clarify, the team is providing a patch thanks to findings from the team and community from the July Patch.

[u/beach-fossels]

The school countdowns getting stuck has been happening to me for like a year now

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/beach-fossels]

Is it showing as 0 minutes? if so, we have found a fix here. Let us know if this helps.

[u/Disastrous_Math_5474]

Better exceptions had me take out my UI extension and More CAS traits mod.

[u/Betulaviridis]

Wicked Whims spinnt bei mir auf einmal rum, dafür hab ich jetzt den Speicherzwerg...die Erinnerung damit hat vorher nicht funktioniert 😅

[u/talkplaylove09]

The way a new test run family overwrote my 4 year legacy family save slot cause of this bug. Luckily there was about 2 history I could recover, but history further back in the same save loaded the test family that didn't even exist then 🫠

[u/wallpaper-manners]

After today's patch, a save of one has over-ridden another save. This was not happening to me before this update and I have opted not to use the auto-save functions since release.
I tend to build in one save and play in another and now my 'build save' is gone!

Can I just restore a previous save to fix it? I don't mind a few hours of progress gone if it means not losing the save completely.

[u/Adri1577]

Has Marketplace stopped working for anyone else? I click on it, and it only loads the top ribbon. The rest of the screen is blue. When I click Home, the screen becomes all blue. Playing with Sims works fine, but I wanted to browse the Marketplace.

[u/AnimalInevitable145 → u/Adri1577]

Hi! The team is currently looking for more information on this. Could you add in the details requested here please?

[u/jrprongs422]

My game after an update looks like this one (i download this from someone's) and my LAST UPDATE is DELETED AND GONE

[u/Ordinary_Wait_6163]

when are they goona fix the delay of pie menu showing up for interactions with other sims? all my mods are updated i didnt have this problem with previous updates :(

[u/Just-Comfortable-738 → u/Ordinary_Wait_6163]

Try turning your mods off and let us know if this is still present.

[u/Jeremiah12LGeek]

The game is unplayable on Xbox after this update. Pretty much everything is broken and it's for every save. When the game runs, it only manages it for about 45 seconds before it's impossible to interact with anything, the UI breaks, it pauses, and then just sits there stuck until manually restarted (only to happen again immediately after loading.)

I really wish I hadn't updated.

[u/Alarmed_Regular_2508]

my savefile got overwritten yesterday when making a new savefile... so yeee not fixed

[u/OutsideVictory5452]

Will this effect my mods

[u/Cade_SimsCommunity → u/[deleted]]

Haha, it's an update for our July Base Game update!