How To Install Mods In The Sims 4 (2026)

A guide on how to install mods and custom content (CC) in The Sims 4 on PC. We cover installing mods by hand (manual installation), through the CurseForge App, and how to download and setup the Sims 4 Mod Manager (S4MM) to keep everything organised.

This guide is focused on Windows users, but the folder paths and concepts carry over to macOS and to Linux setups running the game through Proton or Lutris!

The Sims 4 has one of the biggest modding scenes of any game, and it's also one of the friendliest to get into. There's no script extender to install and no load order to manage - mods are just files you drop into a folder. The parts that actually trip people up are the folder depth rules, working out whether a mod even loaded, and keeping a CC folder organised once it's a few thousand files deep. We'll cover all of it.

Requirements

• The Sims 4 installed on your PC (EA App, Steam, or the old Origin release).
• 7-Zip or any other archive extraction software.
• A free ModTheSims or CurseForge account (optional, but handy).
• A basic understanding of copying and moving files around on Windows.

NOTE - The Sims 4 is the same game across the EA App, Steam, and Origin, so mods work identically on all three. Mods are not supported on the PlayStation or Xbox versions at all.

How Sims 4 Mods Work

There's no framework to install here - The Sims 4 loads mods straight out of a folder in your Documents. Everything you download will be one of two file types.

.package Files

This is the format most mods and nearly all CC use - clothing, hair, makeup, furniture, build items, gameplay tuning, and so on. They're data files the game reads at startup.

.ts4script Files

These are script mods. They contain actual Python code and can do things .package files can't, which is why mods like MC Command Center and UI overhauls use them. They also need their own toggle enabled in-game, and they're the ones that break after game patches.

NOTE - Only install script mods from creators you actually trust. They run real code on your machine.

The Folder Depth Rule

Your mods live in the folder below.

Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods

The game doesn't scan that folder infinitely deep, and this is where most "my mod isn't showing up" problems come from.

• .package files can sit in the Mods folder itself or a few subfolders deep.
• .ts4script files must be in the Mods folder itself or one subfolder deep. No deeper.

The safe habit is to keep everything at one subfolder maximum - so Mods\Hair\, not Mods\CC\Hair\Female\. Sort by category at the top level and you'll never hit the limit.

TIP - There's a file called Resource.cfg in your Mods folder that controls this scanning. Don't delete it. If it goes missing, the game stops loading mods entirely, and you'd need to restore it (or let the game regenerate it) before anything works again.

Back Up Your Game Files!

Before installing anything, back up your Sims 4 data. Broken CC can stop a save loading, and Sims 4 saves are not something you want to lose.

Head to the folder below.

Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

Copy the following folders somewhere safe.

• Mods - your mods and CC.
• saves - your actual save files.
• Tray - saved Sims, households, lots, and rooms.

TIP - If your game starts misbehaving, the classic first step is to rename your whole The Sims 4 folder to something like The Sims 4 - old and let the game generate a fresh one. If the problem disappears, it was something in your old folder - and you still have everything to copy back piece by piece.

Where To Download Mods

• ModTheSims - long-running, free, and moderated. Everything is hosted directly on the site.
• CurseForge - the only source with a proper one-click mod manager for The Sims 4 that doesn't cost anything.
• The Sims Resource - enormous CC library. Downloads are free, but their CC Manager one-click install feature is behind a paid subscription. You can still download everything manually and install it yourself using the steps in this guide.
• Lumpinou - excellent gameplay and story mods (relationships, life events, and similar).
• Sims 4 Studio - forums and the tool most CC creators actually use.
• TMC - us, but new!

TIP - Read the mod description and check the last updated date before downloading. The Sims 4 patches frequently and script mods in particular go stale fast. A mod that hasn't been touched in two years is a gamble.

WARNING - Stick to the sites above. The Sims CC scene has a persistent problem with reupload sites that wrap free content in ad-walls, link shorteners, and occasionally worse. If a "download" sends you through three redirects, close the tab.

Our Example Mods

We'll be using two mods to demonstrate, one for each install method.

• PersonalityPlease! by PolarBearSims from ModTheSims - a gameplay mod that makes Sims act according to their traits. We'll install this one by hand.
• Aurum - maxis match shorts by AuSims from CurseForge - a simple bit of CC. We'll install this one through the CurseForge App.

Installing Mods Manually

This is the method that works everywhere, for every mod, from every site. It's also worth learning first because the mod managers are really just doing this for you.

Downloading The Mod

Head to the mod's page and find its download section. On ModTheSims that's the Download tab.

1. Using this version in the guide: Mods are often split into multiple optional files. Here PersonalityPlease! offers separate downloads for the base mod, Cats & Dogs support, mean interactions, toddlers, and so on. We're grabbing the PersonalityPlease!_CatsDogs.zip file.

Read the descriptions before you start clicking Download on everything! Some of these files are alternatives to each other rather than add-ons, and installing two conflicting versions is a good way to break the mod.

Copying The Files

Extract the archive with 7-Zip and look at what came out.

1. Copy to Mods/ folder: In this case it's a single .package file. Most mods are exactly this simple.

Now open your Mods folder and paste it in.

1. Default Mods/ folder path: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods.
2. Mod file copied to folder!: The .package file sitting next to Resource.cfg.

That's the entire manual install - the mod loads the next time you start the game. Skip ahead to Checking If Your Mods Loaded if you want to confirm it worked.

NOTE - Some downloads arrive as a .rar or .7z rather than a .zip, and some CC creators bundle a readme or preview images alongside the actual mod. Only the .package and .ts4script files need to go into Mods - everything else can be ignored.

Installing Mods With The CurseForge App

CurseForge supports The Sims 4 in its app, which makes it the closest thing the game has to a proper mod manager. It downloads, installs, and updates mods for you, and it's free.

We have two dedicated guides on the app if you haven't used it before.

• How To Download & Install The CurseForge App
• How To Use The CurseForge App & The Basics

Adding The Sims 4 To CurseForge

Open the app and add the game from the sidebar.

1. Click to show drop-down menu: Click the + button in the left sidebar.
2. Automatically scan selected drives for all games: Scan computer for games searches your drives and finds The Sims 4 on its own. This is the easy option and works for most people.
3. Manually select Sims 4 game folder: Manually add a game lets you point CurseForge at the install yourself if the scan came up empty.

Once it's added, The Sims 4 appears as an icon in the sidebar.

The Sims 4 Page In CurseForge

Click the Sims 4 icon and you'll land on the game's own page.

1. Click the Sims 4 tab if not already on it: The game's icon in the sidebar.
2. Scan for manually installed mods: Scan mods folder picks up mods you installed by hand so CurseForge can manage them too. More on this below.
3. Discover and browse mods in The Sims 4: The Discover and Browse tabs are where you find new mods.
4. Group installed mods for organization!: Create Group lets you bundle installed mods together - genuinely useful once you're running a lot of CC.

Browsing And Installing Mods

Head to the Browse tab.

1. Search for mods: The search bar at the top filters The Sims 4 mods.
2. Sorting, filtering, and display options: Sort order, category filters, and a toggle between grid and list view. The category filter is the one you'll use most - Sims 4 CC is overwhelmingly clothing and hair, so filtering by category is the only way to find gameplay mods.
3. Click to install through CurseForge: Hover over any mod tile and hit Install. That's it.

Once it's done, the mod shows up under My Mods.

1. Click My Mods tab to see installed mods: Everything CurseForge is managing for you.
2. Mod is installed!: Our CC showing up in the list.
3. Updates all mods if there are any updates available: Update all pulls the latest version of everything at once. After a Sims 4 patch this button is your best friend.

Where CurseForge Puts Your Mods

There's no magic here - CurseForge drops files into the exact same folder you'd use manually.

1. Curseforge downloaded the mod file to the Mods/ folder: Aurum_female_Shorts_5.package, sat right next to Resource.cfg in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods.

This is worth knowing because it means the two methods mix freely. You can install some mods through CurseForge and others by hand, and the game treats them identically.

NOTE - Because they share a folder, don't manually delete a file CurseForge installed. Uninstall it through the app instead, otherwise CurseForge will still think it's there.

Scanning For Manually Installed Mods

The Scan mods folder button is the feature that ties the two methods together. Click it and CurseForge reads through your Mods folder and adopts what it finds.

Here you can see the PersonalityPlease! mod we installed by hand showing up in My Mods. It has a generic flame icon rather than a proper thumbnail, because CurseForge couldn't match it to a mod on their site - that mod came from ModTheSims, so there's nothing to match it against.

Mods picked up this way can be enabled and disabled through the app, but CurseForge can't update them for you since it doesn't know where they came from. That's still an improvement over nothing.

Sims 4 Mod Manager (S4MM)

Sims 4 Mod Manager is a separate tool that does something CurseForge doesn't - it sorts and organises the mods you already have. It reads your Mods folder, works out what each file actually is (hair, clothing, build items, script mods, and so on), and lets you file everything into categories.

It isn't a replacement for CurseForge or manual installing. It's what you reach for when your Mods folder is 3,000 unlabelled .package files and you need to find the one that's broken.

Downloading S4MM

Head to the S4MM website.

1. Click to go to download page: Click Download Now.

1. Download if on Windows: Download Installer (.exe) for Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit). There's an alternative setup linked underneath if the standard installer gives you trouble.
2. Download if on Mac: macOS Big Sur (11.0) or later, with separate builds for Apple Silicon and Intel chips.

Both versions handle their own automatic updates once installed.

Installing S4MM

Run the installer you just downloaded.

1. Change if needed: Pick your language from the drop-down.
2. Click to proceed: Click Next.

1. Change install location if needed: The default is C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Programs\Sims 4 Mod Manager, which is fine for most people.
2. Check after reading/confirming: Tick the box to accept the terms of use and privacy policy.
3. Click to proceed: Click Next and let it install.

First Launch

On first run S4MM asks for a language again, this time for the app itself.

1. Select or change language if needed: English is built in. The other languages are community translations and, as the dialog itself warns, may not be fully complete.
2. Click to continue: Click Continue.

You'll then likely get an Incomplete settings prompt.

1. Click to adjust S4MM game/security settings: Click Open Settings. S4MM needs to know where your game and Mods folder live before most of its features do anything, so don't skip this.

The Sims 4 Game Settings Prompt

This is the genuinely useful bit. S4MM checks your actual Sims 4 configuration and tells you if it's set up badly for modding.

1. Toggle on these other settings for a smoother experience: Set all three to On. Each one is labelled either As recommended in green or Possibly bad/unintended in red, so you can see at a glance what needs changing.

Here's what each toggle does.

• Disable Mod/CC List - stops the game showing a full list of your mods and CC every time it starts. It's purely a loading-time and processing saving, and once you have a lot of CC it's a noticeable one.
• CC and Mods - the master switch. This must be on or nothing loads at all. It's the same setting as Enable Custom Content and Mods in-game.
• Script Mods - required for any .ts4script mod to run. Same as Script Mods Allowed in-game.

The last two are exactly the in-game options covered further down - S4MM is just reading and flipping them from outside the game, which saves a trip through the menus.

NOTE - If you're deliberately running with script mods off, you can dismiss this popup. The tool is flagging what's unusual, not what's wrong.

Checking If Your Mods Loaded

You don't have to enable your mods one by one - once the files are in your Mods folder, the game picks them up on the next launch. The in-game menu is where you go to confirm that happened, and it's the fastest way to tell the difference between "the mod isn't working" and "the mod never loaded in the first place".

Launch The Sims 4 and open the menu from the main screen.

1. Click to open options menu: The three dots (...) in the top-right corner.

1. Click Game Options: Choose Game Options from the menu.

1. Click Other tab: Select Other from the list on the left.
2. Make sure CC/mods are enabled: Enable Custom Content and Mods should already be ticked - it's on by default. Script Mods Allowed sits underneath it and needs to be ticked too if you're running any script mods.
3. Click View Custom Content button to see enabled mods: View Custom Content lists everything the game actually loaded.

NOTE - If you did have to change either of those boxes, click Apply Changes and restart the game before checking anything else.

Now click View Custom Content.

1. Mod is enabled!: PersonalityPlease!_CatsDogs_ByPolarbearsims listed under CUSTOM CONTENT, which means the game found it and loaded it.

Script mods appear under the separate SCRIPT MODS heading in the same window. Nothing here needs to be switched on - if a mod is listed, it's loaded. If a mod you installed isn't in either list, the game never picked it up, so work through the checks below.

NOTE - After some game patches, The Sims 4 quietly turns Script Mods Allowed back off. If your script mods suddenly stop working after an update, check that box first before you start deleting things.

Troubleshooting

• A mod isn't showing up in the list. Check the folder depth first. Script mods have to be in Mods or one subfolder deep, no more. Then check the file actually ends in .package or .ts4script and isn't still sitting inside a .zip.
• Nothing loads at all. Confirm Resource.cfg is still in your Mods folder, and that Enable Custom Content and Mods hasn't been unticked at some point. If you did change it, apply the change and restart the game.
• Script mods stopped working after an update. The game may have turned Script Mods Allowed off. Re-enable it, then check whether your script mods have posted updates - script mods break with patches far more often than CC does.
• The game crashes or a save won't load. Move your entire Mods folder to the desktop and launch. If the problem goes away, it's a mod. Put half the folder back, test again, and keep halving until you find the culprit.
• CC looks wrong or Sims have missing textures. That's usually due to outdated CC and mods. Check the creator's page for an updated version, or remove it.
• CurseForge shows a mod installed but the game doesn't see it. Check that CurseForge is pointed at the right game folder, and that the file really landed in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods.

TIP - Delete localthumbcache.package from Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 after adding or removing a lot of CC. It's a thumbnail cache, the game rebuilds it automatically, and a stale one causes plenty of odd visual glitches in CAS and Build/Buy.

Notes

• We are not affiliated with EA, Maxis, CurseForge, ModTheSims, or the S4MM developer. This guide was put together independently to help people get started.
• Everything here was accurate at the time of writing. The Sims 4 patches regularly and the tools update alongside it, so the odd screenshot may drift out of date.
• Add mods a handful at a time rather than dumping in a hundred at once. When something breaks, you'll actually know what caused it.

See Also!

• ModTheSims
• CurseForge - The Sims 4
• The Sims Resource
• Sims 4 Mod Manager (S4MM)
• Lumpinou Mods
• Sims 4 Studio
• How To Download & Install The CurseForge App
• How To Use The CurseForge App & The Basics
• The Sims Subreddit

Conclusion

That's everything! You should now have mods installed through whichever method suits you, a way to confirm the game is actually loading them, and a way to keep your Mods folder from turning into an unmanageable pile.

The short version - use the CurseForge App for anything hosted there since it handles updates for you, install everything else manually (it's two steps), keep your files no more than one subfolder deep, and use View Custom Content in-game whenever you need to check whether a mod actually loaded.

Guides we create are always open to edits and improvements, so if you have any suggestions or notice any issues, feel free to contribute by creating a pull request on our GitHub repository!

Please join our Discord server if you have any questions or need help with anything related to modding or our guides!