Sims 4 Mods Folder Not Showing Up? Here's the Fix

The Sims 4 Mods folder hides by default — this is intentional, but it frustrates almost every new player. If you’ve installed The Sims 4 and can’t find the folder where CC is supposed to go, this guide fixes it.

Where the Mods Folder Should Be

The Mods folder lives inside your Documents folder:

Windows:

C:\Users\<your-username>\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods

Mac:

~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods

If that folder doesn’t exist yet, launch The Sims 4 once, then quit. The game creates the folder structure on first launch. After that, restart your computer so the folder actually appears in Finder or File Explorer.

Fix 1: Show Hidden Files

The folder exists, but it’s hidden. Operating systems hide folders starting with a dot, and “Electronic Arts” sometimes gets treated that way.

Mac:

1. Open Finder
2. Press Cmd + Shift + . (period)
3. Hidden files now appear in grey
4. Look in Documents for Electronic Arts

Windows:

1. Open File Explorer
2. Click View at the top
3. Check Hidden items
4. Navigate to Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

Fix 2: The Folder Doesn’t Exist Yet

If you’ve never opened The Sims 4, the Mods folder won’t be there. Launch the game once, play for any amount of time, then quit. The folder gets created at the path above.

Important: Do NOT create the Mods folder manually. If you create Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods before the game runs once, the game might create its files somewhere else and ignore your folder.

Fix 3: OneDrive Stole Your Documents (Windows)

If you use Microsoft OneDrive, your Documents folder might have moved to OneDrive. OneDrive’s sync interferes with Sims 4 — the game gets confused when its files sync to the cloud.

Fix:

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon in the system tray
2. Click Settings → Sync and back up → Advanced settings
3. Uncheck Save space and download files as you use them for Documents
4. Move your Sims 4 folder back to the local Documents:
   • Move Documents\Electronic Arts to Documents\Electronic Arts (the non-OneDrive one)

Or, easier: tell OneDrive not to sync Electronic Arts:

1. Right-click the OneDrive icon
2. Settings → Sync and back up → Folder backup
3. Manage backup
4. Uncheck Documents, OR add Electronic Arts to the “folders not to sync” list

Fix 4: Wrong User Folder (Mac)

On Mac, ~/Documents is sometimes Macintosh HD/Users/<your-name>/Documents. If you have multiple user accounts or if you migrated from another Mac, the path might be different.

Open Terminal and run:

echo ~/Documents

That prints the exact path. Look for Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/Mods inside it.

Fix 5: Still Nothing? Try This

1. Make sure The Sims 4 is fully closed (check the system tray / menu bar for any background process)
2. Open Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 directly via this shortcut:

Mac Terminal:

open ~/Documents/Electronic\ Arts/The\ Sims\ 4

Windows Run (Win+R):

%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

3. If you see other folders (like saves, cache, gamethumbnail) but no Mods folder, create the Mods folder manually now.
4. Restart The Sims 4 and check Game Options → Other — both “Enable Custom Content and Mods” boxes should be ticked.

Still Stuck?

If the folder still won’t appear, the most common remaining cause is file permission issues. Right-click the Electronic Arts folder → Properties → Security. Make sure your user account has full read/write access.

If that doesn’t fix it, head to our installation guide — it covers the whole process from a clean install.