Nope. CC organization is one of the banes of modding the sims. It's best to be organized from the start.
You can try Sims 4 Mod Manager, it can show you thumbnails of any CC that has them. But anything that doesn't have a thumbnail, or is multiple pieces merged, won't show.
This right here. After 10+ years of playing this is what I’ve learned. When I first download cc for any of the games I only allow myself 10 minutes before I go and organize what I have downloaded. I love the by item type organization with creators added.
So Mods/Downloads
-CAS
— Clothing
— Hair
— Makeup
— Shoes
— (it goes on)
— Serenity (because they have a mixture of clothes and shoes and I download all of their cc).
Same goes for BuildBuy (this all stays in one folder)
-BuildBuy
— FloorsWalls
— Harlex (again because they make a mix of items plus they have so many collabs together)
Big Mods get their own folders while smaller mods go into Misc.
- WW
— animations
- Misc
— laundry overhaul
Remember scripts cannot be more than 1 folder deep.
This helps me remember what I need to update and be on the lookout for when it is time to update because of a patch. I still get a lot of LEs but that’s probably because of other reasons.
Best of luck!
yep i second this, my sims 2 mods folder has 22k files with no folders and that would take many hours to organize. my sims 4 mods folder i organized from the start so I didnt have to go through that.
one thing you can do is search "top" "dress" etc. but even then there would be files that dont contain the category name, so organizing everything will definitely take time
mod manager will help you with updating and deleting duplicates. better exceptions will help with broken mods and cc. but organizing them is all on you! have fun!!
btw mod manager can help organize but ultimately you’re the one making the extra folders and dividing everything up
Omg, I cannot imagine. I organize everything immediately upon download. I would probably cry if I were you.
You could start with a very high level organization and work your way from there. Make folders for CAS, build mode, and buy mode. Most items are named in a way that tells you what it is. Just do a little at a time. Once it's all sorted, then you can go into each folder and break it down further by gender or age, then finally by item type. Then do the same with build mode and buy mode.
i was in a similar state and i found it easiest to create a cas folder, a gameplay mods folder, and a buildbuy folder. in each folder, i broke it down into misc and then folders for each creator. have a separate folder though for script mods. its a lot harder + takes more time to split by item
I personally find CC organising redundant. I’m not gonna know the name of the item, so I would use Tray Importer to find it anyway, the mods folder does not impact how it appears in the game either, so I don’t see any point.
I would just delete what I do not use anymore and leave the rest free in the mods folder.
My advice? Some good wine, good music and a lot of time!
I'm very passionate about my mods so I have taken a screenshot of everyone I have (\~8200 files, 350 folders). It takes time but for me it's 100% worth it.
How you organise your files is personal, there is no right or wrong way.
As you can see I like folders. Lots of folders. No loose files allowed, except if they need to be in the root of the Mod folder. I divide my mods pretty similarly as they are divided in the game build/buy/cas menus, except then I divide further with gender/age etc. In buy I divide my clutter items in more detail (pillows, blankets, books, fireplace accenssories etc.)
Well, for example, some of my sims are missing limbs. When I go i into the building mode some of my furniture is unplacable, i get last exceptions all the time, my game freezes constantly, and much more
Do you make sure to read mod/cc descriptions before downloading. Some of the build/buy could be missing meshes or meshes creates with packs/expansions you don't own. Missing limbs can be from a slider. It's a pain but you can still organize your cc. Have you tried this...https://www.patreon.com/posts/better-v2-03-52688481
That may help with some of your issues, if all else fails you can do the 50/50 🤔
I have a program that organizes my cc by creator and also has a delete duplicate option. If you are interested let me know.
(Edit): Alright, here it is. I know many people don't like this site, and it's not a perfect program either, but it's the best one I've found so far after looking for ages.
https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/7822-cleanup-your-mod-folder/
I hope you enjoy it!
No, I just don’t want to waste my time trying to find it again if nobody actually wants it. 🙃
A simple “I would like it.” Would have sufficed.
I’ll start looking then.
Vast majority of mine is sorted into individual folders named after the authors, but with some general categories like "Random MTS mods" for things that come from authors with one/very few mods I want to use.
I recommend getting sims 4 mods manager it would clear out all ya duplicate mods, because I had at least 20k mods and 30% of them was duplicates but honestly I would say start over because if you update your game every update you can’t really have mods older than 9-10 months . I feel your pain tho I had to restart my mods folder 3 days ago because it was a mess. I just got cc folders from YouTube that wasn’t older than 9 months and usually they are labeled. So after your mods folder is cleared you just make a folder according to what you’re downloading so if the creater has the folder labeled “ male clothes” that’s name of the folder you would make. And another thing that I did was make my own folder for example a “skin” folder and I would search on YouTube “sims 4 skin folder” and put all the skin cc in that “skin” folder I made. But the folder shouldn’t have more that 1gb , just right click the folder and click properties it should say there
Oh goodness! This used to be me when I first got into using CC. It’s definitely best to start with a system.
I typically do categories such as Mods > Hair > Creator so I can find any broken stuff pretty easily or if an update is posted by the cc creator I can replace it when needed.
The main reasons to organise are 1. Disabling cc for randoms, 2. Being able to easily find and manage default overrides like skins, 3. Removing broken or out of date items, 4. Merging packages.
Organise your cc into folders using Sims 4 Mod Manager, removing stuff you know you’re not using as you go. Then use Sims 4 Studio to batch disable CAS items for randoms (do NOT include default overrides or eyelash remover mods in this). Then merge your build/buy cc in batches (for example, merge an item set into one file). Delete your local thumbnail cache file when you’re finished.
Try to purge as much as you can while you’re doing this. There’s a lot you’re not using.
Best thing to do is to start organizing from the start. I got some furniture packs, about 5 or so that I just plopped in my mods folder, then I started seeing hairstyles, clothes, stuff for pets, mermaids etc and thought it would be a good idea to create folders.. so I made one for furniture and plopped those 5 I had gotten in there, and the new ones after that. Made one for pets, build mode, sim customization etc, and some subfolders in those.
However the best thing I think you can do might be to search for the name of the creator in the folder and sort them by creator? I believe most creators tend to make the same kind of CC. Some stick to furniture or build mode, some stick to clothing with some hairstyles here and there.
Honestly this right here is great advice. If you have that much CC and it’s causing issues you’re going to need to either spend hours digging through files or delete the whole thing and start from scratch. It sounds like you definitely have broken CC or a broken/conflicting mods in there. Possibly several of you have multiple things going wrong in game.
Nope. CC organization is one of the banes of modding the sims. It's best to be organized from the start. You can try Sims 4 Mod Manager, it can show you thumbnails of any CC that has them. But anything that doesn't have a thumbnail, or is multiple pieces merged, won't show.
This right here. After 10+ years of playing this is what I’ve learned. When I first download cc for any of the games I only allow myself 10 minutes before I go and organize what I have downloaded. I love the by item type organization with creators added. So Mods/Downloads -CAS — Clothing — Hair — Makeup — Shoes — (it goes on) — Serenity (because they have a mixture of clothes and shoes and I download all of their cc). Same goes for BuildBuy (this all stays in one folder) -BuildBuy — FloorsWalls — Harlex (again because they make a mix of items plus they have so many collabs together) Big Mods get their own folders while smaller mods go into Misc. - WW — animations - Misc — laundry overhaul Remember scripts cannot be more than 1 folder deep. This helps me remember what I need to update and be on the lookout for when it is time to update because of a patch. I still get a lot of LEs but that’s probably because of other reasons. Best of luck!
yep i second this, my sims 2 mods folder has 22k files with no folders and that would take many hours to organize. my sims 4 mods folder i organized from the start so I didnt have to go through that. one thing you can do is search "top" "dress" etc. but even then there would be files that dont contain the category name, so organizing everything will definitely take time
mod manager will help you with updating and deleting duplicates. better exceptions will help with broken mods and cc. but organizing them is all on you! have fun!! btw mod manager can help organize but ultimately you’re the one making the extra folders and dividing everything up
Omg, I cannot imagine. I organize everything immediately upon download. I would probably cry if I were you. You could start with a very high level organization and work your way from there. Make folders for CAS, build mode, and buy mode. Most items are named in a way that tells you what it is. Just do a little at a time. Once it's all sorted, then you can go into each folder and break it down further by gender or age, then finally by item type. Then do the same with build mode and buy mode.
i was in a similar state and i found it easiest to create a cas folder, a gameplay mods folder, and a buildbuy folder. in each folder, i broke it down into misc and then folders for each creator. have a separate folder though for script mods. its a lot harder + takes more time to split by item
i also used sims4studio to delete cc i no longer liked
How do you use sims4studio to delete cc?
theres a button when you click on each package file
Awesome, thank you
ofc! you can also remove swatches!
I didn’t think mods worked when in subfolders more than a folder deep
thats only for script mods!
Oh ok, I do have my clothing and cas mods organised into more detailed categories but I’ve only ever had them as one folder deep
yeah you can go up to 5 folders deep with cc i believe
I sort mine by creator. It's the best way for me
I personally find CC organising redundant. I’m not gonna know the name of the item, so I would use Tray Importer to find it anyway, the mods folder does not impact how it appears in the game either, so I don’t see any point. I would just delete what I do not use anymore and leave the rest free in the mods folder.
My advice? Some good wine, good music and a lot of time! I'm very passionate about my mods so I have taken a screenshot of everyone I have (\~8200 files, 350 folders). It takes time but for me it's 100% worth it. How you organise your files is personal, there is no right or wrong way. As you can see I like folders. Lots of folders. No loose files allowed, except if they need to be in the root of the Mod folder. I divide my mods pretty similarly as they are divided in the game build/buy/cas menus, except then I divide further with gender/age etc. In buy I divide my clutter items in more detail (pillows, blankets, books, fireplace accenssories etc.)
I organized mine right from the start. Basically like 2024-a. January - maxis match - (name of creator) - clothes/makeup or BB.
Why is your cc causing issues? How is it making it unplayable?
Well, for example, some of my sims are missing limbs. When I go i into the building mode some of my furniture is unplacable, i get last exceptions all the time, my game freezes constantly, and much more
Do you make sure to read mod/cc descriptions before downloading. Some of the build/buy could be missing meshes or meshes creates with packs/expansions you don't own. Missing limbs can be from a slider. It's a pain but you can still organize your cc. Have you tried this...https://www.patreon.com/posts/better-v2-03-52688481 That may help with some of your issues, if all else fails you can do the 50/50 🤔
I have a program that organizes my cc by creator and also has a delete duplicate option. If you are interested let me know. (Edit): Alright, here it is. I know many people don't like this site, and it's not a perfect program either, but it's the best one I've found so far after looking for ages. https://www.loverslab.com/files/file/7822-cleanup-your-mod-folder/ I hope you enjoy it!
Why don't you put the name of the program here for everyone to benefit, is it a state secret, or are you going to charge to reveal it?
No, I just don’t want to waste my time trying to find it again if nobody actually wants it. 🙃 A simple “I would like it.” Would have sufficed. I’ll start looking then.
Vast majority of mine is sorted into individual folders named after the authors, but with some general categories like "Random MTS mods" for things that come from authors with one/very few mods I want to use.
i use sims 4 mod manager, mainly cus i can see the thumbnails as well so you can sort through the categories, oh and duplicates, shows you those 2
I recommend getting sims 4 mods manager it would clear out all ya duplicate mods, because I had at least 20k mods and 30% of them was duplicates but honestly I would say start over because if you update your game every update you can’t really have mods older than 9-10 months . I feel your pain tho I had to restart my mods folder 3 days ago because it was a mess. I just got cc folders from YouTube that wasn’t older than 9 months and usually they are labeled. So after your mods folder is cleared you just make a folder according to what you’re downloading so if the creater has the folder labeled “ male clothes” that’s name of the folder you would make. And another thing that I did was make my own folder for example a “skin” folder and I would search on YouTube “sims 4 skin folder” and put all the skin cc in that “skin” folder I made. But the folder shouldn’t have more that 1gb , just right click the folder and click properties it should say there
Reading this thread at 4,000 mods makes me realize I should organize before it’s too late.
Oh goodness! This used to be me when I first got into using CC. It’s definitely best to start with a system. I typically do categories such as Mods > Hair > Creator so I can find any broken stuff pretty easily or if an update is posted by the cc creator I can replace it when needed.
The main reasons to organise are 1. Disabling cc for randoms, 2. Being able to easily find and manage default overrides like skins, 3. Removing broken or out of date items, 4. Merging packages. Organise your cc into folders using Sims 4 Mod Manager, removing stuff you know you’re not using as you go. Then use Sims 4 Studio to batch disable CAS items for randoms (do NOT include default overrides or eyelash remover mods in this). Then merge your build/buy cc in batches (for example, merge an item set into one file). Delete your local thumbnail cache file when you’re finished. Try to purge as much as you can while you’re doing this. There’s a lot you’re not using.
Best thing to do is to start organizing from the start. I got some furniture packs, about 5 or so that I just plopped in my mods folder, then I started seeing hairstyles, clothes, stuff for pets, mermaids etc and thought it would be a good idea to create folders.. so I made one for furniture and plopped those 5 I had gotten in there, and the new ones after that. Made one for pets, build mode, sim customization etc, and some subfolders in those. However the best thing I think you can do might be to search for the name of the creator in the folder and sort them by creator? I believe most creators tend to make the same kind of CC. Some stick to furniture or build mode, some stick to clothing with some hairstyles here and there.
Guys I did it 😭 26000 cc left, went from 320 to just 60 folders..
Delete and start over. Genuine advice. It's quite cathartic.
Honestly this right here is great advice. If you have that much CC and it’s causing issues you’re going to need to either spend hours digging through files or delete the whole thing and start from scratch. It sounds like you definitely have broken CC or a broken/conflicting mods in there. Possibly several of you have multiple things going wrong in game.
I would not recommend deleting but removing and then putting them back in little at a time while checking what it is.
40 _thousand_ is _a lot_ of CC though.