1. Open The Sims 3.
2. Click on the … (options) button at the bottom left of the screen or press F5 on your keyboard.
3. On the Graphics tab (usually the one that opens by default), slide all the sliders under Graphics details to low.
4. Click on the blue check mark at the bottom right to save your changes.
5. Restart The Sims 3 and check to see if it runs better now.

 Still not better? Try running in Windowed mode:

1. Open the Graphics options again.
2. Uncheck the box beside Enable Fullscreen Mode.
3. Click on the blue check mark at the bottom right to save your changes.
4. Restart The Sims 3, and see if Windowed mode works better for you.

Some Macs have two graphics cards in them, one that is built in to the processor and used for standard tasks, and another that is used for high-performance applications, like games.

Use About this Mac to check what kind of graphics cards you have.

If your Mac does have a dedicated graphics card, check your Energy Saver settings if you notice your Mac slowing down when you’re playing The Sims 3.

Here’s how:

1. From the Apple menu, choose System Preferences.
2. Click Energy Saver.
3. Check these two things:
   • Graphics options – if you see this, click on Higher Performance.
     • You’ll need to log off and back on to your Mac to apply this change.
   • Automatic graphics switching – turn this off to force your Mac to use the dedicated graphics card all the time.

If you’re playing on macOS X Yosemite or earlier, repairing your disk permissions can help with this one.

Follow the steps in this Apple support article to run Disk Utility on your Mac.

Newer versions of macOS automatically maintain and protect system file permissions, so there should be no need for you to repair file permissions.

1. Open Origin.
2. Click the Origin menu and choose Preferences or press ⌘, the command key and comma).
   
   
   
3. Click Installs & Saves, then click the Browse installers box.
   
   
   
4. In the Finder window that opens, delete any folders you see with Sims 3 in the name.
5. Log out of Origin and restart it.
6. Start your download again and the game should now install properly for you. 
   

We’re still looking into what causes this error to pop up for some players on Mac. These solutions might help you resolve the issue:

• Update to the latest version of Origin.
• Reset Origin on your Mac.
• If it happens after you’ve installed a new expansion pack, try uninstalling it.
  

System requirements for an expansion pack are often higher than the ones for The Sims 3 itself, so sometimes a Mac that will run the base game has trouble running some of the later expansion packs.

If you’re sure that your Mac meets requirements, and you installed your expansion from a disk, try installing a digital copy through Origin instead. You won’t need to buy the expansion again, just redeem your code in Origin if the expansion is not showing on your account.

If none of these fixes work, visit Answers HQ for troubleshooting steps and a video walkthrough.

Have you updated your game or run the super-patcher?

It’s best to make sure The Sims 3 is fully up to date before you install an expansion. Then, check for updates for that expansion before you try to install another one.

If you’re playing through Origin, it’ll keep everything up to date for you.

• But if you’re playing from disks, we recommend you download and run the superpatcher for The Sims 3 before you install any expansions.

Installing the super-patcher after installing expansions may not cause any issues. If you still see some problems with unknown errors and you installed all expansions before using the super-patcher, try following these steps.

If you’ve done this a little out of order, you may not see any problems, but if you think it could be what’s causing the unknown error, try this:

1. Uninstall The Sims 3.
2. Reinstall The Sims 3 and update it (if you’re using Origin) or run the superpatcher (if you’re using disks).
3. Then, install your expansions one by one.
   • If you’re playing on disk, find the proper installation order for expansions here.
   • If you’re using Origin, you don’t need to worry about installation order.
4. When you install and update everything, try launching The Sims 3 again.

1. In Finder, click on your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD unless you renamed it).
2. Click on Users, then on your username.
   • On older Macs, this could be called Places.
3. Open Documents, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 3.
   
   
   
4. Delete these files (they’re safe to remove, the game will rebuild them when it launches):
   • CASPartCache.package
     • (this is the Create-a-Sim cache, it’s highlighted in the picture above)
   •  compositorCache.package
     • (this is the Build/Buy mode cache)
   • scriptCache.package
     • (this is the Mod and custom content cache)
   • simCompositorCache.package
     • (this is the New Sims and skins cache)
5. Open the Thumbnails folder and delete the files inside it (keeping the folder itself).
6. Empty Trash and try The Sims 3 again.
7. If you’re still seeing the same problem, run through the previous steps again, then open the World Caches folder and delete the files inside it (keeping the folder itself).

If you’ve followed these steps and are still seeing a problem, try removing your custom content and mods too.

Removing custom content and mods

Back up your mods and packages before doing this, by copying the Mods and Packages folders to your desktop.

1. Follow steps 1-5 above, to clear your cache.
2. Open the Mods folder and delete the files inside it (keeping the folder itself).
3. Open the Packages folder and delete the files inside it (keeping the folder itself).
4. Empty Trash and try The Sims 3 again.

1. In Finder, click your hard drive (usually Macintosh HD unless you renamed it).
2. Click Users, then your username.
   • On older Macs, this could be called Places.
3. Open Documents, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 3.
4. Click the Saves folder, and hold down ⌘ C (Command and C) to copy it.
5. Switch to your desktop and press ⌘ V (Command and V) to paste it there.
6. Rename the folder to something like Sims 3 backup saves so it’s different from the original.

Now, we’re going to move and rename another file.

1. Head back to your original The Sims 3 folder in Finder (steps 1-3 above).
2. Open the Saves folder and drag the file that ends in .sims3 to your desktop for safe keeping.
3. You should only have one file left in this folder, with a filename ending in .sims3.backup
4. Rename this backup file, changing the ending to .sims3
   • This tells your game to use this save file when it loads.
5. Restart The Sims 3 and see if it now loads properly for you.