Fix The Sims 4 Lagging on Windows PC

If The Sims 4 game is lagging every few seconds on your Windows 11/10 PC, then we have a few solutions in this guide that can help you fix the issue.

The Sims 4 is developed and published by Maxis and Electronic Arts as a social simulation game. It is currently available to play on Windows, Mac, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The main focus of Sims 4 lies in character creation, their emotions, and personality along with house building tools. This is a fun game to pass some extra time. While many are playing it well, some are experiencing Sims 4 lagging on their PC. Let’s see how we can fix the issue.

Fix The Sims 4 Lagging on Windows PC

If you see a lag with Sims 4 while playing it on your Windows 11/10 PC, these fixes might help you.

Make sure your PC is compatible
End background processes
Update Graphics Driver
Adjust Graphics settings in Game
Check for Game Updates
Delete Temporary Files

Let’s get into the details of each process.

1] Make sure your PC is compatible

There are certain PC requirements to be able to play Sims 4 on your PC without any issue. Compare your PC configuration with minimum requirements by checking them using the msinfo32 tool, command prompt, or other third-party software.

The minimum requirements for the Sims 4 game are as follows.

Operating System: 64 Bit Required. Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10
CPU: 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core 4000+ or equivalent (For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 or equivalent)
RAM: At least 4 GB RAM
HARD DRIVE: At least 15 GB of free space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
VIDEO: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better
DIRECTX: DirectX 9.0,10 and 11 Compatible

If your PC does not meet the minimum requirements, it is recommended to upgrade your PC. If the PC is better than minimum requirements follow the below methods.

2] End background processes

Many processes run in the background of your PC. You need to end those processes which are not useful to the game before you start playing it. It will save the pressure on the CPU and makes way for the game.

3] Update Graphics Driver

There might be an issue with the graphic driver on your PC. You need to update it to the latest version. You can update the graphics driver in the following ways.

Check for Windows updates to check for Driver Updates and update your drivers automatically.
You can also download the drivers from the manufacturer’s site.
You can use a free third-party free driver update software
If you have the INF driver file already on your computer then:
- Open Device Manager.
- Click the driver category to expand the menu.
- Then choose the relevant driver and right-click on it.
- Select Update Driver.
- Follow the on-screen wizard to finish updating your audio drivers.

4] Adjust Graphics Settings in the Game

With a few changes in the Settings of the game, you can improve the performance of Sims 4 on your PC and stop the lagging issue. Open the Game Options in Sims 4 and select the Graphics tab.

Set Display type to Windowed
Graphics Quality to Medium or Low

Also, the other settings according to your PC and apply them.

5] Check for Game Updates

Check if there are any updates available for Sims 4 in its Settings. If there are any updates or patches available, install them to fix the issues that are caused by the previous updates.

6] Delete Temporary Files

There are instances where the temporary files of the Sims 4 game that reside in the remote folders of your PC might be acting against the new files and causing it to lag on your PC. You need to clear them frequently to get rid of such issues. Delete temporary files related to the game.

These are the different ways using which you can fix the Sims 4 lagging issue on your PC.

How do I fix Sims 4 lag?

You can fix the Sims 4 lag issue by checking the minimum requirements and upgrading your PC, updating the game and graphics drivers, killing the background processes, adjusting the in-game settings, and deleting temporary files of the Sims 4 on your PC. Any one of the methods can be helpful to fix the issue and let you play the game without any issue.

Read: The Sims 4 not responding or working

How do I make Sims 4 run faster?

You need to make sure your PC meets or exceeds the recommended specifications of the game. Then, only you will be able to make Sims 4 run faster after ending the background processes and making sure everything is up to date. The recommended specifications of Sims 4 are,

Operating System: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10
Processor: Intel Core i5 or faster, AMD Athlon X4
Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
Memory 4 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 18 GB of Hard Drive space