Sims 4 patch notes: every 2026 build, and what each one does to your mods
The current build is 1.126.78.1020 on PC, 1.126.78.1220 on Mac and 2.37 on console, released 6 August 2026. Every game update also clears both mod settings, so re-tick Enable Custom Content and Mods and Script Mods Allowed and restart before deciding a mod is broken.
A Sims 4 patch is two events for anyone running mods: the game changes, and the game switches your mods off. Those are separate problems with separate fixes, and confusing them is why patch week generates so much noise.
Every 2026 build and its exact version string
Sortable. Blank cells are blanks in the source, not omissions on our part: EA does not publish a build number for every announcement, and the 23 July update never shipped to Mac or console at all.
| Date | PC | Mac | Console | What shipped |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-03-04 | — | — | — | Announcement, not a patch: no further Expansion, Game or Stuff Packs. Royalty & Legacy, Werewolves and Crystal Creations are the last of their kinds. |
| 2026-03-17 | — | — | — | The Marketplace goes live on PC and Mac. Kits become Marketplace-exclusive from this point; console rollout followed over the next months. |
| 2026-06-30 | 1.125.56.1030 | 1.125.56.1230 | 2.35 | "You Called, We Answered: Fixes & Improvements". More than 70 fixes. |
| 2026-07-21 | 1.126.58.1030 | 1.126.58.1230 | 2.36 | Save options, memory improvements, free content. Introduced autosave on all platforms. |
| 2026-07-23 | 1.126.73.1030 | — | — | Windows-only launcher hotfix. Re-signed the launcher executable after the 21 July build triggered false Trojan warnings in Windows Defender. Gameplay scripts unchanged. |
| 2026-08-06 | 1.126.78.1020 | 1.126.78.1220 | 2.37 | Quick fix. Console travel crash on save load, autosave default reminder changed to every two hours, autosave slot-overwrite bug, Marketplace and Gallery transitions, career and school countdown timers, residential rental lot taxes. |
The fourth block of the version number is not a checksum you can predict. PC reads 1030 in July and 1020 in August; Mac reads 1230 then 1220. No source explains the change, so this page publishes the exact string EA published for each patch and derives no rule from it.
The build this site's cheat data was read from
Every command on this site was extracted from build 1.126.73.1030, which is one patch behind the current retail build.
It matters less than it sounds. 1.126.73 was the Windows-only launcher hotfix: it changed the launcher's digital signature and nothing else, so its gameplay scripts are the ones from 1.126.58. The 6 August patch notes list console crash fixes, autosave behaviour and interface transitions, and touch nothing in the command system. We re-run the extraction after any patch whose notes list script changes.
What breaks on patch day, in order
| Rank | Cause | How to confirm it | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The patch cleared both mod settings | Game Options, then Other. Both boxes are unticked and your files are still in the Mods folder. | Tick Enable Custom Content and Mods and Script Mods Allowed, quit fully, relaunch. Nothing else until this is done. |
| 2 | An interface mod is built for the previous game version | Panels are missing, blank, misdrawn or frozen, but the game itself runs. | Install the build of that mod made for your current game version. There is no backward compatibility to fall back on. |
| 3 | A script mod hooks code the patch changed | A last exception file appears in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4, dated when the failure happened. | Read the top frame of the report to name the module, remove that mod, check its creator's page for an update. |
| 4 | Two copies of the same mod | Two files with different version numbers in the same name, usually because the new one was added without deleting the old. | Delete every older copy. Keep exactly one file per mod. |
| 5 | A shared library dependency is out of date | Several unrelated mods from different creators fail at once. | Update the library, not the mods. The XML Injector is the usual one, and it is installed once for the whole folder. |
| 6 | Stale cache | Everything above is clean and behaviour is still odd. | Delete localthumbcache.package from Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4, then test the suspect mod on its own. |
EA's stated position on the first row is that mods are disabled during an update to limit problems with your game, that you re-enable them yourself afterwards, and that a mod may still need a full reinstall to be compatible with the new patch because creators need time to update. Take all three parts literally.
Why an interface mod breaks differently from a script mod
A .package that changes the interface does it by carrying whole copies of the game's own interface resources. When a patch reissues one of those resources, the game keeps loading the mod's older copy, and the result is visual: a panel that does not draw, draws wrong, or stops responding. The game raises no error, because nothing threw.
A .ts4script is compiled Python that hooks the game's code. When a patch moves what it hooks, the hook raises, and the failure lands in a last exception file rather than on screen. Same patch, two different symptoms, two different places to look.
weerbesu states the interface case directly in the compatibility block of the UI Cheats Extension post: interface problems from the mod, such as missing interface or glitches on panels or freezing menus, are always a mismatch between game version and mod version, and the advice is to make sure the game is up to date and to keep only one copy of the mod installed. Those builds are forward-only, so a current mod build will not run on an older game.
Save hygiene before you patch
Autosave arrived in the 21 July 2026 patch on all platforms, and the 6 August patch changed its default reminder to every two hours and fixed a bug that overwrote the wrong autosave slot. The settings are in the options menu, and the game also registers console commands for them. All six below are registered as Live commands, which means they run in a retail game with no cheat switch first.
| Command | Arguments | Type | Runs for a player | Registered at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
misc_options.autosave_status | none | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:224 |
misc_options.set_autosave_real_time_frequency | <value> | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:337 |
misc_options.set_autosave_sim_time_frequency | <value> | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:169 |
misc_options.set_autosave_on_travel | <enabled> | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:324 |
misc_options.set_autosave_on_build_buy_exit | <enabled> | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:311 |
misc_options.set_save_reminder_frequency | <value> | Live | Yes | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:197 |
misc_options.autosave_request_now | none | DebugOnly | No | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:252 |
misc_options.autosave_show_reminder | none | DebugOnly | No | gameplay_options.misc_options_commands:283 |
The last two rows have no copy button because they cannot be run. Their command type is DebugOnly, and a DebugOnly command is never registered in a shipped build, so typing it does nothing. "Save right now" is exactly the command you would want the evening a patch drops, and it is one of the 1,214 registrations of 1,847 that a retail player can never reach. This is the most common reason a cheat copied from another site silently does nothing.
The one command worth typing first in any session where a cheat has to work:
testingcheats true
Registered at server_commands.cheat_commands:22. None of the autosave commands above need it. 86 of the 633 player-reachable commands are declared Cheat and do; the other 547 are Live and do not.
The tools that help
Downloads point at the creator's own page, always. The last column is what we could read from a page rather than what a tracker reported.
| Tool | Creator | What it does | Where it lives | What we could verify |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Better Exceptions | TwistedMexi | Produces enhanced exception reports that identify the cause of gameplay errors, interface problems, mod conflicts and CAS glitching. | patreon.com/posts/130049745, linked as current from twistedmexi.com | Listed as current and updated. No version number or date is published anywhere we could reach, so this page states none. |
| MC Command Center | Deaderpool | A large gameplay management suite. Relevant here because its download page states which game patch each build was tested against. | deaderpool-mccc.com/downloads.html | Version 2026.4.0, tested against PC 1.126.78.1020 and Mac 1.126.78.1220. The page publishes no mod release date, so we publish none. |
| XML Injector | Scumbumbo; v4.2 updated by Triplis | A shared script library many gameplay mods depend on instead of each shipping its own script. One copy serves the whole folder. | scumbumbomods.com/xml-injector | v4.2, updated 22 September 2025, stated as written to work with game patch 1.116.202 and newer. |
| Broken and updated mods thread | Community, maintained by luthienrising | A per-patch running list of which mods broke and which have been updated. Not a tool, but the fastest read on patch week. | EA forums | Thread for patch 1.126, 21 July 2026. A new thread is opened per patch. |
The XML Injector's maintainer asks that mod authors do not bundle a copy of the library inside their own mods, so that a player has exactly one copy and can tell which version it is. If a mod's page says it needs the injector, install it once from that page.
What this page will not tell you
It will not give you a release date for a mod whose own page does not print one. Several of the tools above publish a status label and nothing else, and inventing a date from a post title is how a wrong figure spreads between sites.
There is no rule here for reading build-number suffixes either, because the suffixes changed between two consecutive patches and no source explains why. Nor will we quote a mod version we could only read from a search result. Where a version is reported rather than read, the page says reported.
After the patch
Order of operations: update the game, re-tick both settings, restart, then look. The folder layout and both settings are covered at how to get mods for the sims 4. If something is throwing rather than merely switched off, the last exception file is the evidence and reset sim cheat sims 4 covers how to read it.
Common questions
What is the current Sims 4 patch version?
1.126.78.1020 on PC, 1.126.78.1220 on Mac and 2.37 on console, released 6 August 2026. The fourth block of the number differs between platforms and changed between the July and August builds, so quote the exact string EA published for the patch you mean rather than deriving one from a pattern.
Why do my mods stop working after every Sims 4 update?
Because the update switches them off on purpose. EA disables mods during a game update to limit problems while patching, which clears both Enable Custom Content and Mods and Script Mods Allowed. Your files never moved. Re-tick both boxes, restart the game fully, and only then start looking for a genuinely broken mod.
How do I know which of my mods a patch broke?
Sort the Mods folder by date modified and look at what is oldest, then check that creator's own page for an update. The community keeps a broken-and-updated thread on the EA forums for each patch, which is the fastest read on what the whole ecosystem is doing. A mod that throws will also leave a last exception file behind.
Does a hotfix break mods the same way a full patch does?
Not necessarily. The 23 July 2026 update was Windows-only and only re-signed the launcher executable after Windows Defender flagged it; the gameplay scripts were unchanged from 1.126.58. LittleMsSam stated on the day that every LittleMsSam mod stayed compatible with 1.126.73. Read what a patch actually changed before reinstalling anything.
Are there more expansion packs coming?
Maxis announced on 4 March 2026 that no further Expansion, Game or Stuff Packs will ship. Royalty & Legacy was the last Expansion Pack, Werewolves the last Game Pack and Crystal Creations the last Stuff Pack. Future content is free updates plus Marketplace Kits and Maker Sets, so patch notes matter more than release calendars now.
Should I update the game or the mods first?
Update the game, then re-enable the settings, then update mods. Creators build against a released patch, so a mod cannot be current for a build that has not shipped to you yet. Updating a mod first usually means installing a file for a game version you are not running, which is the mismatch that causes most patch-week problems.