Sims 4 bouncing in Dock but not opening

This is probably the most common issue Mac users are now reporting on the forums and seems to stem from the December 2017 game patch. I’ve no idea of the exact cause but it does also seem to be exacerbated with the installation of the Cats & Dogs EP.

CC/Mod users
In a lot of cases it could be something as simple as incompatible CC/Mods so always make sure that your CC/Mods are compatible with the current patch level of your game. If they are not then you should move them out of the Mods folder until the creator updates them.

If you’re trying to load the Sims 4 but all it’s doing is bouncing up and down in the Dock there are several things you can try. Make sure you try to load the game after following each of the following steps, move on to the next step if your game still isn’t loading:

Go into Documents > Electronic Arts and move the Sims 4 folder to your desktop.
Turn off any antivirus you may be running, firewall, or 3rd party apps which ‘clean up’ files.
Right click on the game in your Origin games library and select Repair Game.
Run the Origin reset tool.
Go into Origin > Preferences > Origin in-game and disable Origin in-game.
Go into Origin > Preferences > Notifications and turn off all notifications.
Go into Origin > Preferences > Application > Start Up Options and disable Automatically start Origin and Origin Helper Service
Create a new user account on your Mac and try to load the game in that account.

Still not working? Try the super repair:

In your Applications folder right click on the Sims 4 app and select Show Package Contents.
Navigate to Contents > Mac OS.
Right click on The Sims 4 and select Move to Trash. Don’t drag the file as it will only move an alias and leave the original in place.
Open Origin, right click on The Sims 4 in your Games Library and select Repair Game.

Still not working? If you’re running a version of macOS prior to 10.11 El Capitan please consider upgrading to the latest version your Mac supports.

A lot of CC and Mods broke after the November and December patches so make sure any you have installed are fully compatible with your game version. You will need to check with the creator for any updates. Consider installing Sims4Studio for Mac so you can run any batch fixes for known CC issues.

I’ve set up a thread for this over at AHQ so please do either leave a comment below or head over there and post in the thread.