DLC – Bluebellflora

Update 3 April 2024 – This error message can also appear for users with the game installed on their internal disk. The cause is the same but you should also make sure the game you are playing through EA App, currently only Sims 3 and Sims 4, also has Full Disk Access in System Settings > Privacy & Security.

I believe this only affects users running macOS Ventura 13 and later versions of macOS due to the security settings Apple introduced in Ventura. If you’re running macOS Catalina 10.15, Big Sur 11 or Monterey 12 you may not have a problem installing your Packs and Kits.

If you receive this error message when trying to download Packs and Kits to an external drive it is because EA App does not have the necessary permission to access the drive. You can easily fix this:

Open System Settings > Privacy & Security > Full Disk Access

click the toggle next to EA app to enable Full Disk Access. If you have EA App open you will be prompted to Quit and Reopen, this is fine.
you should now be able to download all your DLC onto the external drive and it will show up in a Sims 4 Packs folder.

If you play Sims 4 in Windows through Steam and have purchased Sims 4 DLC (Expansion, Game and Stuff Packs and Kits) through Steam, this content will not be available to you if you switch to Mac. There is no Steam version of the game available for Mac users so you will be switching to using Origin (or EA App at some point when it is released for Mac). DLC is not transferable between Steam and Origin for Mac. Furthermore, you will need to unlink your Steam account from your EA account to even get the base game to run on a Mac as it interferes with your game entitlement in Origin.

The quickest and easiest solution to this problem is to create a new EA account, log into Origin using that account and download the base game for free. Use this account to purchase or redeem DLC to add to your game.

The other alternative is to unlink your EA and Steam accounts and then download the base game for free and purchase/redeem DLC to add to your game in Origin.

To be clear, you do not need to purchase DLC through Origin. If you prefer to use a 3rd party site (not advisable unless it’s one of EA’s approved retailers, there are some dodgy sites out there), you can simply redeem the product code in Origin.