The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager gives you more control over your game experience by letting you choose which Expansion and Stuff Packs to play with.
How to get The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager for Windows PC
The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager is included as part of the latest The Sims 3 game update, only for Windows PCs. To download the game update you will need to register your The Sims 3 game and packs on Origin using an EA Account and accept the updated End User License Agreements. This update is not available for Mac.
Registering your The Sims 3 games on Origin
You can register your disc copies of The Sims 3, Expansion Packs, and Stuff Packs on Origin by following these steps:
- Log into the Origin client using your EA Account.
(If you do not have an EA Account or need to install the Origin client, please visit https://connect.origin.com/create.- From the main menu, select “Origin” then “Redeem Product Code”.
- On the next window, enter your CD/Installation Code from your manual in the Product Code box, then click “Next”.
Downloading the latest The Sims 3 game update on Origin
After you have registered The Sims 3 and yyour packs on Origin, download the latest game update which includes the new The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager. Log into Origin and update The Sims 3 by navigating to “My Games” then right clicking on The Sims 3 tile and choosing the “Update” option.
If you have “Automatically keep my games up to date” enabled in Origin Application Settings, the update will download automatically the next time you launch Origin.
In either case, before completing the installation, you will be presented with End User License Agreements which you must accept to install the update. After accepting the End User License Agreements, Origin will update your The Sims 3 game to the latest version.
Troubleshooting The Sims™ 3 game update
If you have any problems installing The Sims 3 game update, uninstall The Sims 3 and reinstall via Origin. Origin will provide you with the latest version of The Sims 3 with no additional updates required.
If you continue to experience issues, search for a solution here at EA Help using the search box on the top right of this page or click on Contact Us to contact support.
Choosing Which Packs to Play
The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager lets you choose which Expansion and Stuff Packs to play with.
Before making your selection, install all of the Expansion and Stuff Packs you own. Only packs that you have installed will display in the Pack Selector. Once all of your packs are installed, locate the ones you want to play with, then check the checkbox next to the pack. Once you finish making your selections, press the Play button to launch The Sims 3 with the desired Expansion and Stuff Packs selected.
When choosing which packs to play with, we recommend selecting only a couple at a time. This will ensure you have the best game experience.
To help manage the packs, you can click the column headers to sort by:
- Status – Sorts by enabled and disabled.
- Title – Sorts alphabetically by title.
Installing and Uninstalling Packs
Visit Origin to install, uninstall, or purchase additional packs. All The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Packs can be found under The Sims 3 tile by selecting the Game Details option.
Backing Up Save Game Files
Making changes to the packs you play with may also affect your game save file. Specifically, if in The Sims 3 Expansion and Stuff Pack Manager you deselect packs that you have been playing with and load a game save that uses those packs, the game will replace the unloaded content with default items or remove them altogether. If you wish to keep a backup copy of the game save file for future use, locate the file in your computer’s directory and save a copy to your desktop.
The Sims 3 game save files can be found here:
Windows XP, 7, 8, and 10 – C:UsersUsernameDocumentsElectronic ArtsThe Sims 3Saves
Windows Vista – C:Documents and SettingsUsernameMy DocumentsElectronic ArtsThe Sims 3Saves
Source: EA Help
I totally don’t agree with this , as EA have messed my sims 3 up three times and I lost every and had to uninstall my game and reinstall all 22 packs and that was in as many weeks, I also have not registered only about 3or4 of my games and don’t want to sit there and have to go through all that , but as I also own the sims 4 and origin keep updating sims 4 I will have no choice but to do sims 3 as it will update its self as soon as I have to update sims 4 , so you really have NOT given us a choice at all , I’m very upset and angry ONCE again
Since November 12-2015 is the latest patch to Sims 3. I was hoping EA would work a patch for The Sims™ 3 Island Paradise expansion pack. The game still freeze and halt my game play. Love the game but it doesn’t love back. All the other expansion pack I own work fine it just The Sims™ 3 Island Paradise.
You should try to use these two mods from Nrass. error trap and overwatch. The fix those errors and problems. I do not believe EA could invest the time to fix those issues with the game.
I really do not see the point in this-i only have certain EP’s and would like to play with all of them. All my games use content from all my packs so what will happen if I now only play 2 EP’s at a time? There’s no logic behind this. Stupid new update except to break our games and force us to play stupid Sims4
I completely agree with hanchen foxi Meyer. The whole “we recommend only playing a couple expansions at a time.” Is illogical! The games and expansion packs tie into each other, also it affects the saved game by switching back and forth. What’s the point of buying expansion packs if we can’t play all of them at one time? It defeats the purpose of having “expansion” packs in the first place. I don’t pay money for you to tell me I can only play some of these games at a time after you update them? If I would have known this before hand I wouldn’t have bought a bunch of expansion packs w/now no option to return or get my money back. If this is the kind of stunt you’ll be pulling I definitely will not be buying any more sims games.
Origin is asking for my registration code on all three of my expansion packs for Sims3, it pops up with a “copy to clipboard” for the promo code but it’s blank…. Has anyone had this happen to them?
I hate this update. Please revert the couple packs a time rule.
Excuse my language but Fix your fucking game EA/MAXIS. They’ve abandoned the sims 3 and its a fucking shame. They know their game runs like complete shit even on high-end computers.. I really enjoyed the sims 3 and thousands of us still do but many of us just can’t play it because of how broken it is.. How are you going to tell your customers/fanbase to DISABLE content that they spent hard earned money on, so that their game can actually run? What kind of solution is that?
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they want to break the sims 3 SOOO BAD. releasing a update that causes more issues, so that ppl buy sims 4…which is a wack game btw…
I hate Origin, I wanna be able to play with all my expansions and stuff packs which is the reason I bought them in the first place, not play with just ”two recomended ones”. It ruins my gameplay. If I select all expansions and stuff packs then I wont even be able to start a new game to play with, this sucks, why do EA wanna mess up everything ?
I wish I could get a solution. I have to play base game, even though it came with Pets. Most recently, I tried updates & patches, with some help, & it didn’t play right. Had a black screen, except for community lots. I had to uninstall and reinstall, again. I am having trouble again, but don’t want to lose my game, as it’s the best one yet. I find a fix, like this one, then I see where everyone is complaining, so I can’t try it, because I don’t know that much about computers. No one ever explains how to save your save file, step by step, so I can’t do that. The last time I reinstalled, I didn’t go through launcher, but can’t remember exactly how, and am afraid I might mess up something, bad. I just want to play my game like I had it before, even though I only played the base game.
OH MY GOD THIS IS THE WORST THING EVER! I go to play sims, and right when it loads to the main menu I couldn’t play my game because an expansion pack wasn’t checked off or whatever. WTF. Why would I ever not want to play with an expansion pack I bought? And why does it always load the game without any expansion packs, WHY WOULD I WANT TO DO THAT.
If EA was hoping to push people to the Sims 4 with this little stunt, they are wrong. I will never buy another Sims related game, expansion, or stuff pack ever again. Why on earth would I not want to play with all my expansion packs? The only thing I really like to do with this game is build and decorate houses, but I can no longer access all of my decoration and build items. Even if I select all of my expansion and stuff packs, not everything loads. Neighborhoods and items are missing, and that is complete bullshit. If I pay for something it should work, I shouldn’t have to pick and choose in order for things to function.