TUTORIAL: Remove Sims3Packs

Removing Sims3Pack files from your computer is a simple task but it can become quite time consuming. If you want to remove a lot of downloads it can happen that the launcher acts up and you have to start over checking items and to find one specific download can become quite difficult.

Because of this, it pays to pay attention on WHAT you are installing in the first place. Especially houses and sims can contain a lot of other downloads.

The launcher has multiple tabs on the side. The two important ones here are Downloads and Installed Content. If you download something from the exchange or the Store it only shows in Downlaods.

To check if something is already installed or not, notice the Plumbob/Arrow symbol under Status. Installed downloads also show grayed out. Downloads that are not installed, don't appear in your game and don't have to be uninstalled. If you downloaded a lot/household or a Sim there are bound to be other downloads to come with that. In this example, I downloaded the house Pension "Rose" und ihre Inhaberin Rose van der Falk and installed it. As you can see only the house shows in Downloads.

In  Installed Content  you can see all files that came with the house. The house also contains a Sim but that one is missing from the Launcher because he belongs to the house. All cc that was used on the Sim (here the hair) is now installed as well. Installed content shows in the order you have installed them. The newest ones are at the bottom (sometimes on top). If you close and reopen the Launcher, this order is messed up and completely random and you can't sort.

To uninstall a certain download, you can now check the box nest to it and click on uninstall. The download should now be gone from your game. To also get rid of the download itself go back to the downloads tab and click delete. If you only delete the download, it will still show in your game.

If the stuff still shows up after uninstalling it correctly, delete the Cache-Files as well. You might also be running in this problem: CUSTARD: Downloads that are attached to Sims directly.

Unfortunatly the launcher is not very reliable and it can happen that a certain download does not show up. Especially if you have tons of downloads the launcher seems to be overstrained and not all installed stuff shows up. The only way to get rid of it then, is to remove (move them to the desktop, not delete) all files *.dbc from your DCCache folder in your user directory. This way ALL downloads except lots/households, Sims, Worlds and Store stuff will be gone from your game. Stuff that's still in your downloads folder can be reinstalled, but you should make sure to check them first with Custard.

DCBackup & Downloads folder
Those two folders contain backups of your files. Deleting them will do nothing in terms of showing up in the game. Downloads contains the Sims3Packs, DCBackup the Package-Files that were inside the Sims3Packs. If you delete a download in the tab Downloads, it will be removed from the downloads folder. The files in DCBackup are never deleted. This can lead to problems and can take up a lot of disk space.

I would suggest, to move the files in downloads to external drive so that you have them handy if you need to reinstall. Think up some sort of sorting system that fits you. I would clean out the DCBackup folder entirely. Only disadvantage you have is that they won't get pack with any lots/households/Sims that you upload. Another method would be to make a list of all numbers that belong to the downlaods (they show in Custard). If you remove a download you can then manually delete the corresponding file from the DCBackup. This will be very time consuming though.

Further Reading

• TUTORIAL: Sims3Packs to Packages 
• FAQ: How do I install Custom Content/ Mods ? 
• TUTORIAL: How to get rid of unwanted Custom Content 
• TUTORIAL: How to keep a Sim but get rid of the CC it came with