This is a newbie or a dummy guide for beginners who doesn’t know a single thing about installing package files for Sims 3. It’s really easy and you can do it in a few simple steps.
What is Custom Content
or Mods?
So we say the objects in sims 3 are as content right? Telephones,shelves,clothes,makeup all of them are content. So the content you see in your game are made by the game producers but fans all over the world have made really cool content for specific object types and that’s what make them “custom content” Basically saying they are unoffcial addons for your sims 3 game.
Now for a brief example:
See the gorgeous babes up there? They have been pimped up from their skin tones to their hair and clothes using different type of custom content. So if you want to make your Sim fabulous rather than plain boring your best choice is to learn how to use those them mods! 😀
So they are created with a particular software and saved as a certain file type. They are called package files.
The below images are some examples of a package file. As you can see it doesn’t have a specific extension but don’t worry your Sims 3 game can understand it.

This will be the one we are trying to install manually in this guide. Notice the .package extension.

This particular custom content file should be double clicked and you will be automatically redirected to the Sims 3 Launcher screen and can finish the installation there.
Now let’s learn how to install File Type 1:
What You Will Need:
- Downloaded Custom Content File. (from Mod the Sims or any other sims 3 freebie site)
- Winzip or Winrar software should be installed.
- Keyboard/Mouse.
- Coffee! XD
Firstly you should know that the most of the .package files will be inside of a winrar archive or winzip archive so it’s important that you need to install either winzip or winrar.
Both of them are free programs that can be downloaded. You should install one of them(either winrar or winzip- my preference is winrar.)
Secondly you will need your sims 3 custom content(duh the most important part).
I personally like getting hair mods or skin tones for my game you can try a google search and find them or you can check my version of Best Mods for Sims 3
So now that you have installed winrar or winzip you could open the file you have downloaded. Wait I will give you an example of a winrar archived file looks like. (in case you haven’t ever used winrar before)

For those who haven’t seen what a winzip file looked like, take a lookie at the picture below thanks!

STEP ONE:
Go to Your Sims 3 Game Directory in My Documents
So now you have your files and everything which i have whined about you need to know your Sims 3 file directory. So simply go to the following location. (depending on your operating system)
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\
- Windows Vista or Windows 7: C:\Users\<username>\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\
- Mac OS: /Users/<username>/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/
It should look like this(Windows 7)
STEP TWO:
Make A New Folder Called “Mods”
So you just have to make a new folder named mods just to keep your new mods not jumbled with the other game files and causing chaos.So right click in the directory —> New —-> Click ” Folder” and name it as “Mods”
So now you have a new folder in your game directory hallelujah! so it should look something like this:
So go inside your newly made “mods” folder and you will NEED TO MAKE TWO MORE folders named:
1.Overrides
2.Packages
So inside the mods folder it should look like this:
STEP THREE:
Download the Resource.cfg File
So technically your mods folder has two folders now. So you now to fill it up with another extra titbit named “Resource.cfg” It’s just a 1kb file that is needed to be placed in the Mods folder along with “Override” and “Packages”
Don’t be alarmed- I got your back. This file is completely safe and you just need to download it and place them in the newly created “mods” folder.
**Please disable adblock before downloading. Otherwise the task would be mission impossible! 🙂
so copy paste your newly downloaded Resource.cfg file in the Mods directory and your final result will be this:
STEP FOUR:
“Extract” Your Mod from the Winrar Archive to the Directory
So i know for newbies the word “extract” is so terrifying but it’s not that hard to do. So you should click on your downloaded custom content file which is inside winrar. Find it double click it and you will see the package file inside it.
Go ahead and select it and right click it and click “Extract to the specified folder” or you could just simply click the “Extract to” icon on the winrar menu.
And you’ll get a new small window telling where you should put the folder(which literally means extraction lol) You’ll need to change it so that the mod should be placed in your newly created “Packages” folder in the Sims 3 game directory.
So browse into the “mods” folder from the browsing pane on the right and select the “Mods” folder and then click “Packages” and select ok.
Now your .package file should be on the directory, extracted. *pfft* 😀
So now navigate back to your “Mods” folder using windows explorer or My Computer and check whether the .package file is in the “Packages” folder.
You are done! 😀 Now it’s time to test your package files in the game.
STEP FIVE:
Finding Your Package Files in the Game.
There’s an easy way to detect which objects are custom content inside the game- look at this screenshot.

**Notice the small folder icon visible in some of the objects above? Those are custom content.
Remember what i said about .packages file type number 2? That they are easy to install and you need to go to the launcher?
Check under the “Installed Content” tab for your installed mods.

**Installed custom content in launcher would look like the above with that purple star on the lower left corner below.
Make sure you read the description and installation instructions given by the mod creator as the location of the mod is usually specified there. To my knowledge some of the items can be categorized as seen below.
Buy Mode Items: Can be found in the “Buy Mode”
For an example: If your custom content is a car you should go to the Buy mode while playing the game and find it in the vehicles section. There could be a price for the custom content items as well so earn well!
Skin Tones: Can only be accessed in Create-A-Sim Window. As it can be only accessed through the start of a new family you will need to use the sims 3 cheats to go into the Create-A-Sim Window.
Hair/Eyes/Sunglasses/Blush/Makeup/Clothes: Click on any mirror and click “Change Appearance” and find your installed goodies there.
Ready Made Houses– Sometimes a whole house could be made into a custom content file so when you need to place it in the game you will probably need to go into the “Town” mode and choose and empty space/ lot and place it in the town manually.
Sims scripts and gaming scripts: They are saved as package files as well. Read the descriptions well on such mods. some of those scripts are mostly actions that can be performed by a sim and etc.
So there you go! 😀 If you found this guide useful pleace share it with your friends and leave a comment.
Thanks and Happy Simming!
[…] READ ME: Installing mods is quick and easy. But there’s a specific method to do it. It’s also something that every simmer should learn. I made an extensive newbie guide with screen shots for installing mods for sims 3 you can view it here. […]
[…] ← How To Install Custom Content/Mods for Sims 3 with screenshots For Dummies […]
Hi I’ve got the winrar all set up but my mods will not go into the proper folders, so I’m not doing something right. This is driving me crazy. Couldn’t they have found an easier way unless I messed up my folders somehow.
And my downloaded mods always go into my downloads.
Yes the downloaded mods are usually on the downloads folder. You need to copy paste them into the packages folder inside mods folder in the Sims 3 directory. See Step two in the above walkthrough.
And please see the process of properly extracting a file from winrar.
Now I’m getting a internet explorer icon,( instead of blank white paper) when I download resource cfg file. I’m gonna try 7zip beings that I have both. So upsetting.
Try using a different browser and downloading it. It doesn’t matter what icon the file is as long as it has the file type .cfg (configuration file) and put it in the mods folder in STEP THREE
hey, when I download the resource file, it comes up as resource.zip and when I extract it, it comes as a folder with two file .res in it, is this right?
A resource.cfg should be included in the winrar file called “Sims 3 Resource Mod File” if not check the browser link to see if it’s correct 🙂
I’m pretty new to the sims 3 and I’ve just started trying to download mods. I have windows 10 and step four isn’t working for me. Please help!
Please see this video for extracting files using winrar on Windows 10
Does Winrar have to be used or can rar extracts like B1 work too?
pretty sure it wont be a problem but i recommend winrar or winzip
I tried to extract my .package file but WinRar keeps saying that the archive id either in unknown format or damaged. What do I do?
It means the .rar file might be not downloaded properly or its actually damaged. try finding the mod from another site.
I do everything right but it just doesn’t work!
Never mind I got it working! Thanks for the tutorial
glad you got it working!
umm, kinda having some trouble tho, i did all the things needed step by step but still didnt work out for me -__-
retrace the steps and make sure everything is done. if so, then try confirming whether youre searching the right category in the game for the mods.
help please! i have followed all of the steps however none of my files have ‘.package’ at the end so they are not working 😦
Does the file have a sims 3 icon? if t is go to the launcher and install it.
Hey! I’m really new to installing mods for the sims, and I found this guide very helpful, everything worked out perfectly and the instructions were easy to follow (thankyou for explaining everything in simple detail because I was very confused when looking at other tutorials lmao) Thanks! 🙂
You’re very welcome!
i clicked the download button and something called InstantSupport installed. Now im looking stuff up and downloading a bunch of stuff to try and remove it -__- ads keep popping up since i’ve downloaded it.
Noted! and its a problem with the hosting service which the file is uploaded. I will change the service. export your bookmarks in your browser and give a fresh reinstall or install adblocker for google chrome 🙂
[…] install these mods in your game please refer to my extensive guide with screenshots which would help you out to use these cool […]
Not working for me. Followed steps to a T. Have a number of mods I downloaded like this:
https://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims4-clothing-female-teenadultelder-everyday/title/autumn-coat/id/1352948/
I went to create a character and these along with my other package file clothing is not available. I filtered by Custom content as well as searching through all.
Any Ideas?
The mods you are referring to belong to the game Sims 4 and not Sims 3- you need sims 3 mods for this guide to work.
I want to hug you.lol.
Thanks.
Your welcome 😀
When I’m in WinRAR, I try to double click the .package file and it says theres nothing inside.. wtf?
That means the winrar file or package file could be broken or the file was not downloaded properly.
Please re-download and see.
Hello! I’m having a little trouble with extracting the .package file. When I select the ‘extract to a specified folder’ option, I get a window that says ‘no archives found in selected files and folders.’ I don’t know what that means, so can you tell me how to fix this?
Nevermind, I figured out how to fix it!
There could be two things that’s causing this problem:
1. Either the downloaded file is damaged so re-download the package file and try again
2.If the above doesn’t work try extracting to the desktop and copy pasting the file to the mods folder.
hi. my mods dont show up in my game launcher. what should i do?
You should double click the package file and wait until it gets installed in the launcher. And check the installed content tab for your installed mods.
bro why my resource have recource.cfg
That’s just the file extension nothing to worry about just paste it in the mods folder as shown in screenshot
Hi, I have no problem downloading most mods but some show up differently and can’t be opened with winrar. The icon will be different, like a golden book with the usual three tiny books in the corner. I can never get those to work and usually delete them. Am I doing something wrong or are these just corrupted files?
What you are describing is a winzip icon, so you need to have winzip installed to be able to extract the files.
Hello. I’ve tried the steps above but nothing worked? and when I clicked on the .sims3package files it opened the launcher but nothing appeared in the download or installed contents section. what should i do?
If you properly installed the mods then it should appear in the installed content section. If not then something is wrong with the launcher or the package files. Try updating the game with the latest patch and redownload the package files and see.
Hi!
I downloaded the resources file from the link you’ve given but it isn’t a cfg file instead it’s a rar file. It looks exactly like the file in your screenshots but the name is Sims 3 Resource Mod file.rar. What should I do about it? Also thank you for this guide, you litreally make it easy for my lazy ass to download cc. :3
You should extract the file that is included in the Sims 3 Resource Mod File
I downloaded everything, but after the loading screen before the game starts, is says Sims 3 has stopped working and I have to close out of it. It has done that every time. Wat do?
There could be a lot of reasons to that. It could be your PC memory, having a lot of mods and other problems.
I did an article to address Sims 3 crashing : https://sims3fixes.wordpress.com/2013/07/25/sims-3-crashing-to-desktop/
Hope this helps!
Help! When I press download button, I move to ad.fly, and then by pressing another download, I move to some up.download. there, I can’t find this resource file. I am talking about step 3.
please disable adblocker and see 🙂
Does the game have to be updated? because it doesn’t work at all for me
Its better if you can get the latest updates for your game
Hi! Is it possible to do this without downloading that thing? My computer won’t let me
Hi no its not possible.
[…] To install these mods please refer to this step by step guide I made for installing Sims 3 Mods […]
[…] and belongs to the creators. If you are confused in downloading and installing the mods, please click here for my step by step picture guide for installing Sims 3 custom […]
hi, the mods I download automatically become the other file type with the sims 3 icon. This is really annoying because I have no option to extract the files and almost every installation guide tells me to extract the files. Now I tried to download a world and I think you can’t install those with the launcher so my question is: how can I make sure my file turns into the 1st file when downloading it?
I’m sorry if my question is a little bit confusing, I’m not good with these things and I really don’t know what to do anymore because it’s almost like I’m the only one with this problem
Hi Laure, No it’s not a confusing question since the files related to Sims 3 is kind of hard to understand.
The package file with the Sims 3 icon means that it should be installed via the launcher regardless whatever the mod is. Even if it’s a world there should be no problems. Also there is no need of extraction regardless to such files.
In my article above it talks about winrar. If your mod is downloaded with that winrar icon then you need to extract it and most of the time package files without the sims 3 icon is in it.
I think I did it right but nothing is showing up in my installed/downloaded content in the launcher. A few of my cc were compressed files and after opening those I was able to get two or three to work. But most of mine the same and a few changed to .rar files. I am unable to open them in the launcher, instead my computer just wants me to open up the store to find an app that will open them.
I got the file icon to change to the Sims logo/green diamond but it still won’t open up in the launcher
Does it give an error message of some sorts? It would be nice if you can link me a screenshot of your sims 3 icon
Hi DmnMxx, if you have rar files you can’t open them using Sims 3 launcher. Follow the method I have specified in Step four in my guide for installing Sims 3 package files.
[…] you have a zero idea on how on earth to install sims 3 mods click on this guide here and you will be ready to […]