How to Change Sims Appearance Sims 4 Explained (Simply)

You’ve spent three hours meticulously sculpting the perfect nose, only to realize in live mode that your Sim looks slightly like a disgruntled potato under the neighborhood lighting. We have all been there. Whether it is a mid-life crisis for your digital avatar or just a desperate need to hide a tragic townie fashion choice, knowing how to change sims appearance sims 4 is basically a core survival skill in this game.

Look, the game tells you that once you hit that checkmark in Create-a-Sim (CAS), your Sim’s physical DNA is locked in. That is a lie. Well, it's a half-truth. While you can easily swap a shirt or change a hairstyle using a mirror, the deep-tissue stuff—like changing a Sim's bone structure, body weight, or even their walk style—requires a bit more finesse and, honestly, a few cheats.

The Simple Mirror Method (No Cheats Required)

Sometimes you don't need a full reconstructive surgery. You just want a haircut. If you’re just looking to update a Sim’s "surface" look, you don't need to mess with the game's back-end code.

Find a mirror. Any mirror will do. Click on it and select Change Sim. This takes you into a limited version of CAS. You can swap out hair, makeup, and facial hair here. If you click on a dresser instead, you’ll see an option to Plan Outfits, which lets you redo all five (or more) outfit categories.

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The catch? You can't touch the face shape. You can't change the eye color if they weren't born with it. You definitely can’t make them thinner or more muscular. It is purely aesthetic. If your Sim just aged up and the game gave them those tiny "pear-shaped" shoulders, the mirror isn't going to save you.

How to Change Sims Appearance Sims 4 Using Full Edit Mode

This is what most people are actually looking for. To get total control—I’m talking changing their age, their voice, and even their personality traits—you have to use the "Full Edit Mode" cheat. It’s the only way to unlock the sliders that are normally greyed out once a Sim is living in the world.

First, you need to open the cheat console. On a PC, you’ll hit Ctrl + Shift + C. If you’re playing on a Mac, it’s Command + Shift + C. For the console players on PS5 or Xbox, you have to hold down all four shoulder buttons/triggers at once.

Once that thin white box pops up in the top left corner, follow these exact steps:

1. Type testingcheats true and hit Enter. You should see a message saying cheats are enabled.
2. Type cas.fulleditmode and hit Enter again. It won't give you a confirmation message, which is kinda annoying, but trust that it worked.
3. Close the cheat box by hitting the same buttons you used to open it (or Esc).

Now, here is the trick. You have to Shift-Click your Sim. On PC, hold Shift and click the Sim. On consoles, it’s usually A + B (Xbox) or X + O (PlayStation) while hovering over them. A menu will appear with a bunch of weird options. Select Modify in CAS.

Suddenly, everything is unlocked. You can change their skin tone, fix that weird chin, and even downgrade them from an Elder back to a Young Adult if you’re not ready to deal with the Grim Reaper yet.

A Quick Warning About Traits

While you're in there, you might be tempted to swap out "Clumsy" for "Genius." Go for it, but just know it can sometimes glitch out their whims or long-term aspirations. If you change a Sim's age, you might also lose some of the reward traits they’ve earned through gameplay. It’s usually fine, but it’s worth saving your game before you go full Dr. Frankenstein.

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Editing Townies and NPCs

Is there anything worse than a randomly generated townie wearing a top hat, a swimsuit, and eyeball rings? Probably not. You can use this same cas.fulleditmode trick on Sims you don't even control.

If you see a fashion disaster walking past your house, just Shift-Click them and select "Modify in CAS." You can give the entire neighborhood a makeover. It’s honestly the only way to keep some of these worlds looking semi-normal. Recently, with the January 2026 update, Maxis added even more free items like the Coach collection, so you have plenty of high-fashion options to replace those tragic generated outfits.

Why the Cheat Might Not Work

If you’ve typed everything in and the sliders are still locked, you probably entered the cheat while already inside CAS. It doesn't work that way. You have to be in "Live Mode" (where time is moving and your Sims are walking around) when you type the commands.

Also, double-check your spelling. The cheat is cas.fulleditmode with no spaces. If you put a space between "full" and "edit," the game will just stare at you blankly.

The Genetics Workaround

There is another way to change a Sim's look without the "Modify in CAS" button. If you go to Manage Worlds and then Manage Households, you can click the pencil icon on any family.

Once you’re in CAS from that menu, you can use the "Play with Genetics" button (the little DNA icon). You can create a "twin" of your Sim, which will be fully editable. Then, you just delete the original Sim and keep the twin. It’s a bit of a hassle, but it works if the Shift-Click method is acting up.

Actionable Next Steps for Perfect Sims

• Save First: Always save before entering Full Edit Mode; sometimes the game crashes when transitioning back to Live Mode.
• Check Lighting: Use the "L" key in CAS to cycle through different times of day to make sure your Sim's new skin tone doesn't look green in the sunlight.
• Use the Gallery: If you aren't great at sculpting faces, you can download a Sim from the Gallery, then "merge" them with your current household in CAS to steal their facial presets.

By mastering these steps, you aren't just stuck with the Sims the game gives you. You have total control over the aesthetics of your world, from the bone structure of your heirs to the outfits of the mailman. Just remember that cas.fulleditmode is your best friend.