Let’s be real. Playing The Sims 4 without cheating is like eating plain toast. It's fine, I guess, but why would you do that when you could have a five-course meal with extra dessert? Most people start a new save with the best intentions. They want to earn their Sim’s way up the corporate ladder. They want to scrape together enough Simoleons for a decent fridge. Then, forty minutes in, the sink breaks, the toddler is screaming, and you realize you just want a mansion. That’s where Sims 4 all cheats come into play. It isn't just about getting rich, though. It’s about fixing the weird glitches that happen when your Sim decides to stand still for six hours while the house burns down.
Cheating in this game is a rite of passage. Maxis practically encourages it. They’ve built these codes into the DNA of the engine since the late nineties. But if you’re coming back to the game in 2026, things have changed a bit with the various expansions and kits. You can’t just type "rosebud" and expect everything to work perfectly like it’s 2000.
Opening the Command Console
First thing is first. You can’t do anything until you open the cheat console. It’s a simple keystroke, but if you’re on a console like a PlayStation or Xbox, it feels a bit like a secret handshake. On a PC or Mac, you’re hitting Ctrl + Shift + C all at once. If you’re on a console, you have to hold down all four shoulder buttons (L1, L2, R1, R2) at the same time. A thin white box pops up at the top left. That’s your gateway to godhood.
Before you type anything else, you absolutely have to type testingcheats true. Seriously. Don’t skip this. If you don't enable the testing cheats, about 90% of the more interesting commands just won't work. You’ll get a little message saying "Cheats are enabled," and that’s your green light to start causing chaos.
Money Makes the World Go Round
Money is usually the first thing people look for. You've got options here. Most people know motherlode. It gives you 50,000 Simoleons. It’s the classic. But honestly, sometimes 50k isn’t enough if you’re trying to build a literal castle in Del Sol Valley. If you want a specific amount, use the command Money [number]. Want exactly one million? Type Money 1000000. It’s much faster than typing motherlode twenty times.
There's also kaching or rosebud, which give you a measly 1,000 Simoleons. They’re basically useless unless you’re trying to roleplay a Sim who just found a twenty-dollar bill in their jeans. If you’re looking to move into a house you can't afford, don't even worry about your bank account. Go to the neighborhood map, open the console, and type FreeRealEstate on. Now every house in the world is free. Just like that.
Fix Your Sim’s Entire Life
Sims are notoriously bad at taking care of themselves. They will literally starve to death while standing next to a refrigerator because a plate is on the floor. It's frustrating. If you want to stop their needs from decaying entirely, you can Shift-Click on your Sim (after enabling testingcheats) and select "Cheat Need" then "Enable Need Decay." Or, if they're about to pass out, just click "Make Happy."
But maybe you want more control.
Skills and Careers
Maxing out skills manually takes forever. Life is too short to watch a Sim practice the violin for thirty hours. To skip the grind, use:
stats.set_skill_level [SkillName] [1-10].
You have to be specific with the names. For example, "Major_HomestyleCooking" or "Major_Charisma." If you want to be a master chef instantly, it’s stats.set_skill_level Major_HomestyleCooking 10. It works for kids, too. Use "Skill_Child_Creativity" to make your kid a prodigy before they finish primary school.
Careers work the same way. careers.promote [CareerName] will give you a bump up the ladder. If you hate your job and want to start over, careers.demote does exactly what you’d expect.
Building Without Limits
If you're a builder, the standard grid and placement rules are your worst enemy. Why can’t I put a chair near a window? Why can’t I overlap these two plants? The game thinks it knows better than you. It doesn't.
bb.moveobjects is the most important cheat in the game for builders. It lets you put anything anywhere. You can stack toilets if you want to. I wouldn't recommend it, but you can. Pair this with the [ and ] keys to resize objects. You can make a giant rubber ducky the size of a house or a tiny dollhouse-sized sofa. Also, hold Alt while moving an object to ignore the grid entirely for smooth, pixel-perfect placement.
Unlocking the Secret Items
There are thousands of items in the game that you can't actually buy in the catalog. These are "debug" items. Think of things like cars, specific trees, or the plates of food Sims cook.
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- Type bb.showhiddenobjects to see "Buy Debug" items.
- Type bb.showliveeditobjects to unlock even more environment objects like rocks and fences used by the developers.
- Type bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement to get all those career-locked furniture items without having to actually reach Level 10 of the Astronaut career.
Dealing With Death and Ghosts
Sometimes things go south. A fire starts, or your Sim gets too hysterical and laughs themselves to death. It happens. If you want to bring someone back, you can use the resurrect cheats, but it's often easier to just prevent death in the first place. death.toggle false makes everyone in your current household immortal. No more worrying about the neighborhood vampire stopping by for a snack.
If you already have a ghost in the house and you’re over it, you can turn them back into a human using the Meticulous method or just use traits.remove_trait [DeathType]. You’ll need to know how they died, though. Was it "Ghost_Frozen" or "Ghost_OldAge"? The game keeps track.
The Relationship Cheat
Making friends is hard. Making enemies is sometimes harder. If you want two Sims to be soulmates instantly, use modifyrelationship [Sim1 Name] [Sim2 Name] 100 LTR_Friendship_Main. Swap "Friendship" for "Romance" if you want them to get married five minutes after meeting. You can also use negative numbers if you want to create some instant drama between neighbors.
Technical Fixes for Glitched Sims
We've all seen it. A Sim gets stuck in a T-pose, or they’re holding a grilled cheese sandwich that they refuse to put down. This is where resetSim [Firstname] [Lastname] is a lifesaver. It teleports them back to a safe spot on the lot and clears their current queue of actions. It’s the "did you turn it off and on again" of the Sims world.
Another big one for performance is headlineeffects off. This hides the plumbob (the green diamond) and the thought bubbles. If you’re trying to take nice screenshots or record a video, this is essential. It makes the game look much more like a movie and less like a simulation.
Why Some Cheats Fail
A common mistake is forgetting that Sims 4 all cheats aren't always permanent. Every time there is a major game update, some of the more "under the hood" cheats might break. This is especially true for "Script Mods" like McCommand Center (MCCC). While MCCC isn't a built-in cheat, most power users use it because it automates a lot of these commands. If your cheats aren't working, check if your Sim has a middle name or a double-barreled last name. The console is very picky about spaces. If your Sim is named "Sarah Jane Smith," you might need to put her name in quotes or just use the resetSim command on her ID number.
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Hidden Trait Cheats
You can actually add or remove any trait in the game, even the ones you can't see. Want your Sim to be a "Sully" or have the "Always Clean" trait from the rewards store without paying points?
traits.equip_trait [TraitName] is the key.
Actionable Next Steps for Your Game
Don't just go in and spam motherlode. That’s the quickest way to get bored with a save. Instead, try these specific steps to enhance your gameplay:
- Set up a "Testing Save": Create a separate save file where you go wild with bb.moveobjects and bb.showliveeditobjects. Use this space to practice building complex landscapes without the fear of ruining your main family's house.
- Manage Townies: Use the relationship cheats to fix the weird relationships the AI creates in the background. If the Goths are suddenly enemies with everyone, you can fix that in seconds.
- Check Your Keybindings: If Ctrl+Shift+C isn't working, check if you have other software (like Discord or a screenshot tool) using that same shortcut. It’s a common conflict that stops the console from appearing.
- Use Shift-Clicking: Once testingcheats true is on, get into the habit of Shift-Clicking objects. You can "Make Dirty" or "Make Clean" any object instantly, which is great for storytelling.
Cheating in The Sims 4 isn't really "cheating" in the traditional sense. It's more like acting as the director of a movie. You're just moving the props and telling the actors where to stand so the story goes the way you want it to. Just remember to save your game before you start messing with the "Stats" commands. One wrong number and you might accidentally turn your Sim into a ghost before you’re ready.