How to Edit Sims in The Sims 4: A Complete Guide to Create-A-Sim

Whether you're fine-tuning a Sim you've already built or completely overhauling their look mid-game, The Sims 4 gives you more control over your characters than almost any life simulation game available. Knowing where to access editing tools — and what each one lets you change — makes a significant difference in how much creative control you actually have.

What Is Create-A-Sim (CAS)?

Create-A-Sim (CAS) is the main editing suite in The Sims 4. It's where you shape every aspect of a Sim's appearance, personality, and life stage before or during gameplay. The interface lets you adjust:

• Physical appearance — body shape, facial features, skin tone, hair, and eye color
• Clothing — everyday, formal, athletic, sleepwear, party, and cold/hot weather outfits
• Traits — up to three personality traits plus an aspiration
• Voice and walk style
• Name, age, and gender settings

One of CAS's most flexible features is direct body manipulation — clicking and dragging directly on a Sim's body in the editor to sculpt their shape, rather than relying purely on sliders.

How to Enter CAS to Edit an Existing Sim

There are several ways to get back into CAS after you've already started playing.

Option 1: Edit in CAS via the Manage Households Menu

1. Press Esc to open the main menu
2. Select Manage Worlds
3. Click on your household
4. Select Edit in CAS

This method gives you full access to everything in CAS, including traits, aspirations, clothing, and physical appearance. It's the most complete editing route.

Option 2: Use the "cas.fulleditmode" Cheat 🎮

If you want to edit a Sim while actively playing — without leaving the current lot — the cheat code method is the most popular approach:

1. Open the cheat console with Ctrl + Shift + C (PC/Mac) or all four triggers simultaneously on console
2. Type testingcheats true and press Enter
3. Type cas.fulleditmode and press Enter
4. Close the console, then Shift + Click on the Sim you want to edit
5. Select "Modify in CAS"

Without cas.fulleditmode enabled, Shift + Clicking a Sim only lets you change their outfit — not their physical appearance or traits. Enabling this cheat unlocks the full editor.

Option 3: Edit Appearance Only Through a Mirror or Dresser

For lighter edits without cheats, you can use in-game objects:

• Click a mirror → "Change Appearance" (edits hair, makeup, and facial hair only)
• Click a dresser or wardrobe → "Plan Outfits" (edits clothing for all outfit categories)

These options don't require cheats and don't pause the game's progress, but they're limited compared to full CAS access.

What You Can (and Can't) Change Mid-Game

Not all edits carry the same restrictions depending on how you access CAS.

Age can be changed inside CAS when editing through Manage Worlds, but aging a Sim down or up through CAS resets their age progress within that life stage.

Editing Sims You Don't Control

You can edit any Sim in your current household freely. Editing NPC Sims or Sims in other households requires a few extra steps:

1. Go to Manage Worlds
2. Find the household containing the Sim
3. Click the household and select Edit in CAS

This works for townies you've befriended or Sims living in other houses on the map. Be aware that heavily editing NPC Sims — especially townies — can sometimes affect game-generated story progression if you're using that feature.

Using Mods to Expand Editing Options 🛠️

The base game's CAS is extensive, but a large portion of the Sims 4 community uses custom content (CC) and mods to push editing further:

• Custom Content (CC) — additional hair, clothing, skin tones, and accessories created by community modelers, installed to your Mods folder
• UI Cheats Extension — a popular mod that lets you edit traits, skills, and relationships without leaving live mode
• Slider mods — expand the range of physical feature adjustments beyond the game's defaults

CC and mods are not officially supported by EA, and their compatibility can vary depending on your game version and which expansion packs you have installed. After major game patches, mods sometimes need updating before they work correctly again.

Factors That Affect Your Editing Experience

The "right" way to edit Sims in The Sims 4 isn't the same for every player. A few variables shape what's actually useful for your situation:

• Whether you use cheats — players who prefer a cheat-free experience are limited to mirrors, dressers, and Manage Worlds
• Which packs you own — expansion and stuff packs add clothing categories, traits, and CAS items that base game players don't have access to
• Platform — PC/Mac players have full mod and CC support; console players (PlayStation, Xbox) do not have access to mods or custom content
• How far into a save you are — editing traits or aspirations mid-save changes a Sim's behavior going forward, which matters more in long-running legacy-style playthroughs than in casual saves

The depth of editing available to a console player running the base game is meaningfully different from what a PC player with a full pack library and a curated mod folder can do — and what makes sense to use depends entirely on how you play.