How scanning works
What SimSweep looks at when you run a scan, what it finds, and where the results show up.
SimSweep reads supported package and script files in your Mods folder instead of relying only on filenames. The results can narrow down what deserves a closer look when you are troubleshooting a large library.
Running a scan#
Click Scan Now from the home screen or the header. That is all. SimSweep picks up your Mods folder path automatically. If it did not detect the path on first launch, you can set it in Settings.
You can also choose to include your Saves folder during the scan. Including saves gives SimSweep stronger usage evidence for CAS items. Without them, SimSweep can still detect Tray references and inspect Build/Buy items, but CAS used counts will be incomplete.
When the scan finishes, every part of the app updates at once: Home shows your summary, My CC has per-file results, Diagnostics has repair cards, and Tools has actions ready to go.
What the scanner looks at#
SimSweep reads the actual binary content of each file, not filenames or folder structure. Here is what it checks:
- Package content - Supported resources such as CAS parts, meshes, objects, tuning, animations, catalog entries, and thumbnails.
- Script mods - Python bytecode metadata, import lists, framework identifiers, and risk signals.
- Your Saves folder (when included) - Which CC items are referenced in your save files, giving SimSweep stronger usage evidence.
- Your Tray folder - Household and lot files that reference CC by ID.
- Crash logs - Game exception and crash files, parsed to surface the most likely suspect mods.
- Thumbnails - Embedded images in packages, TSR source images, and your local thumbnail cache.
What it detects#
| What | How SimSweep finds it |
|---|---|
| Broken CC | Missing meshes and orphaned recolors, compared against your mods and the base game |
| Conflicts | Shared resource IDs across multiple packages that can override each other |
| Duplicates | Same resource ID sets in more than one file |
| Identical files | Exact byte-for-byte matches across different files |
| Soft conflicts | Deeper tuning clashes like conflicting traits, perks, and zone modifiers |
| Script issues | Missing frameworks, duplicate framework providers, and Python-level risk signals |
| Malware signals | Dangerous imports, system access patterns, raw IP addresses, and Discord webhook calls inside script mods |
| Used and unused CC | Usage signals from saves and Tray files, with uncertain items kept separate |
| Required packs | Pack requirements inferred from supported catalog and resource data |
What shows up where#
After a scan, the results flow into every part of the app:
- Home - Library size, used and unused counts, and a health summary with issue counts.
- My CC - Per-file cards with badges, categories, thumbnails, and details for each item.
- Diagnostics - Cards for broken files, conflicts, duplicates, crash logs, and more.
- Tools - The guided 50/50 method, manual CC backups, exports, and other actions that use scan data.
A few things to know#
Scan results only reflect what was in your folder at the time of the last scan. If you add or remove files, run another scan to update everything.
CAS items that appear only in your Tray but not in any save file stay in an uncertain state. SimSweep will not mark them as definitely used because Tray files are not as reliable as saves for CAS usage. Including your Saves folder gives the scanner its strongest usage evidence.
If SimSweep cannot build a usable index of your game install, broken CC detection will be suppressed to avoid false positives. This usually means the game path was not detected correctly. Check Settings if the game path looks wrong.
Next up#
Head to Diagnostics to see what the scan found and start fixing issues.