Your Sims 4 photos may randomly turn black when you place them on the wall or in your Sim’s inventory. Here’s what you can do to prevent this problem from happening.
Disable mods and repair your game
Move the Mods folder to your desktop, and check if your photos are still black. Mods and CC may sometimes break certain game functionalities. If they’re the real culprits, the issue should disappear after disabling them.
Don’t forget to delete the localthumbcache.package file as well after disabling your mods.
If the issue persists, repair your game files. To do that, launch Origin, go to your Library, right-click on The Sims 4, and select Repair.
Wait until the repair process completes and exit The Sims 4. Restart your computer, launch the game again, and check if you notice any changes.
Don’t put photos in storage boxes
The storage boxes from Discover University and Eco-Lifestyle often turn pictures black. Photos do not do well in any kind of storage box in The Sims 4. Don’t use them. Put your photos in digital frames instead.
As a quick reminder, you can find storage boxes under Storage → Misc. For example, Eco-Lifestyle has a box called Sticker Storage Box.
Some players put a lot of effort into taking great photos. They’re absolutely shocked when they notice all of their pictures turn black. Seeing all of your legacy family’s photos destroyed can be very frustrating.
By the way, if you try to create a copy of a black photo, the game won’t create a copy of the original picture. It will simply create another blank photo.
⇒ Related: How do you take a family photo in The Sims 4?
Don’t move with photos
If your photos remain in the household inventory for too long, or you move with them, they’ll turn black. Some players suggested that you need to place the photos in the world, and then back into your Sim’s inventory to work your way around this issue.
Unfortunately, many Sims 4 players have learned this the hard way. The bad news is that the chances of recovering black photos are close to zero.
Conclusion
If your photos turn black in The Sims 4, disable mods and repair your game. Putting photos in storage boxes can cause them to become pitch-black. Use digital frames instead.
Keep in mind that if you move with photos, they’ll turn black.
So I’m never getting my photos back??