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Frequently Asked Questions

How to install add-ons

  1. Download the add-on archive file from one of the links we provide on each post. For a few add-ons, there are multiple archive files due to filehoster size limitations. In that case, you need to download all archive parts (XYZ.part1.rar, XYZ.part2.rar, …) and store them inside the same folder.
  2. Find your Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 Community folder. This guide will help you find it.
  3. Extract the archive contents to your Community folder, preferably with the latest WinRAR version (you can get it here).
    If you’re using any anti-virus software, we recommend temporarily disabling it while doing so, it could block add-on files from getting extracted.
    (If you downloaded multiple archive files, click on the first part, WinRAR will automatically access the other parts during extraction.)
  4. Most add-ons can be directly extracted to the Community folder, with a few exceptions. Always check for Readme/Info text files within the files. After extracting, the path to the crucial add-on manifest.json file must look like this: Community\<addon_folder_name>\manifest.json

Note: Always delete all files of any previous version when updating an add-on.

Fixing “Destination Path Too Long” error

When extracting or copying certain add-on folders to your Community folder, you might encounter a Windows error message saying “Destination Path Too Long”, “The file name(s) would be too long for the destination folder”. You can fix it by doing one of the following things:

  • (Recommended) Move your MSFS installation closer to the root of your drive, for example: C:\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Community\…
  • Enable Windows Long Path, see this tutorial on how to do it.

Windows Defender quarantine

In case Windows Defender is warning you and quarantining any files after extracting them, you will have to restore them as described here. The same goes for any other anti-virus software. Some add-on files are simply getting flagged randomly by Microsoft due to having a similar file signature as an actual virus. On cracked programs, Windows is even more sensitive due to the .exe file no longer matching with the original .exe which could’ve been signed by the developer and deemed safe by Microsoft.

All in all it is always a false positive, every program we post on SimPlaza is safe, either original or cracked/modified by us and never taken from somewhere else without careful consideration.

(Note that the above does not automatically apply to every other Piracy site too, ultimately you have to do your own research on them)

Fixing MSFS issues caused by add-ons

At one point, after installing lots of add-ons you might find the game to sporadically crash to desktop (CTD). This is most likely caused by several add-ons using the same name for ModelLib files and MaterialLibs folders. This also causes some airports to have missing/pink textures.

To fix it, use MSFS Addons Linker by following our step-by-step guide.

If this didn’t help and CTDs are still occurring, try clearing your MSFS Rolling Cache as described here.

Fixing MSFS aircraft bugs & crashes

In case you are experiencing bugs, weird behaviour or even crashes when using a certain aircraft, try deleting the aircraft’s packages folder which contains cache files. If you cannot find this folder, the aircraft does not cache any files and this won’t help you unfortunately:

  • Steam version: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages\<addon_folder_name>
  • Microsoft Store version: C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\Packages\<addon_folder_name>

Note: Afterwards, in case the aircraft required running an ACTIVATE.bat script, you need to run the script again.

Current add-on warnings

There are some caveats about certain add-ons, we will keep this list updated. See the warnings inside the Info boxes on each post:

Current add-on conflicts

The following add-ons are conflicting with each other, see the warnings inside info boxes on each post for more information & recommendations. The icons will give you an overview of what to do:

  • ✅ : Recommended to install
  • ❌ : Recommended to not install
  • ⚠️ : Recommended to be partially installed/modified depending on what is conflicting with it
  • ❓ : No recommendation given, you have to decide what you like best

Note that Asobo & Microsoft airports without an URL are integrated into MSFS, either by default or from World Updates, you must delete them with the MSFS In-game content manager. To find Asobo & Microsoft airports inside add-on bundles you need to switch to list view.

Sharing add-ons

See our Contributing page.

FAQ revisions:
2023-11-28: Added LKPD conflict
2023-11-19: Added VRMM conflict
2023-11-15: Added LYTV conflict
2023-11-07: Added BIAR & EFIV conflict
2023-11-02: Updated LFMP recommendation
2023-10-28: Added CYWG conflict

FAQ PDF File