Where is MSFS 2020 stored on the drive?

[Sky_Dancer 9]

Is there a directory and file tree for this program somewhere? I spent about 15 minutes poking around with File Explorer and couldn't find it anywhere. I know it's there somewhere, it ate up all my space and I've got to get a bigger M2. I'm mostly just curious, where the hell have they hidden the dang thing?

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

Search in Appdata

[Skywolf 992]

See my other post - the pic is there.

I will be doing a huge restore post shortly.  I am going to wipe my windows clean as I just installed 64gb ram

[reignman40 450]

C:\Users\*your pc*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator

Edited August 22, 2020 by reignman40

[langly 129]

3 minutes ago, reignman40 said:

C:\Users\*your pc*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator

This is incorrect.

[Sky_Dancer 9]

Thank you folks!

[Donstim 109]

1 hour ago, reignman40 said:

C:\Users\*your pc*\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator

No such directory in my computer. In mine, it's located in C:\Users\*your pc*\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe

[Spike54 34]

Another way to see the file system is to turn on the Developer mode in the options.

A small menu then appears at the top of the screen.

Select Tools then select Virtual file system.

A pop out appears, then select Watched Bases from the list. This drops down and displays the file structure.

Squirrel explains how to do this in his video about installing liveries for the 320 Neo

https://youtu.be/smUGma9M4nA

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Spike54

[Dave_YVR 973]

It gives you the option of where to install. Sure your AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator will have some data to it, but most is stored elsewhere. I installed mine to K:\Microsoft Flight Simulator.

[Sky_Dancer 9]

On my PC, the Appdata is a hidden file and I have to work out permissions to get to it even though I'm the lone user of the PC and the admin. Lot more hoops to jump through than FSX. I'm going to be replacing my M2 soon since it's too small. I guess I'll pay a little more attention to the install next time.

[Manny 1,293]

Its a huge mess.

See this.. I am uninstalling everything and reinstalling. Not sure even now, if I am doing it right.

 

When you installed from the store, It asked you where to install and you pointed it to a drive. and then when it starts the sim, to download the content it asks you again where to install the content. Why? Does it not know that you have installed the app in some  drive you had picked earlier? Any case, I pointed to the same drive and it says, no, it needs a folder. So now I am  creating a new sub folder within the same drive. 

Why?

 

Edited August 22, 2020 by Manny

[bills 1]

Well, that's just great! i finally found the file that points to msfs2020, there is no such file called "c:\users\*my pc name*\appdata\roaming\microsoft.flight simulator

but i did find a file that relates to it. Still it wont run. Why make it so hard? now i know i should have paid more attention when i downloaded it , i did not see a request to ask where i wanted to store it, but, again, why make it so hard. I'm no geek, i still cant get it to run. Not happy.

 

[Bert Pieke 7,585]

56 minutes ago, bills said:

Well, that's just great! i finally found the file that points to msfs2020, there is no such file called "c:\users\*my pc name*\appdata\roaming\microsoft.flight simulator

but i did find a file that relates to it. Still it wont run. Why make it so hard? now i know i should have paid more attention when i downloaded it , i did not see a request to ask where i wanted to store it, but, again, why make it so hard. I'm no geek, i still cant get it to run. Not happy.

 

Microsoft Store / My library / MSFS / Launch

Edited October 25, 2020 by Bert Pieke

[ThrottleUp 617]

I have read all the replies and I really want to ask - what is the reasoning behind MS adopting this kind of file structure?

Why cant the entire sim reside neatly in one folder under (for example) C:\Microsoft Flight Simulator ?

MS and its scattergun approach buyring stuff all over the place. Is there a reason?? Or is it done to kind of discourage users from poking around?

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

1 hour ago, ThrottleUp said:

I have read all the replies and I really want to ask - what is the reasoning behind MS adopting this kind of file structure?

Why cant the entire sim reside neatly in one folder under (for example) C:\Microsoft Flight Simulator ?

MS and its scattergun approach buyring stuff all over the place. Is there a reason?? Or is it done to kind of discourage users from poking around?

To make matters even more confusing if you install on a different drive it will be loaded under a folder called \wpsystem .

Basically though if you search the correct drive for a folder with "8wekyb3d8bbwe" in the name that should find it.

 

 

Edited October 25, 2020 by Glenn Fitzpatrick