I got my copy via pre-order from the MS store (I guess, I didn't buy via steam or dvd and I'm totally new to all this "apps" and "apps store" lark)

I did the thing about changing where new apps should be installed, so it went to the drive I wanted. I then changed that setting back to the C drive to avoid any other inadvertant app downloads going to my sim drive.

I now have junctions in a ridiculously long-winded folder structure (in users\me\appdata\local\packages\microsoftblahblahblah . . . ) that point to a similarly long-winded folder setup on my desired drive.

I have seen screenshots in various youtube videos that show MSFS in a much more rational folder structure, e.g. a simple root folder called MSFS and then the ususal stuff all just under that.

So my question is - how do you get that kind of setup? I don't remember being offered a choice of folder\directory at install time.

Could I just change the folder structure where my sim is currently installed and re-create the junction on the C drive to refer to the renamed folder? Having to go through something like a six or seven level folder structure to find the community folder every time is a royal pita.

Any advice gratefully received, thanks

7 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

I got my copy via pre-order from the MS store (I guess, I didn't buy via steam or dvd and I'm totally new to all this "apps" and "apps store" lark)

I did the thing about changing where new apps should be installed, so it went to the drive I wanted. I then changed that setting back to the C drive to avoid any other inadvertant app downloads going to my sim drive.

I now have junctions in a ridiculously long-winded folder structure (in users\me\appdata\local\packages\microsoftblahblahblah . . . ) that point to a similarly long-winded folder setup on my desired drive.

I have seen screenshots in various youtube videos that show MSFS in a much more rational folder structure, e.g. a simple root folder called MSFS and then the ususal stuff all just under that.

So my question is - how do you get that kind of setup? I don't remember being offered a choice of folder\directory at install time.

Could I just change the folder structure where my sim is currently installed and re-create the junction on the C drive to refer to the renamed folder? Having to go through something like a six or seven level folder structure to find the community folder every time is a royal pita.

Any advice gratefully received, thanks

What exactly is it you are attempting to accomplish?  Understand the path is long.  What are you trying to reach?  The Community folder where add ins go?  The folder where flight plans are stored?   A better understanding would help a lot.

18 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

Any advice gratefully received, thanks

The very first thing I did once I finally found the "Community" folder was to drag the path to the Desktop to automatically create a Shortcut.

Now when I need to use the "Community Folder" I just click on the Shortcut! Easy peasey!!!

2 minutes ago, n4gix said:

The very first thing I did once I finally found the "Community" folder was to drag the path to the Desktop to automatically create a Shortcut.

Now when I need to use the "Community Folder" I just click on the Shortcut! Easy peasey!!!

and if you just go back a few folders from that link you have the cfg files and the simobjects etc.

 

Vic

9 minutes ago, n4gix said:

The very first thing I did once I finally found the "Community" folder was to drag the path to the Desktop to automatically create a Shortcut.

Now when I need to use the "Community Folder" I just click on the Shortcut! Easy peasey!!!

+1 here. 

8 minutes ago, vgbaron said:

and if you just go back a few folders from that link you have the cfg files and the simobjects etc.

Why MS decided to make up such a rediculously long and confusing path is a question best left to professional psychologists.

While I had a double-major for my baccalaureate degree (Psychology and Computer Science), I quickly found that that a BA in Psychology is pretty much worthless. In fact, an MA in Psychology is not much more useful! Fortunately for me I had no intention to become a psychologist, but rather needed that to satisfy entry requirements for the seminary to work towards my goal of becoming a priest... 😌

59 minutes ago, andy1252 said:

I now have junctions in a ridiculously long-winded folder structure (in users\me\appdata\local\packages\microsoftblahblahblah . . . ) that point to a similarly long-winded folder setup on my desired drive.

 

Any advice gratefully received, thanks

I have the same thing, and Microsoft is doing everything in their power to prevent me from simplifying this.  Until someone figures it out, I am declaring defeat and playing along.. 🙃

49 minutes ago, n4gix said:

! Fortunately for me I had no intention to become a psychologist, but rather needed that to satisfy entry requirements for the seminary to work towards my goal of becoming a priest... 😌

Please pray that flight simulator finds the right path.

20 minutes ago, Bert Pieke said:

I have the same thing, and Microsoft is doing everything in their power to prevent me from simplifying this.  Until someone figures it out, I am declaring defeat and playing along.. 🙃

Likely all about protecting the revenue stream.  Microsoft Store, xBox, partners, etc.

If you want a decent path, Steam lets you put it wherever you want and no encryption either. And I've got my community folder almost in my root too, I set that within the client, not Steam.

Edited September 14, 20205 yr by ckyliu

43 minutes ago, ckyliu said:

If you want a decent path, Steam lets you put it wherever you want and no encryption either. And I've got my community folder almost in my root too, I set that within the client, not Steam.

That is what I did as well and I got mine through the Xbox Game Pass.  It asked me where I wanted it and I made a MSFS2020 folder on my SSD and put it there.

Assuming that you're asking how to move the folder structure which contains the Official and Community folders, let me tell you what I did. I had created a D:\FS2020DATA folder originally when I installed the Steam version, and then wanted to try moving to C:\FS2020DATA as my C drive is a M.2 drive and my D drive is spinning rust.

I presume this would work for the Game Pass version as well, as both methods require the user to pick a location to store the Official and Community data.

I first copied D:\FS2020DATA to C:\FS2020DATA. Then, rename D:\FS2020DATA to D:\FS2020DATA_OLD. (This way, you have the a copy of the files that you can easily restore if something gets messed up.)

I found that UserCfg.opt stores the location of the data. This file was in my C:\Users\[YOUR USER NAME]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator folder. At the bottom of the file, look for InstalledPackagesPath.

InstalledPackagesPath "D:\FS2020DATA"

I changed this to:

InstalledPackagesPath "C:\FS2020DATA"

Save, and then load up the game. As you've renamed the original folder, if there's any issue loading from the new folder, it should throw you an error message.

Hope this helps!

It certainly was no accident that Microsoft made many of the 2020 pathways overly complicated - even made the Windows Application folder almost totally inaccessible for most simmers out there.  Their motive:  We can only guess at this point. 

Let's see - the possibility of thousands of xboxers who have never flown a plane or flight sim playing around with easily accessible files and making endless support calls and posts when they screw something up.

Yep, I'd say that would be a good reason to hide things.

 

Vic

Wasn’t exactly hidden... you had the ability to set the MSFS directory when installing the sim.

 

It gave you an option to select the destination for your Packages folder. I set mine to E:/Microsoft Flight Simulator and now my Community folder is inside of there! Pretty sure if you want to change the location you can just cut / paste the Community / Official folders into their own directory somewhere else, open the sim, and when it asks for an install location, select the new directory.