Back up flight simulator settings, add-ons and flight plans before reinstalling Windows, with key file locations, common traps and restore steps.
Before reinstalling Windows, back up any PC flight simulator by copying its user-data folders, add-on libraries, flight plans, saved flights, control profiles, installers and licence details to an external drive. Record every custom package path, then verify the copy. Reinstall the simulator cleanly, launch it once, and restore compatible files in small batches.
Platform cloud sync may recover some settings or control profiles, but its coverage varies by simulator and edition. It rarely includes manually installed add-ons, custom scenery or every locally saved plan, so we never treat cloud sync as the only backup.
What flight simulator files should I back up?
Back up every file you created or changed, plus the installers and licence records needed to reactivate paid add-ons; default simulator files can usually be downloaded again.
- Flying data: flight plans, saved flights or situations, missions, logbooks and recorded flights.
- Settings and controls: simulator configuration files, controller profiles, camera settings and screenshots of important graphics and assistance options.
- Add-on content: aircraft, liveries, scenery, airports, plugins, gauges, effects, AI traffic and sound packages.
- Add-on configuration: scenery order, plugin settings, aircraft states, add-on-manager profiles and any content stored outside the main simulator folder.
- Recovery records: installers, serial numbers, order details and supplied deactivation instructions. Copying an activated licence file alone may not work on a new Windows installation.
Large rolling caches, shader caches, temporary downloads and crash logs are normally safe to omit. Let the new installation rebuild them; restoring an old cache can reproduce performance problems or loading errors.
Where are flight simulator settings and add-ons stored?
Flight simulator data is normally split between the installation folder, your Windows profile and any custom content library.
| Simulator | Content to locate | Common trap |
|---|---|---|
| Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 or 2024 | Community content, the selected Packages location, locally stored plans, add-on profiles and control-setting references. Follow our MSFS package and profile preservation steps for the different Windows installation types. | The Community and Official package folders may be on another drive. Platform sync does not back up Community add-ons. |
| FSX | Documents\Flight Simulator X Files, configuration and Controls data, aircraft, gauges, effects, scenery and external add-on folders. Our file-by-file FSX backup checklist covers the scattered locations. | Older installers often place files across the FSX directory, Documents, AppData and ProgramData. |
| X-Plane 11 or 12 | Aircraft, Custom Scenery, Resources\plugins, preferences, FMS plans and saved situations. Check which X-Plane folders should be preserved before removing the original installation. | A backup stored inside the X-Plane directory disappears if that directory is deleted or its drive is formatted. |
| Prepar3D | Saved flights and plans, control profiles, configuration files, add-on packages, scenery and installers. Use our Prepar3D backup and clean-reinstall list to account for external packages. | Different Prepar3D versions use separate profile folders, while add-on packages may reside outside the simulator directory. |
Also inspect Documents, Saved Games, the simulator installation directory and any custom library drives. Enable hidden items in File Explorer and check %APPDATA%, %LOCALAPPDATA% and %PROGRAMDATA%. If Windows has redirected Documents into a synchronised folder, use the actual location shown in File Explorer rather than assuming the files are under the system drive.
How do I create and verify the backup?
A reliable flight simulator backup is a readable copy on a different physical drive, accompanied by an inventory of what was copied.
- Close every related application. Exit the simulator, launcher, add-on managers and flight-planning tools so that configuration databases are not being written during the copy.
- Find every content location. Check the simulator's settings or content manager for package paths, then inspect Documents, Saved Games, AppData, ProgramData and any secondary drives.
- Create a simple inventory. Record the simulator edition, installation path, add-on library paths, scenery order, controller models and important add-ons. Screenshots of bindings are valuable because Windows may assign controllers differently after reinstallation.
- Copy rather than move. Place the files on an external drive in clearly named folders. Keep simulator versions separate so that an older configuration is not restored into a newer edition by mistake.
- Preserve installers and licence information. Complex aircraft, scenery and utilities may require an installer to recreate services, system components or registration entries.
- Verify the result. Compare folder sizes and file counts, open representative flight-plan files and inspect several add-on folders. If using compressed archives, test each archive before erasing Windows.
Do not keep the only backup on another partition of the drive being formatted. A partitioning mistake or physical drive failure can remove both copies.
Copying the whole installation: when it helps
Copying only the main installation folder is not a complete backup for most simulators. Microsoft Flight Simulator, FSX and Prepar3D also depend on Windows registrations, profile folders, package records or installed components that a plain folder copy does not recreate.
X-Plane is more self-contained, so preserving its complete directory can be useful. Even then, protected aircraft and some plugins may require reactivation or supporting components after Windows is reinstalled. Copying default package content can also reduce downloading when the simulator supports reusing that library, but it does not replace account ownership or a proper installation.
How do I restore everything after reinstalling Windows?
Restore into a freshly installed, once-launched simulator, not over an untested copy of the old installation.
- Install Windows drivers and the simulator. Sign in with the account that owns the simulator and install it to the intended drive.
- Launch the simulator once. Let it create fresh profile and configuration folders, then close it completely.
- Restore personal data first. Copy flight plans, saved flights and controller profiles into the matching locations. Check every axis for duplicate assignments, reversed throttles and missing rudder or brake inputs.
- Reinstall complex add-ons. Use their original installers when they add plugins, services, shared gauges or system components. Simple liveries and self-contained scenery can usually be copied back directly.
- Add content in small batches. Test the simulator after each group. If it stops loading or begins crashing, remove the last batch rather than troubleshooting the entire library at once.
- Rebuild generated data. Allow scenery indexes, shader caches and similar temporary files to regenerate. Confirm the scenery order and load one saved plan to check its waypoints and departure airport.
If an old settings file causes a startup error, rename it and let the simulator generate a new one. Re-enter the affected settings instead of forcing a configuration from another simulator version or Windows installation.