How do I install liveries in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

To install liveries in Microsoft Flight Simulator on PC, download the livery, unzip it, and place the aircraft package folder in the Community folder. The repaint must match the exact aircraft it was made for. On Xbox, liveries are installed through the in-sim Marketplace, not by copying files.

PC: how to install an MSFS livery manually

On PC, a Microsoft Flight Simulator livery installs like any other package: the correct folder goes inside Community. If you need the location first, our guide to finding the Community folder in Microsoft Flight Simulator covers the common Steam and Microsoft Store setups.

1. Check the required aircraft. Read the livery notes and confirm which aircraft it is for. A repaint for one developer's A320 will not work on another developer's A320, and some liveries require a premium, deluxe or third-party aircraft variant.
2. Extract the download. Most liveries arrive as a ZIP file. Unzip it somewhere temporary so you can inspect the folder structure before copying anything.
3. Find the actual package folder. The folder you want normally contains files such as manifest.json and layout.json at its top level. Copy that whole folder, not the outer wrapper folder if the archive has one.
4. Place it in Community. After copying, the structure should look roughly like Community\your-livery-folder\manifest.json. Do not drop loose files straight into Community, and do not put manual liveries in Official.
5. Restart the sim. If Microsoft Flight Simulator was already open, close it completely and relaunch so it rescans installed packages.
6. Select the livery in the aircraft menu. Liveries usually appear under the aircraft's liveries or variants, not as a separate aircraft entry.

A nested folder is the mistake we see most often. If your path looks like Community\outer-folder\inner-folder\manifest.json, the sim may ignore it.

Does the livery need the exact same aircraft?

Yes. An MSFS livery must match the exact base aircraft package it was built for.

This catches a lot of people out. A repaint made for the default aircraft will not fit a different add-on version, and a livery for one engine or avionics variant may not show on another. Our explanation of how airline liveries match a specific base aircraft shows what to check before you install.

If the repaint depends on an aircraft add-on you do not have yet, install the aircraft first. We have a separate guide on installing add-on aircraft in Microsoft Flight Simulator, because the livery will not appear until the base package is present and working.

Why is my livery not showing up in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

If your livery is missing, the cause is usually the wrong aircraft, the wrong folder depth, or a package the sim has not rescanned yet.

• Wrong aircraft or variant: Check the livery readme and the aircraft name carefully. Similar aircraft names are a common trap.
• Extra folder layer: The usable folder must be the one with manifest.json and layout.json at the top level.
• Sim still open: Close and relaunch Microsoft Flight Simulator after adding the folder.
• Looking in the wrong place: Many liveries appear inside the aircraft's livery selector, not as a new aircraft tile.
• Outdated repaint: After a simulator or aircraft update, older liveries can stop appearing until the creator updates them.
• Dependency missing: Some liveries rely on a specific freeware or payware aircraft package being installed and enabled.

If the package looks correct but still will not load, remove it from Community, start the sim once without it, close the sim, then copy it back and test again. That rescan cycle fixes a surprising number of stubborn livery installs.

Can you install liveries on Xbox?

On Xbox, you can use liveries in Microsoft Flight Simulator, but you cannot install them by browsing folders the way you can on PC.

That means Xbox users normally install liveries through the in-sim Marketplace and its download manager. If you are weighing that route against manual installs on PC, our guide to when the MSFS Marketplace makes sense explains the trade-offs.