How do I install and manage Prepar3D add-ons?

Install a Prepar3D add-on with its author-supported installer or as one external package whose root contains add-on.xml. Confirm the package explicitly supports your exact Prepar3D release and architecture: Prepar3D v6 is the current major version, while legacy v1–v5 add-ons may need version-specific installers, gauges, modules or conversion.

Which Prepar3D add-on installation method should I use?

Use the method documented by the add-on author; when both are supported, an external add-on.xml package is usually easier to disable, update and remove.

Use one method only. A mistake we see constantly is loading the same scenery through an add-on.xml package and the legacy Scenery Library. That can create duplicate runways, buildings, exclusions and object libraries.

Where do add-on.xml packages go in Prepar3D v5 and v6?

Manually discovered packages go in the Documents add-on folder belonging to that exact Prepar3D version.

Use the account’s actual Documents known folder if Windows has redirected it to another drive or synchronised location. The package folder may have any sensible name, but add-on.xml must be at that package’s root rather than buried beneath an extra duplicate folder.

Prepar3D scans the appropriate version-named folder when it starts and may ask whether to enable a newly discovered package. An installer can instead place the package elsewhere and register that location; in that case, no Documents copy is required and the absence of a discovery prompt is not necessarily an error.

Use Prepar3D’s Add-ons control, shown under Options in versions using that menu layout, to review and enable or disable registered packages. Use the Scenery Library for legacy scenery areas. These are separate systems: the Documents discovery folder is not the same thing as the per-version configuration locations used for files such as add-ons.cfg or scenery.cfg.

Do not copy v5 configuration files into v6 or assume every P3D generation stores them in the same directory. Avoid hand-editing registration files when the installer or Add-ons control can perform the same job safely.

How do I install a Prepar3D add-on safely?

1. Confirm exact compatibility. Check the supported P3D major version, any required build range, 32-bit or 64-bit architecture, dependencies and base aircraft requirements. Similar folder structures do not make binaries interchangeable.
2. Inspect the download and readme. Identify whether it supplies an installer, a complete add-on.xml package, or legacy folders such as SimObjects, Effects, Gauges, Scenery and Texture.
3. Close Prepar3D and preserve the existing setup. Back up the relevant version’s configuration and keep a list of enabled packages. Our guidance on backing up Prepar3D and its external add-ons before changes covers the files and records worth retaining.
4. Install by one method.
   • For an installer, accept its supported P3D version and package location. Do not point it at another simulator merely because the folder browser permits it.
   • For a manual package, place the dedicated folder in the correct v5 or v6 discovery location with add-on.xml at its root.
   • For a legacy aircraft, copy the complete aircraft folder under the instructed SimObjects category. Supporting gauges, effects and sounds go only where its documentation specifies. Our aircraft-specific installation guidance explains the folder layout and dependency checks.
   • For legacy scenery, select or register the parent folder containing Scenery and, when supplied, Texture. The version-specific P3D v5 scenery procedure covers its Scenery Library and package options.
5. Approve and enable it. Accept the package prompt if one appears, then confirm its status in Add-ons. For legacy scenery, verify its ticked or enabled state in the Scenery Library.
6. Test it before installing another add-on. Load the affected aircraft or airport, check instruments, textures, objects and lighting, then restart Prepar3D once. Installing one package at a time makes the source of a new fault much easier to identify.

Which Prepar3D and FSX add-ons are compatible?

BGL scenery often transfers more easily than compiled code, but no add-on should be treated as compatible solely because it uses familiar folders.

A simple airport BGL can still rely on missing object libraries, older terrain behaviour or exclusions that conflict with newer scenery. Test it at the intended location rather than assuming that successful loading means the whole package works correctly.

For aircraft, black gauges or non-functional systems usually indicate incompatible compiled components, not a bad aircraft-folder name. Never copy random DLL files from FSX or another P3D version to make them load.

Check the stated target versions in our Prepar3D freeware library and compatibility descriptions before installing older content.

How should I set scenery priority?

Legacy Scenery Library areas and add-on.xml scenery packages must be managed according to the system that registered them.

• Legacy Scenery Library install: place a specific airport above broader regional or base scenery affecting the same location, unless the author specifies a different order. Shared object libraries normally follow their supplied instructions.
• External add-on.xml package: the package’s scenery component supplies its registration and may declare its layer. Manage it through Add-ons or the product’s installer rather than adding the same folder manually to the Scenery Library.
• Overlapping products: disable one airport or regional package at a time. Changing many priorities together can hide the original conflict without establishing which add-on caused it.

“J’ai rien du tout” / “non funziona”: no prompt, no add-on or no visible change

When nothing appears, check discovery and activation in order before reinstalling or moving files.

1. Check the correct folder level. Remove accidental nesting such as PackageName\PackageName\add-on.xml. For legacy scenery, select the parent folder that directly contains Scenery and optional Texture.
2. Confirm add-on.xml is at the package root. Opening the folder placed under Prepar3D v5 Add-ons or Prepar3D v6 Add-ons should reveal the manifest there, not several levels deeper.
3. Check approval or installer registration. Launch the matching P3D version and approve the package if prompted. If an installer registered it elsewhere, check the installer’s maintenance option and the simulator’s Add-ons list; a silently registered package may produce no prompt.
4. Look for a disabled package. Open Add-ons and enable the entry. If it immediately disables itself or Prepar3D reports an error, suspect a missing path, dependency or incompatible component rather than creating a second copy.
5. Activate the scenery by the correct method. Legacy scenery must be enabled in the Scenery Library. Package scenery must have its whole add-on enabled; do not register that folder again as a legacy area. If the airport remains unchanged, disable overlapping airport packages and check scenery order.
6. Close and restart Prepar3D. Some package, scenery and object changes are not fully reflected until a clean restart. Recheck the intended airport, runway or aircraft after the restart rather than relying on a flight that was already loaded.

If the add-on is present but still non funziona, use the symptom to narrow the cause:

• Aircraft absent: confirm its configuration file is directly inside the aircraft’s own folder, check aircraft-selection filters and verify any required base aircraft.
• Black gauges or missing instruments: the gauge or systems module is commonly built for the wrong architecture or P3D release. Install only the dependencies named by the author.
• Airport still looks default: verify that you loaded the correct airport and that another package is not overriding it. A misplaced texture folder alone will not activate scenery BGL files.
• Duplicate runways or buildings: look for both XML and legacy registrations of the same scenery, then disable overlapping airport packages one at a time.
• Prepar3D stalls or crashes during startup: disable the most recently installed package first. If necessary, enable suspect packages in small groups until the failing add-on is isolated.

How should I organise and update add-ons?

Keep each external package separate and maintain a short installation record instead of relying on memory.

• Record the add-on name, supported P3D version, installation method, folder, dependencies and installed release.
• Retain the original archive and documentation so you have an authoritative file list for updates and removal.
• Disable a package before diagnosing or replacing it. Disabling is safer than deleting when testing a conflict.
• Do not merge an update into an older folder unless the instructions explicitly permit an overwrite. Stale files can cause failures that resemble a defective update.
• Keep airport scenery, regional scenery, terrain products and shared object libraries identifiable so their interactions can be traced.

How do I uninstall a Prepar3D add-on cleanly?

Disable the add-on, close Prepar3D and remove it through the same installation system that added it.

• Installer-based add-on: use its uninstaller or maintenance option. Deleting only the content folder can leave registrations, modules and configuration entries behind.
• Automatically discovered add-on.xml package: disable it in Add-ons, close the simulator and delete its dedicated package folder from the matching version’s Documents discovery location.
• Installer-registered external package: use the installer to unregister or remove it before deleting files. Do not manually erase an unknown configuration entry while the package remains installed.
• Legacy scenery: disable or remove its Scenery Library entry first, close Prepar3D and then delete the scenery folder.
• Manually copied aircraft: remove its dedicated aircraft folder, then consult the original file list before deleting shared gauges, effects, sounds or object libraries. Another add-on may use them.

After removal, restart the same Prepar3D version and check that no missing-path warning remains. Never restore configuration files from another major version; preserve the damaged file and let the installed simulator generate a fresh version-specific configuration when necessary.