How do I install mods in X-Plane 12?

To install mods in X-Plane 12, unzip the download and place the mod's folder in the correct X-Plane directory, usually Aircraft, Custom Scenery, or Resources/plugins. The two things that matter most are putting it in the right place and avoiding an extra folder layer after extraction.

Where do X-Plane 12 mods go?

X-Plane 12 does not treat every mod the same way. "Mods" can mean aircraft, scenery, plugins, liveries, sounds, effects, or tweaks to an existing aircraft. Each type belongs in a different folder inside your main X-Plane 12 installation.

If the download includes its own instructions, follow those first. Some packages are simple drag-and-drop installs; others are designed to merge with an existing aircraft folder rather than sit on their own.

How do I install mods in X-Plane 12 step by step?

1. Download and extract the mod. Save the archive to your computer and unzip it fully before moving anything into X-Plane 12. Do not leave it as a ZIP or RAR and do not drag the archive itself into the simulator folders.
2. Identify the mod type. Look at the folder names and any included readme files. If you see an aircraft folder with files like .acf, it is aircraft. If you see airport or scenery folders, it belongs in Custom Scenery. If you see plugin files and a folder named plugins, it is likely a plugin install.
3. Open your X-Plane 12 folder. Find the main simulator directory where X-Plane 12 is installed. Inside it you will already see folders such as Aircraft, Custom Scenery, and Resources.
4. Copy the mod into the correct folder. Move the extracted folder into the right location. For example, an aircraft goes into Aircraft, scenery goes into Custom Scenery, and a global plugin usually goes into Resources/plugins.
5. Check for an extra folder level. This catches a lot of people out. After extraction you might end up with something like Custom Scenery/Mod Name/Mod Name/files.... X-Plane usually expects the actual mod files to be in the first Mod Name folder, not buried one level deeper.
6. Start X-Plane 12 and test it. Load the sim and check where that type of mod should appear. Aircraft should show in the aircraft menu, scenery should show when you load the location, and plugins may create a menu entry or add new functions.
7. Restart if needed. Many plugins and aircraft changes require a full simulator restart before they show correctly. If you copied files while X-Plane was already running, close it completely and reopen it.

What counts as a mod in X-Plane 12?

People use the word "mod" very broadly in X-Plane. In practice, it usually means one of these:

• New aircraft
• Airports and scenery packages
• Weather, camera, checklist or utility plugins
• Liveries and repaint packs
• Sound packs
• Flight model or system tweaks for an existing aircraft

That matters because the install method changes with the mod type. A livery is not installed the same way as a plugin, and a plugin is not installed the same way as a custom airport.

Do you install plugins differently from aircraft and scenery?

Aircraft

Most add-on aircraft are the simplest. You copy the whole aircraft folder into Aircraft, or into a subfolder you create there for organisation. When done properly, the aircraft appears in the selection screen.

If the aircraft includes its own plugin, sounds, or liveries, those are usually already arranged inside that aircraft's folder. Leave that internal structure intact.

Scenery

Scenery packages go into Custom Scenery. Airports, landmarks, ortho overlays, and meshes may all live there, but their load order can matter. If a scenery package installs correctly but does not display as expected, the issue is often scenery order rather than the files being missing.

X-Plane maintains a scenery configuration file after it starts. If you add new scenery, launch the sim once, then check whether the package has been added and ordered sensibly.

Plugins

Global plugins normally go into Resources/plugins. They often add menu items, windows, external hardware support, camera tools, or system changes. Some aircraft-specific plugins belong inside that aircraft's own folder instead, so always read the included instructions.

Plugins are also the most sensitive to operating system issues. If a plugin was built for the wrong operating system, the wrong processor type, or an older X-Plane generation, it may simply fail to load.

Liveries

Liveries do not go into the main Aircraft folder on their own. They usually belong inside the specific aircraft's liveries folder. If that folder does not exist, many aircraft allow you to create it manually, but check the package instructions first.

Why is my X-Plane 12 mod not showing up?

If the mod does not appear after installation, one of these is usually the cause:

• Wrong folder: the mod was copied into the wrong part of X-Plane 12.
• Extra nesting: the actual files are one folder too deep after extraction.
• Wrong sim version: the mod was made for X-Plane 11 or another simulator and is not compatible with X-Plane 12.
• Plugin platform mismatch: the plugin is not built for your operating system or current X-Plane environment.
• Scenery order: the scenery is installed but being overridden by another package or loaded in the wrong order.
• Missing dependencies: the mod expects another library, base package, or aircraft you have not installed.
• Corrupt extraction: the archive was not unpacked correctly and some files are missing.

A quick test is to open the mod folder and ask a simple question: are the real working files immediately visible there? For an aircraft, you would expect to see the aircraft files near the top level. For scenery, you should see the scenery package contents directly inside that package folder. If all you see is another identically named folder, it is probably nested incorrectly.

Mac, Windows and Linux differences

The folder locations inside X-Plane 12 are the same in principle, but the operating system can still affect installation.

• Windows: extracted downloads can sometimes carry a blocked attribute from the internet. If a plugin behaves oddly, check the file properties and extract again if needed.
• Mac: security settings can stop some plugins from loading until you allow them. If a plugin is present but inactive, macOS permissions are worth checking.
• Linux: plugin compatibility and executable permissions can matter more than on other platforms.

These problems usually affect plugins rather than plain aircraft or scenery folders.

Should you back up files before installing X-Plane 12 mods?

Yes, especially if the mod overwrites part of an existing aircraft or replaces default files. Standalone aircraft and scenery are low risk because they usually sit in their own folders, but sound packs, texture replacements, and aircraft tweaks can be harder to reverse cleanly.

Our usual advice is simple: keep a copy of the original folder before you drop in replacement files. That way, uninstalling is just a case of restoring the backup.

How do you uninstall a mod?

Most X-Plane 12 mods can be removed by deleting the folder you added. Aircraft can be removed from Aircraft, scenery from Custom Scenery, and plugins from Resources/plugins.

If the mod replaced existing files inside another package, uninstalling is not as tidy. In that case, restore your backup rather than trying to guess which individual files changed.

Where can you find X-Plane 12 downloads?

We keep a large library of simulator downloads at Fly Away Simulation Downloads. Once you know whether you are installing aircraft, scenery, liveries or plugins, the actual install process becomes much easier because you can put each package in the correct X-Plane 12 folder from the start.