Can you hear real live ATC in Microsoft Flight Simulator?
Hear real live ATC while using Microsoft Flight Simulator. Learn the setup, why COM tuning alone fails, and how to solve silent or mismatched audio.
Yes, you can hear real live ATC while using Microsoft Flight Simulator, but the simulator does not receive it natively. Its built-in voices are simulated. Play a public aviation-radio stream on a separate browser, phone or tablet, then tune the matching COM frequency in the cockpit for realism.
Does Microsoft Flight Simulator include real live ATC?
No. Stock Microsoft Flight Simulator generates its own ATC calls, radio responses and airport information. This applies to both Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Live weather and live traffic may use real-world data, but neither feature turns the simulator's ATC voices into genuine radio broadcasts. Tuning an airport frequency in the cockpit changes the simulator's radio state; it does not connect the aircraft to an internet audio feed.
If the terminology is unfamiliar, our guide to ATC terminology in aviation and flight simulators explains tower, ground, approach, centre and related services.
What counts as real ATC in a flight simulator?
Real live ATC is an external feed carrying actual radio transmissions from an airport or air traffic control facility.
| Option | What you hear | Is it real-world ATC? | Interaction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Built-in MSFS ATC | Simulator-generated controllers, pilots and airport information | No | Selections and assistance within the simulator |
| Public live radio feed | Actual tower, ground, approach, departure, centre, ATIS or advisory transmissions | Yes | Listen only |
| Online controller network | Human controllers and pilots operating in a simulated environment | No | Two-way voice communication |
A real ATIS broadcast may use an automated or synthesised voice, but it still carries operational information from the real airport. At non-towered airfields, the relevant channel may be labelled CTAF, UNICOM or an advisory frequency rather than ATC.
How do you listen to live airport radio while flying in MSFS?
The reliable method is to run the real audio separately and use Microsoft Flight Simulator for the aircraft and cockpit controls.
- Choose the airport and service. Decide whether you want ATIS, ground, tower, approach, departure or centre. ATIS provides weather and runway context, while tower and approach are better for following traffic flow.
- Find a legitimate public feed. Search a public aviation-radio streaming service by airport name or ICAO code. Coverage depends on the country, local rules and the receiver operated by the feed provider; many airports have no stream.
- Play the feed outside MSFS. On PC, use a browser or supported audio application. For Xbox, a phone or tablet is usually simpler than trying to run background audio on the console.
- Set up a roughly matching flight. Use the same airport and, if desired, live weather and live traffic. This can make the runway configuration and traffic flow more plausible, although an exact match is not guaranteed.
- Tune the corresponding cockpit radio. Enter the frequency and swap it from standby to the active side. This is for cockpit realism only; the external stream remains independent of the COM radio.
- Prevent competing ATC audio. Reduce or mute the simulator's ATC voice audio and avoid requesting separate clearances through the built-in ATC window. Otherwise, MSFS may issue instructions that conflict with the real transmissions.
- Balance the sound. Keep the feed loud enough to understand calls without masking warnings, engine sounds or checklist call-outs. Separate device volume controls make this much easier.
Will tuning the COM radio make real ATC play?
No. A cockpit COM radio in stock Microsoft Flight Simulator controls simulated radio functions; it is not an internet scanner or receiver.
- COM tuning selects the active simulated frequency and affects built-in ATC options.
- The live feed is an independent audio stream played by another application or device.
A common mistake is entering the real frequency, leaving it in the standby window and waiting for audio. Moving it to the active side improves procedural accuracy, but neither position can start an external stream.
Why does the live ATC audio not match the traffic in MSFS?
Exact matching is unusual because the radio feed represents the real airport while Microsoft Flight Simulator reconstructs traffic, weather and airport operations from separate data.
- Stream delay: a feed may lag behind the real transmission, sometimes deliberately. Live traffic can also have its own delay.
- Missing aircraft: some real flights may not appear, may load late or may use a different callsign in the simulator.
- Imperfect models: an aircraft may appear with the wrong type, generic livery or incorrect ground position.
- Different runway use: simulated wind, QNH, airport scenery or weather updates may not reproduce the real operating configuration.
- Combined channels: one stream may scan several frequencies, producing calls from different sectors or cutting off the start of a transmission as the receiver switches.
- Outdated frequency data: real services can change frequency, while the simulator, aircraft or add-on navigation data may still show an older value.
In regions using 8.33 kHz channel spacing, equipment and data sources may also present channel information differently. Match the service label first, such as tower or approach, rather than assuming a small display difference means the feed is wrong.
Can you use real ATC instructions for your simulated flight?
No. The controller is speaking to a real aircraft, not to your simulated one, so another pilot's clearance must never be treated as your own.
Use the audio to study phraseology, runway changes, taxi flow and the rhythm of a busy frequency. A public stream is listen-only: you cannot contact the controller through Microsoft Flight Simulator, and you must never attempt to transmit on an aviation frequency without the required real-world equipment, licence and authority.
If you want a controller who can issue instructions specifically to your simulated aircraft, use a human-run simulation network instead of real-world airport audio.
Can you hear live airport radio on Xbox?
Yes, but the real audio still has to come from outside Microsoft Flight Simulator.
- PC: a browser and the simulator can run side by side, with separate application volume controls.
- Xbox: background multitasking is more restrictive, so a phone, tablet or computer is normally the practical audio source.
The aircraft and edition of MSFS do not change this basic limitation. Stock versions on both platforms treat cockpit radio audio as simulated.
Why is the ATC feed silent or missing part of the conversation?
Silence or one-sided audio is usually a feed or receiver issue rather than a fault in Microsoft Flight Simulator.
- Check whether the feed is online. Public receivers may be unavailable because of maintenance, loss of power, network problems or the absence of a volunteer receiver.
- Check your audio path. Look for a muted browser tab, blocked autoplay, the wrong output device or a separate application volume set to zero.
- Allow for quiet periods. A working frequency can remain silent for several minutes, especially at smaller airports or outside busy operating hours.
- Confirm the selected service. A tower feed will not necessarily carry ground, approach or ATIS. Some labels cover several channels; others carry only one.
- Expect one-sided reception. A ground receiver may hear the powerful tower transmitter but miss distant or low-flying aircraft. It may instead hear aircraft overhead while failing to receive a remote controller.
Small airfields, military bases and airports in jurisdictions that restrict public rebroadcasting often have no available feed. If none exists, changing the MSFS radio or reinstalling the simulator will not solve the problem.
Can add-ons bring real ATC audio into Microsoft Flight Simulator?
Some add-ons can route or manage external audio, but only products that explicitly support genuine live radio feeds perform this job. Tools advertising improved phraseology, AI controllers, traffic chatter or radio ambience are not necessarily playing real-world transmissions.
Check the platform, feed requirements and frequency-linking features before installing or buying anything. Our guide to deciding when to use the MSFS Marketplace explains the trade-offs of its managed installation system, while our freeware flight-simulation downloads library includes add-ons that can be reviewed by category and simulator.