How do I walk around the cabin in MSFS 2024 or 2020?

Yes. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 lets you leave a stationary aircraft and walk on the ground in Character/Walkaround mode; inside a plane during flight, move the cockpit camera instead. Cabin access depends on the aircraft’s working doors and interior model. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has no native walking avatar.

Can you walk around in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024?

MSFS 2024 has a first-person Character mode for walking around a stationary aircraft, carrying out exterior checks and entering supported interiors from the ground.

This is separate from cockpit-camera movement. Character mode controls an on-foot avatar; cockpit translation moves your viewpoint while it remains attached to the aircraft. Use Character mode for a ground walkaround and cockpit translation for moving through a cabin during flight.

The aircraft itself determines how far you can go. A visible cabin, staircase or door does not guarantee a fully modelled, walkable interior. Some aircraft contain only the geometry needed for exterior views or fixed passenger cameras.

How to walk around the cabin in MSFS 2024

The reliable method is to configure Character controls first, open a supported entrance and then walk through it while the aircraft is stationary.

1. Park the aircraft on the ground. Stop completely and apply the parking brake. Character mode is intended principally for ground and pre-flight use.
2. Check the active control profile. Open Settings, then Controls, select the keyboard or controller you are actually using and change the command filter to All if only assigned actions are visible.
3. Find Toggle Character. Search for Character and assign Toggle Character. Shift+C is a common PC default, but it is not universal and may be absent from imported or customised profiles.
4. Confirm movement, look and interaction. You need Character movement in four directions, Character look, Interact and a dependable way to toggle back or enter the aircraft.
5. Open an operational entrance. Aim at the exterior handle or interaction point and use Interact. Some aircraft instead control doors from a cockpit lever, tablet or aircraft-management page.
6. Walk through the doorway. If the cabin has proper interior geometry and collision boundaries, you can move along the accessible area. Invisible barriers indicate an aircraft-model limitation rather than a missing walking key.
7. Return to the aircraft. Use the entry prompt or the assigned Toggle Character action near the aircraft. Some add-ons provide their own entry hotspot, so follow the prompt displayed for that aircraft.

MSFS 2024 walkaround controls for PC and Xbox

Every PC and Xbox profile needs the same six functions, even though the keys, buttons and axes differ.

On Xbox, an attached keyboard can provide spare assignments if the controller profile is full. If a stick turns your head but does not move your position, it is assigned to look or freelook rather than Character movement or cockpit translation.

For the distinction between cockpit, external, drone and Character inputs, see our guide to the different MSFS camera controls.

How to walk inside a plane in MSFS 2024 on PS5

MSFS 2024 on PS5 and PS5 Pro includes Character mode, but its DualSense Wireless Controller profile and button prompts differ from the PC and Xbox presets.

1. Open the PS5 control profile. From the main or pause menu, choose Settings, then Controls, and select the Wireless Controller profile.
2. Show every command. Set the command-list filter to All rather than Assigned. Otherwise, an unassigned Character action will not appear in the list.
3. Bind Toggle Character. Search for Character, select Toggle Character and assign a convenient button or button combination. If the simulator requests a custom controller profile before saving the change, create one.
4. Check movement and look. Make sure the Character movement actions use the left stick and the Character look actions use the right stick. These are context-specific assignments; mapping only the aircraft or cockpit-camera axes is not enough.
5. Bind interaction. Search for Interact and assign the primary interaction action. This is needed for handles, exterior hotspots and aircraft entry prompts.
6. Operate the door. Look at a supported door handle and use the interaction button. If no hotspot appears, inspect the cockpit door lever or the aircraft’s tablet or management panel. MSFS does not provide one PS5 door command that opens every aircraft.
7. Enter and return. Walk through the open doorway when the model permits it. To return to the cockpit or leave Character mode, use the entry prompt or your Toggle Character assignment.

Do not copy an Xbox button combination or treat the PC keyboard shortcut as a PS5 default; the profiles do not map one-for-one. The PS5 version has the same basic Character capability, but individual aircraft can still lack usable doors, entry points or traversable cabins.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was never released on PlayStation, so there is no MSFS 2020 Character or walkaround setup for PS5. More platform-specific remapping and entry advice is covered in our PS5 aircraft exit and walkaround instructions.

Can I walk around the cabin during flight?

Use cockpit translation or a saved cockpit view for cabin movement during flight, rather than Character mode.

The cockpit camera remains attached to the moving aeroplane and is therefore suitable for an aisle, jumpseat or passenger-window position. Freelook only rotates your head; translation commands move the camera forwards, backwards, sideways, up and down.

Once you reach a useful position, save it to a custom cockpit-view slot if the aircraft permits it. Our passenger-cabin view guide explains how saved positions work and why some aircraft cannot provide them.

Does an MSFS 2020 walkaround mod add a walking avatar?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 has no native Character mode, and most files described as walkaround or cabin-view mods improve cameras rather than adding a true on-foot avatar.

• Camera-enhancement mods may alter movement speed, camera limits or viewpoint behaviour. You are still moving a camera, not controlling a person.
• Cabin-view packs provide preset passenger seats, wing views or jumpseat positions. They do not create a walkable aisle.
• Avatar-style add-ons can implement their own movement system, but that system is separate from native MSFS 2024 Character mode. Compatibility, collision and aircraft entry depend on the add-on.

A camera or avatar mod also cannot create a missing cabin. If an aircraft contains unfinished seats, one-sided walls or no geometry behind the cockpit, allowing the viewpoint to pass through the bulkhead will only expose those omissions.

For a normal MSFS 2020 aircraft, bind cockpit-camera translation, freelook and reset controls. Move in small increments, save a working cabin viewpoint, and use the drone when cockpit-camera boundaries block the route. Our guide to moving the MSFS drone camera covers the unrestricted inspection option.

Why can’t I enter or exit the aircraft?

Most entry and exit failures come from the wrong control profile, a non-operational door or an aircraft that does not support Character access.

Character mode is not working

Character mode is native to MSFS 2024 only and should be used while stationary on the ground. Confirm that Toggle Character is assigned in the active keyboard, controller or Wireless Controller profile, not in a similarly named profile that is not loaded.

Set the control filter to All, clear any conflicting assignment and test the toggle before changing movement axes. If the character appears but will not move, the mode toggle works and the fault is with the Character movement bindings.

I am stopped at the aircraft door

A hard stop at a door or bulkhead usually means the aircraft has a collision boundary or no traversable interior.

First confirm that the door is genuinely open; a visual animation may not remove the collision boundary. If another entrance behaves the same way, use cockpit translation or the drone. No control assignment can turn decorative cabin geometry into a fully modelled interior.

The aircraft door will not open

A visible door is not necessarily an interactive door. Look for an exterior hotspot, then check the cockpit door controls and the aircraft’s tablet or management page.

Some aircraft support door animation but not Character entry, while others provide a Character entry prompt without allowing free movement through the whole cabin. These behaviours are defined by the aircraft rather than by the platform.

I can look around but cannot move away from the seat

Freelook rotates the view from its existing position; it does not move the camera through the cockpit.

Bind the cockpit-camera translation actions for forward, backward, left, right, up and down. If translation works until the cockpit door and then stops, you have reached the aircraft’s camera boundary rather than a control fault.