Learn how the MSFS scenery library works, organise add-ons, resolve priority conflicts and fix scenery packages that do not appear.
Microsoft Flight Simulator does not use a single, FSX-style Scenery Library. It loads scenery as packages: manually installed PC add-ons normally sit in the active Community folder, while simulator and Marketplace content is managed separately. Manage scenery by organising packages, enabling only what you need, updating them and isolating conflicts.
What does “scenery library” mean in MSFS?
The MSFS scenery library is the complete collection of scenery packages available to the simulator, rather than one folder or a classic control panel where every scenery layer is registered manually.
At launch, Microsoft Flight Simulator discovers available packages and mounts them into its virtual file system. A package can contain an airport, landmarks, object libraries, terrain mesh, aerial imagery or several of these elements together.
| Content type | How it is managed |
|---|---|
| Manually installed PC scenery | Placed in or linked to the active Community folder |
| Marketplace and simulator content | Installed, streamed, removed or updated through the simulator's content and library controls |
| Core world data | Managed by the simulator; it should not be edited as an add-on library |
| External scenery archive | Stored wherever the user chooses and activated through links or manual copying |
The distinction matters because Marketplace scenery may not appear in Community. Removing or altering simulator-managed package files directly can cause an update, repair or redownload.
Where is Microsoft Flight Simulator scenery stored?
On PC, manually installed scenery normally belongs in the active Community folder, but its full location depends on the simulator edition, installation source and any custom packages path selected during installation.
Do not copy scenery into a Community folder found through an old guide without confirming that it is the one your present installation scans. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024 can also have separate package libraries on the same computer. We cover the correct structure and location in our MSFS 2020 package-installation procedure and our guidance on where MSFS 2024 scenery packages belong.
A conventional scenery package has manifest.json and layout.json near its package root. A mistake we see constantly is an extra wrapper folder created during extraction, leaving a structure such as Community/airport-name/airport-name/manifest.json. The inner package folder, not the wrapper, normally belongs in Community.
Xbox users cannot install arbitrary Community-folder scenery. The same restriction applies to Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 on PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro: console scenery must be obtained and managed through the simulator's supported in-game system. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 was not released on PlayStation.
How do I manage a large scenery collection?
The safest approach is to keep a separate master library and activate only the scenery required for a flight or region.
- Keep clean source copies. Store downloaded archives and extracted master packages outside
Community. This gives you a known-good copy without making every package active. - Inspect each package. Remove unnecessary wrapper folders, read any supplied instructions and note required object libraries or dependencies.
- Avoid category folders inside Community. Do not assume the simulator will reliably discover packages buried under folders such as
Europe/Airports. Organise the master library externally instead. - Use presets for different regions. PC users with many packages can manage an external library and activate it with symbolic links, avoiding repeated copying of large files.
- Replace packages cleanly when updating. Remove or disable the old version before installing its replacement. Merging new files over an old package can leave obsolete files behind.
- Keep dependencies enabled. Some airports require a separate object or asset library. Disabling that library may produce missing buildings, pink textures or empty aprons.
- Restart after changing packages. Do not move, rename or replace active scenery while the simulator is running; packages are discovered and mounted during start-up.
For a modest collection, direct installation is simpler. An external library manager becomes useful when Community takes a long time to audit, different add-ons conflict, or you maintain separate sets for airliner, bush-flying and regional operations.
Scenery priority and conflicts
Scenery priority determines which package wins when two packages alter the same airport, terrain or virtual asset, but changing order cannot make every overlapping product compatible.
Folder names and alphabetical order are not a dependable priority control. The simulator maintains package ordering internally, and available reorder controls vary between simulator versions and modes. Treat reordering as a secondary fix after eliminating duplicate coverage.
- Two add-on airports for one ICAO: enable one and disable the other. Combining them commonly produces duplicate terminals, broken taxiways or conflicting ground polygons.
- Add-on airport plus handcrafted default airport: disable the separately manageable default airport package when the add-on developer requires it.
- Airport plus regional mesh or aerial scenery: check for terrain spikes, plateaus and imagery seams. A compatibility patch may be required; priority alone may not correct elevation data.
- Missing shared library: enable the required dependency rather than moving the airport higher in the package order.
- Duplicate package versions: remove the older copy. Renaming it does not prevent both packages from loading.
After finding a stable combination, change one package at a time. Bulk enabling dozens of airports makes it much harder to identify which one introduced the fault.
Why is an installed scenery add-on not showing?
Scenery usually fails to appear because MSFS is scanning a different Community folder, the package is still compressed, its files are nested too deeply, or it is incompatible with that simulator version.
- Confirm that the add-on is extracted rather than left as a ZIP, RAR or other archive.
- Check that the package root contains its manifest and layout files.
- Make sure it is in the active Community folder for the simulator you launched.
- Verify that the package supports Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, 2024 or both; compatibility should not be assumed.
- Enable any required libraries and remove duplicate versions of the same package.
- Restart the simulator and test with other Community packages temporarily disabled.
If an otherwise valid package still does not load, follow our diagnostic checklist for Community packages that are not detected. Clearing the rolling cache is not a general fix for package discovery; it is more relevant to stale streamed imagery than to a scenery package the simulator never mounted.