MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager: what is it and how do I use it?

Pop Out Panel Manager (POPM) automates Microsoft Flight Simulator’s native avionics pop-outs, reopening supported PFD, MFD and FMS windows at saved sizes and positions. Use the Windows-only POPM 4.x release line for MSFS 2024; it also supports MSFS 2020, while the older 3.x line is for MSFS 2020 only.

What does MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager actually do?

POPM turns a repetitive manual process into a reusable, aircraft-specific profile. It records the cockpit locations of compatible instruments, opens them through Microsoft Flight Simulator’s own pop-out system, and moves the resulting windows to saved positions across one or more monitors.

It does not install new avionics or make every cockpit screen detachable. The underlying panel must normally respond to the simulator’s Right Alt-click method. Our explanation of the native MSFS instrument pop-out method covers that process and the types of display the simulator can detach.

Which Pop Out Panel Manager release works with MSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020?

Use POPM 4.x for MSFS 2024 on Windows; the same release line also supports MSFS 2020. The older 3.x branch is a legacy MSFS 2020-only version and should not be used for a new MSFS 2024 profile.

MSFS 2020 users who only need the manual method can follow our focused MSFS 2020 second-screen instrument workflow. POPM becomes useful when that layout needs to be restored repeatedly.

Installing Pop Out Panel Manager for MSFS 2024

Install or extract a trusted POPM 4.x build whose release notes explicitly include MSFS 2024 support. POPM runs beside the simulator as a Windows application; it does not belong in the MSFS Community folder.

1. Obtain the correct release. Use the project’s official release channel rather than an unverified repackaged copy. Confirm that the release description names MSFS 2024 and retain a backup of any existing profiles before upgrading.
2. Follow the package instructions. Some releases may be supplied as an installer and others as an extracted application. Place it in a normal writable Windows location rather than inside the simulator’s package directories.
3. Prepare the displays. Connect every monitor before building the profile. In Windows Display Settings, choose Extend these displays, arrange them to match their physical positions, and select the resolutions and scaling values you intend to keep. Duplicate mode cannot provide independent destinations for separate avionics windows. Our Windows extended-desktop setup for a second flight-sim monitor covers the display side in more detail.
4. Keep the display geometry stable. Mixed resolutions and scaling levels can work, but changing them later alters the virtual desktop coordinates used by saved panel positions. Changing the primary monitor can have the same effect.
5. Match Windows privilege levels. Run both MSFS and POPM normally wherever possible. If the simulator is deliberately run as administrator, POPM must use the same privilege level; otherwise Windows may block its automated input.
6. Keep MSFS in the foreground when required. POPM must be able to send clicks to the cockpit. Dismiss menus, toolbar windows and overlays before running the automation, then avoid using the mouse until the sequence has finished.

Setting up MSFS 2024 cockpit panel pop-outs

The reliable setup order is to prepare the aircraft first, establish a repeatable cockpit view, register every source display and only then arrange the detached windows.

1. Load the aircraft into a flight. Wait until the cockpit and avionics have finished initialising. Switch on electrical and avionics power, set the display dimmers correctly and confirm that each required screen is working in the cockpit.
2. Establish the cockpit camera. Position the view so every source instrument is visible and unobstructed. A saved custom cockpit camera is useful because POPM’s automated clicks depend on the instruments appearing in the same screen locations.
3. Create an aircraft-specific profile. Create or select a profile for the loaded aircraft. Use separate profiles for cockpit variants that place their displays differently, even when the external aircraft model is similar.
4. Register each source display. Use POPM’s panel-selection function and follow its prompt to mark a point inside the active screen area, not its bezel or nearby controls. Add the PFD, MFD, navigation display, FMS or CDU individually where the aircraft exposes them as separate native pop-outs.
5. Run the automation. Close any manually opened panel windows, start the profile and leave the simulator focused. Do not move the cockpit camera or use the mouse while POPM sends its clicks and identifies the new windows.
6. Position the resulting panels. Move each detached window to its destination monitor, resize it and verify that the correct source panel has been assigned. Keep title bars visible while tuning the layout because they make misplaced windows easier to recover.
7. Save and verify the profile. Save the panel order, dimensions, coordinates and any supported border or title-bar preferences. Close the pop-outs, reload the profile and run it again before relying on automatic activation.

Do not manually pop out the same instruments before starting a saved sequence. Existing windows can change the expected creation order, produce duplicates or cause POPM to move the wrong display.

Assigning PFD, MFD and FMS pop-outs to separate displays in MSFS 2024

Place each panel on its own monitor while Windows is using an extended desktop, then save those window coordinates in the aircraft profile. The monitors must remain connected and arranged in the same Windows geometry when the profile is reused.

• PFD and MFD: Register them as separate sources only when the aircraft allows each one to become an independent native window. POPM cannot split a combined display that MSFS exports as one window.
• FMS or CDU: Some aircraft provide a detachable screen but leave the keypad controls in the 3D cockpit. A popped-out image is not necessarily a complete interactive control unit.
• Scaling and resolution: Matching values across monitors make positioning easier, but they are not mandatory. Stability matters more: changing scaling, resolution, orientation or primary-display selection can invalidate saved coordinates.
• Title bars and borders: Leave them enabled until the layout works reliably, then use POPM’s supported removal option for a cleaner instrument display. A borderless off-screen panel is harder to identify and recover.
• Large or touch displays: Size the panel to the instrument rather than filling the monitor without need. Touch behaviour depends on the aircraft’s native pop-out and the Windows touch mapping; POPM cannot make a non-interactive panel interactive.

Do I need a separate profile for every aircraft?

Use a separate profile for each aircraft or cockpit variant whose display locations differ, and keep MSFS 2024 profiles separate from MSFS 2020 profiles. Aircraft identifiers, camera geometry and clickable screen locations may not carry over reliably between the two simulators.

A complete rebuild is not always necessary. If one aircraft update moves a PFD click target, recapture that panel. If only the monitor arrangement changes, reposition the resulting windows and resave their destinations. Recreate the whole profile when the cockpit layout, aircraft association or panel order has changed substantially.

MSFS 2024 compatibility, limitations and performance

POPM automates MSFS 2024’s existing pop-out system; compatibility is determined primarily by the simulator and the aircraft, not by the manager. A profile can only automate displays that the underlying method can open or otherwise capture through features supported by that POPM build.

Glass-cockpit PFDs, MFDs and navigation displays are common candidates. Conventional analogue gauges, decorative screens, unusual add-on avionics and complete cockpit sections may not be detachable. Aircraft updates can also move or replace a display’s clickable region, leaving an older profile aimed at the wrong coordinates.

Does Pop Out Panel Manager make unsupported displays interactive?

No. If a display does not respond to the simulator’s manual Right Alt-click method, POPM cannot turn it into a normal interactive native pop-out. If a POPM release offers a custom cropped or captured view, that view may be visual only; mouse and touch input still depend on what the aircraft and simulator expose.

How much performance do multiple pop-outs cost?

Every detached avionics window adds rendering and display-update work inside Microsoft Flight Simulator. POPM automates window creation and placement, but it does not remove that cost.

Several large PFD, MFD and navigation windows can reduce frame rate or make frame times less consistent, especially when they cover a high combined pixel area. Use only the panels needed for the flight, avoid making them larger than necessary and lower the simulator’s glass-cockpit refresh setting where that option is available. Comparing the same aircraft with all pop-outs closed separates the simulator’s rendering cost from POPM’s automation.

How do I fix Pop Out Panel Manager panels that will not pop out in MSFS 2024?

Start by confirming that the instrument works with MSFS 2024’s manual pop-out command, then check cockpit readiness, source visibility, simulator focus, saved coordinates and Windows privilege levels in that order.

1. Confirm that the cockpit is ready. Load fully into the flight, power the aircraft and wait for the avionics to initialise. Check dimmers as well as electrical switches. If a detached window opens but stays black, POPM has completed the pop-out; the remaining problem is usually aircraft power, brightness or the simulator’s rendering state.
2. Test the source manually. Hold Right Alt and click the visible instrument. If MSFS 2024 does not open it manually, POPM cannot automate it as a native panel. Close the manual test window before trying the profile again.
3. Restore the source-display view. Return to the cockpit camera used when the profile was created. The source must be visible at the expected screen coordinates and not covered by a yoke, menu, toolbar panel, another application or an overlay.
4. Clear old pop-outs and restore focus. Close every detached avionics window, dismiss simulator dialogs and bring the main MSFS window to the foreground. Start POPM’s sequence and do not touch the mouse or keyboard until it finishes.
5. Recapture changed click targets. An aircraft update can move a screen, alter its bezel or replace its avionics implementation. Register the affected source panel again rather than repeatedly running an obsolete profile.
6. Look for an off-screen window. A panel may have opened at saved coordinates belonging to a disconnected monitor. Use Alt+Tab to select it, then try Win+Shift+Left/Right Arrow to move it between displays. Restoring the original Windows monitor arrangement can also bring it back. Reposition and resave the panel afterwards.
7. Check resolution and scaling. If panels open on the wrong monitor or at an unexpected size, restore the display arrangement used during profile creation. Otherwise, reset the saved positions and create a new layout for the revised Windows geometry.
8. Match administrator permissions. Input automation may fail when one application is elevated and the other is not. Close both, restart them at the same privilege level and run the profile again.
9. Verify the aircraft profile. A profile for the wrong variant may click an unrelated control or open the wrong screen. Select the exact aircraft profile, restore its saved camera and rerun it from a clean state.