What is MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager, and how do I use it?

Pop Out Panel Manager is a third-party Windows utility that automates Microsoft Flight Simulator’s detachable avionics windows. It records which displays to open, then restores their size and position across one or more monitors. It does not add new instruments; it repeats and manages the simulator’s built-in pop-out process.

What does Pop Out Panel Manager do?

MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager, often shortened to POPM, turns a repetitive manual procedure into a reusable aircraft profile. It can open compatible displays such as a PFD, MFD or flight-management screen, move their windows to saved locations and apply supported presentation options such as title-bar removal.

The underlying panels still come from Microsoft Flight Simulator. If an instrument cannot be detached using the simulator’s normal mechanism, POPM generally cannot turn it into a fully interactive pop-out. Our guide to manually detaching cockpit instruments explains which displays respond to Right Alt-click and what the simulator itself permits.

The manager is most useful for a permanent home cockpit or a desk with dedicated avionics screens. Manual pop-outs remain simpler when you only detach one display occasionally.

How do you set up MSFS Pop Out Panel Manager?

Create one profile for each aircraft or cockpit variant, register its displays, and save the resulting window layout. Labels can vary between POPM releases, but the working sequence is consistent.

1. Install a compatible release. Use a trusted build that explicitly supports your edition of Microsoft Flight Simulator. POPM is an external Windows application, so it cannot be installed on Xbox or PlayStation.
2. Configure the monitors first. In Windows, extend the desktop and arrange each display in its physical position. Set the resolutions and scaling levels you intend to keep; changing them later can invalidate saved panel coordinates.
3. Load and prepare the aircraft. Enter the cockpit, switch on electrical and avionics power, and place the camera where every source display is visible. Wait for the instruments to finish loading.
4. Create or select an aircraft profile. Allow the manager to associate the profile with the loaded aircraft where supported. Separate profiles are sensible for variants whose cockpit layouts differ.
5. Register each instrument. Choose the manager’s add-panel or panel-selection command, then follow its displayed prompt to select the usable screen area in the virtual cockpit. Repeat this for every required display.
6. Run the pop-out sequence. Keep Microsoft Flight Simulator focused and avoid moving the mouse while POPM sends the required clicks. The instrument windows should appear one after another.
7. Arrange and save the windows. Move each panel to its destination monitor, resize it and apply optional border, title-bar or touch settings offered by your POPM build. Save or confirm the profile after positioning.
8. Reuse the profile after loading the aircraft. Start the saved pop-out routine only after the cockpit and avionics are ready. Some releases can automate this trigger, but a manual start is easier to diagnose when a profile is new.

Do not manually open the same instruments before running an automated profile. Existing pop-outs can upset the expected window order, produce duplicates or cause the wrong saved position to be applied.

Does Pop Out Panel Manager work with every aircraft?

No. Compatibility depends on whether the aircraft exposes its instrument screens through Microsoft Flight Simulator’s native pop-out system.

Many glass-cockpit displays work, but conventional gauges, decorative screens, unusual add-on avionics and complete cockpit sections may not. An aircraft update can also move a display’s clickable area, requiring you to register that panel again. POPM may offer touch or mouse-emulation features, but a touch monitor does not make an unsupported instrument interactive.

Why is Pop Out Panel Manager not opening or positioning panels?

Most failures come from an unpowered display, changed monitor geometry, an obstructed source panel or lost simulator focus. Check these causes in order:

• The wrong area is clicked: restore the cockpit camera used during profile creation, make the whole display visible and register its source position again.
• The panel opens blank: confirm aircraft power, avionics switches and instrument dimmers first. If the cockpit display itself is lit but its detached copy is black, use our blank-avionics troubleshooting checks.
• The window is off-screen: reconnect the original monitors or restore their previous Windows arrangement, resolution and scaling. Otherwise, reset that panel’s position and save the profile again.
• Automated clicks do nothing: return focus to the main simulator window and close any dialog or overlay covering the instrument. The manager and simulator should run at the same Windows privilege level; running one as administrator and the other normally can block input automation.
• The wrong panel opens: close all detached windows, verify the aircraft profile and rerun it without touching the mouse. Recapture the source positions if the aircraft’s cockpit has changed.
• Cockpit mouse control stops afterwards: click back inside the main simulator window. If dragging still fails, follow the fixes for restoring cockpit mouse panning.

Does Pop Out Panel Manager affect frame rate?

POPM does not remove the performance cost of detached avionics windows. Microsoft Flight Simulator must render and update each additional instrument surface, so several large pop-outs can reduce frame rate or increase frame-time variability.

Use only the displays you need, avoid unnecessarily large panel windows and reduce the simulator’s glass-cockpit refresh-rate setting where that option is available. If performance drops sharply, compare the same flight with all pop-outs closed; that separates the simulator’s extra display-rendering cost from the manager’s automation.