How do I remove an aircraft add-on from MSFS?

To remove an aircraft add-on from Microsoft Flight Simulator, use the route that installed it. Close MSFS and move a manually installed package out of the Community folder; uninstall externally managed aircraft through their installer or add-on manager, and remove Marketplace aircraft through the simulator’s content-management or library screen.

Choose the correct removal method

The installation source determines how an aircraft should be removed. A mistake we see frequently is deleting an unrelated Community package when the aircraft is actually controlled by an installer or the simulator itself.

Close Microsoft Flight Simulator completely before changing files. If you are troubleshooting rather than permanently uninstalling the aircraft, move or disable it first; that gives you an easy way to restore it.

How do I remove an aircraft from the Community folder?

A manually installed aircraft is removed by taking its complete package folder out of the active Community folder.

1. Exit MSFS fully. Do not alter packages while the simulator is running, suspended or held in a console-style resume state.
2. Find the active Community folder. Its path depends on the simulator version, store installation and any custom packages location. Our guide to manually installed MSFS aircraft and Community folder locations explains how to identify the folder the simulator is actually using.
3. Identify the aircraft package. Do not rely solely on the folder name, which may use a developer name or internal product code rather than the name shown in the aircraft selector.
4. Move the entire package outside Community. Put it on the desktop or in another temporary location. Renaming it or placing it in a subfolder inside Community may not disable it because MSFS can still scan the package.
5. Launch MSFS and inspect the aircraft list. If the aircraft has disappeared and no related add-ons have broken, the correct package was removed.
6. Delete the backup only when satisfied. Keeping it temporarily makes the change reversible.

How can I identify the correct aircraft folder?

The safest clues are inside the package rather than in its outer folder name. A normal MSFS package usually has manifest.json near its top level, and that file commonly identifies the product or publisher.

• Full aircraft packages generally contain an aircraft entry under SimObjects\Airplanes, often with files such as aircraft.cfg and folders for the model, panel, sounds or textures.
• Livery packages may also use SimObjects\Airplanes, but usually provide replacement textures and configuration entries for an aircraft installed elsewhere.
• Shared libraries can have obscure names and may be required by several products from the same developer. Do not delete one merely because it was installed alongside the aircraft.
• Multi-package products may install separate aircraft, effects, avionics or support folders. Use the product’s installer or manager when one is available rather than guessing which components belong together.

What if an installer or add-on manager installed it?

An installer-managed aircraft should be disabled or uninstalled through the same program that installed it.

1. Open the original installer or manager.
2. Find the product in its installed-content list. Search by aircraft, product or publisher name.
3. Choose disable for testing or uninstall for removal. Disabling is preferable when diagnosing crashes, long loading times or compatibility problems.
4. Allow the process to finish. The tool may need to remove links, external applications, shared modules or configuration entries as well as the visible aircraft folder.
5. Restart MSFS and verify the result.

Some managers store the real package outside Community and create a symbolic link inside it. Deleting that link manually may be temporary—the manager can recreate it—or it may leave the product marked as installed. If the aircraft came with a conventional uninstaller, use that instead of manually removing unknown files elsewhere on the PC.

How do I uninstall a Marketplace aircraft?

Marketplace and other in-sim managed aircraft must be removed from Microsoft Flight Simulator’s installed-content or library interface.

1. Open the simulator’s content-management area. Its exact name and location differ between MSFS versions and platforms.
2. Filter for installed or owned content.
3. Find the aircraft by product, publisher or aircraft-family name.
4. Select uninstall or remove where that option is available. Some products are divided into a core package and separate liveries or enhancements.
5. Quit and restart the simulator if the menu does not refresh.

Uninstalling a purchased Marketplace package removes its installed local content; it does not normally remove the purchase from your account, so it can be installed again. Our explanation of how the MSFS Marketplace manages purchases and installations covers the practical differences from Community add-ons.

If no removal control is offered, the aircraft may be required base content or content managed or streamed by that simulator version. Do not try to force its removal by pruning the Official package tree manually.

Can I just delete the aircraft folder?

Yes, but only for a verified manual package in Community that is not a manager-created link or shared dependency.

Moving the folder elsewhere first is safer than immediate deletion. Never delete the entire Community folder to remove one aircraft, and do not assume every similarly named folder belongs exclusively to that product.

Why is the aircraft still showing after removal?

An aircraft that remains in the selection menu is usually loading from another package, another installation method or an MSFS session that has not fully restarted.

• The wrong folder was removed. The deleted package may have been a livery, sound pack or enhancement rather than the base aircraft.
• A second copy exists. Check for both a manual Community copy and a separately managed installation.
• The manager restored its link. Disable or uninstall the product inside the manager.
• The wrong simulator was changed. MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024 can use separate Community locations and similarly named package builds.
• The aircraft is included content. Removing a modification does not remove the underlying first-party aircraft.
• MSFS was not fully restarted. Quit to the desktop and relaunch rather than merely returning to the main menu.

Do not begin by deleting package indexes, caches or unrelated configuration files. First confirm the active Community path and search for duplicate packages; our aircraft package-location and duplicate-folder troubleshooting also covers the same installation faults that can leave add-ons in an unexpected state.

Will removing the aircraft also remove its liveries and settings?

Separate liveries, compatibility patches and enhancement packages may remain installed after the base aircraft is removed. Remove those packages individually if they are no longer needed, but leave shared libraries in place unless you know no other add-on uses them.

Installer-based aircraft can also store settings or support applications outside Community. This is another reason to use the supplied uninstall function rather than treating every aircraft as a single-folder package.

Is removal different in MSFS 2020, MSFS 2024 or Xbox?

The core rule is unchanged: remove manual PC packages from Community and managed packages through the system that installed them.

The folder path, library wording and amount of locally installed or streamed content can differ between MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024. If both simulators are installed, confirm which Community folder and aircraft build you are changing.

Xbox console users do not have normal file-system access to a Community folder, so aircraft must be managed through the simulator’s own library and content controls. If an aircraft cannot be selected for removal there, it should not be deleted manually.