How do I update navdata in Microsoft Flight Simulator?

Microsoft Flight Simulator’s stock navdata updates are free and arrive with official MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024 simulator and content updates. A current, selectable third-party AIRAC cycle is different: on PC, Navigraph data is installed through Navigraph Hub and normally requires an eligible Navigraph plan; Hub itself does not provide free current AIRAC data.

Which MSFS navdata database are you updating?

Navdata for flight simulators can exist in several separate layers, so updating the wrong one changes nothing in the cockpit you are using.

AIRAC follows a 28-day revision cycle, usually identified by a four-digit code and validity dates. A flight planner, default avionics and an add-on FMC can show different cycles because they do not necessarily read the same database.

How to update AIRAC in MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024

Use official simulator updates for Microsoft’s included database, or install the appropriate Navigraph package on PC when you need current third-party data.

MSFS 2020 official navdata and content updates

1. Update the simulator application. Check Microsoft Store, the Xbox app or Steam on PC, or the game update screen on Xbox.
2. Launch MSFS 2020. Allow its mandatory update check and installation process to finish before reaching the main menu.
3. Open Profile > Content Manager. Select the Update available filter and install outstanding first-party content updates.
4. Restart MSFS. Load an aircraft and verify the database cycle in its avionics rather than assuming the application update changed it.

If the base application or an official package will not update, follow our full MSFS 2020 update checks. Do not replace files inside the protected Official folder manually.

MSFS 2024 official navdata and content updates

1. Check for a platform update. Update MSFS 2024 through the Xbox app, Microsoft Store or Steam on PC, or through the console’s game-management screen on Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5.
2. Start the simulator. Complete any mandatory update presented before the main menu.
3. Open Marketplace > My Library. Apply items marked as having an update. Much of MSFS 2024’s content is streamed, so not every first-party item has a separate locally installed package.
4. Restart and inspect the cycle. Check the active database from the aircraft, not from the MSFS version screen.

Our MSFS 2024 update and repair steps cover stalled platform and in-simulator downloads. Microsoft does not provide a control for choosing an arbitrary stock AIRAC cycle; if no official update is offered, there is no separate stock AIRAC file to force-download.

Installing a current Navigraph AIRAC on PC

Navigraph Hub is the supported installer for compatible MSFS packages, but access to current navigation data normally requires an eligible Navigraph plan.

1. Close MSFS completely. Also close aircraft configuration tools that may be using their database files.
2. Open Navigraph Hub and sign in. Confirm that Hub has detected the correct MSFS 2020 or MSFS 2024 installation.
3. Install the central simulator package. Choose the navdata package for the MSFS version you actually run, then select install or update.
4. Install separately listed aircraft packages. If Hub presents the aircraft as its own entry, update that entry as well. Installing only central MSFS navdata will not update an FMC that uses a separate database.
5. Restart MSFS and verify the active cycle. Check the avionics database page and test a known procedure.

The Hub application being free does not make current AIRAC data free. To return to Microsoft’s stock data, remove the managed MSFS package through Hub rather than deleting assorted files from Community or Official folders.

Can I update MSFS AIRAC for free?

Microsoft’s stock navdata revisions are included with official MSFS updates at no extra charge, but their release schedule and cycle may differ from the latest published AIRAC.

A current Navigraph cycle is not supplied free merely by downloading Navigraph Hub. Be wary of manually distributed databases: an old or incorrectly formatted package can override newer stock data, create duplicate procedures or leave individual aircraft on a different cycle.

How to update Fenix A320 navdata

The Fenix A320 uses a separate Navigraph navdata package; updating central MSFS navdata alone does not update the Fenix FMGC database.

1. Confirm navdata access. Sign in to Navigraph Hub with an eligible Navigraph plan that includes navigation-data updates.
2. Close MSFS and the Fenix applications. The database should not be in use during installation.
3. Find the Fenix Simulations A320 package in Navigraph Hub. Install it or select update when a newer cycle is offered. If it is absent, refresh Hub’s detected add-ons and confirm that the Fenix installation is available on that PC.
4. Do not substitute the central MSFS package. You may install central data for default avionics as well, but the Fenix entry must be updated separately.
5. Start the aircraft and check the MCDU. Open the FMGC if necessary, press DATA, select A/C STATUS, then read the cycle and validity dates under ACTIVE NAV DATA BASE.

If a second database is displayed, do not mistake its presence for activation. The cycle shown as ACTIVE is the one the Fenix is using for route entry, SIDs, STARs and approaches.

How to check the database cycle in the iniBuilds A350

The iniBuilds A350 displays its active navigation database on the FMS STATUS page.

1. Power the aircraft and open an MFD in FMS mode.
2. Select the FMS STATUS page. This is the FMS database-status page, not the tablet’s application information or aircraft version screen.
3. Read the active navigation-database entry. Compare its AIRAC code or validity dates with the cycle you expected to install.
4. Check the status label. If both active and secondary or stored data are displayed, only the entry identified as active is being used by the FMS.

The A350 reads the central MSFS navdata source rather than the separate Fenix package. Update it through official MSFS content, or on PC by updating the correct central MSFS package in Navigraph Hub. Updating the aircraft application through iniBuilds software is not, by itself, proof that its AIRAC changed.

Can navdata be updated on Xbox or PlayStation 5?

Xbox cannot run Navigraph Hub or sideload the PC navdata packages placed in Community-style add-on locations.

On Xbox, use Microsoft’s official simulator and content updates, plus any console-compatible integration explicitly supplied with an aircraft. The same PC-package limitation applies to MSFS 2024 on PlayStation 5. MSFS 2020 was not released for PlayStation.

How do you verify that an AIRAC update worked?

A successful installer message is not enough; the cycle must be confirmed in every database involved in the flight.

• Planner: identify the cycle used to create the route and procedures.
• Default avionics: inspect the database-status or IDENT page in a stock aircraft that reads central MSFS data.
• Add-on FMC: inspect its active database page separately, especially in the Fenix or a PMDG aircraft. PMDG users should follow the separate PMDG AIRAC procedure.
• Procedure test: select a known airport and runway, then confirm that an expected SID or STAR and its transitions are available.
• Cycle state: verify that the expected cycle is marked active rather than secondary, stored or available.

An application version, aircraft version, file timestamp or installation date does not prove which AIRAC cycle is active. An old database can be installed successfully today and remain old.

Why are SIDs, STARs or waypoints still missing after an update?

Missing procedures usually indicate the wrong database, a package conflict, an obsolete installation path or a route created against another AIRAC cycle.

1. Compare the affected systems. If default avionics show the procedure but the add-on FMC does not, update the aircraft-specific package. If neither shows it, inspect the central MSFS database.
2. Repair the intended package. Close MSFS, then use Navigraph Hub to remove and reinstall the correct simulator or aircraft entry.
3. Remove duplicate navdata packages. A stale manually installed copy can conflict with the Hub-managed package. Keep one managed package for each database rather than several differently dated copies.
4. Correct moved installation paths. If MSFS or its packages were moved to another drive, update the location detected by Hub and reinstall. An abandoned Community folder on the old drive is not the active installation.
5. Test without custom airport scenery. Some airport packages contain navigation or runway overrides. Temporarily disable the affected airport, restart MSFS and check the procedure again.
6. Match the AIRAC cycles. A route made with newer data can contain renamed or withdrawn fixes that an older cockpit database cannot resolve.
7. Select the runway first. Some avionics hide SIDs, STARs, transitions or approaches that do not apply to the selected runway.

If an FMC reports NOT IN DATABASE for individual fixes after these checks, use our FMC database-error diagnosis to separate cycle mismatches from entry-format and aircraft-database problems.

Navdata supplies coded fixes, airways, frequencies and procedures; it does not create the visible runway, taxiways or terminal buildings. Built-in ATC may also fail to recognise a procedure entered only in an add-on FMC when that procedure was never loaded into the simulator’s own flight plan.