Folder Locations and Structure

First off apologies for the long winded nature of my query.
My installation is on “H” SSD Drive.
In C; Drive/Program Files/WindowsApps I have the directory “Microsoft.FlightSimulator_1.9.5.0_x64_8wekyb3d8bbwe” which contains 987MB of files. It also contains a “Packages” folder with four “fs-base-***” folders in it. This is an additional “Packages” folder to the one mentioned further down located in “LocalCache” folder.

In my C: Drive AppData directory as normal I have my “Local” folder inside of which I have yet another “Packages” folder where I find “Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe” and inside this I have numerous folders one of which is “LocalCache” which contains yet another “Packages” folder which contains Community and Official which in turn contains an empty “OneStore” folder.

Appears to be a lot of “Packages” folders?

Now given that my installation is on a separate SSD “H” where the “OneStore” contains all the working files my long winded query is, is the above structure normal please? Thank you Dan

PS: My simulation appears to be working fine but I am ■■■■ when it comers to knowing exactly what is in my PC.

Mine is similar to yours, as far as I can judge. On my C drive, the total content is 9Gb!

I can only presume the files on the C drive are for fast access, saving the current state etc. Those on my D drive (where I “installed” it) are the more permanent files, which don’t seem to change between updates (or if I configure them).

Yes, that is normal for your installation scenario.

Thank you. It’s just that I now have to save my flt plans in the C:/drive folder? Wonder if I can move that folder???

Thank you. That makes me feel better LOL.

You can save flight plans anywhere.

Thanks mate. It’s gonna take me a while to get used to this messy way of doing things. Now I have to sort out how to steer a slow taxi on the ground!!! Anyway took me a long time to sort out all the original MS FS’s and FSX and then X-Plane 11. Love MSFS for the scenery but much prefer X-Plane for aircraft characteristics. Thanks for all your help. Cheers dan

When I saw that 9Gb on the C drive, I got a bit worried.

It turns out most of it is the rolling cache, which I’ve now located on a different drive - but it didn’t delete the original when I changed it.

Something to watch out for.

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Where did you find that Rolling Cache folder please?

C:\Users\MYUSERNAME\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\ROLLINGCACHE.TMP

Why on earth the whole thing is in a deeply nested mire of folders produced by some random folder generator from hell is beyond me. Clearly they do not want humans to find any of this stuff, otherwise they would have installed the whole thing in C:\Program Files\MSFS\


It’s the sort of mess of folders that normally only happens after something has been developed and added to for years by coders who live in a cellar and eat bowls of Linux for breakfast.

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I imagine you are like me with just enough 'pooter knowledge to get me out of (and into) trouble. Imagine if you were just starting out and this was your first PC sim. It’s raison d’etre is obviously for XBox, not PC’s. Anyway enough whinging from me. It is what it is. :smile:

Yes, I have been breaking computers with my pesky meddling for about 39 years :slight_smile:
I can’t imagine being told as a first time simmer - here is an Airbus a320, no manual, no tutorials, and OFF you go.

The console user should not care where his files are located obviously. Unfortunately they seem to have forgotten that this is a PC release not a port from console, and PC simmers need to twiddle with config files, and those with any sense at all absolutely have to have a manual - if only to point noobs in the right direction, and for that overwhelming feeling of satisfaction gained by correcting someone who is having a rant about some feature or other.

My advice: make a shortcut to the install folder and place on your desktop next to the MSFS icon. I think it is going to become more & more necessary to tweak stuff in there.

Yes and imagine as a first time simmer trying to download and install this program in the first place before you even get a chance to actually try and fly :smile:

I think the biggest problem Asobo have had since the beginning is that they do not seem to have any long-term flight sim enthusiasts on the team. Ever since the early days, simmers have always needed to mess with files, not only tuning the sim to their hardware, but improving planes, scenery, adding effects etc. And, although many users can gradually work things out amongst themselves, it would have been so much better having someone “in the know” at Asobo to help them along the path.

This is meant to be a 10-year project, so we (the users) will have time to get there ourselves, but it would have been so much quicker with a bit of help.

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