How to install 2024 core files in default location on C: and packages and Community folder in a custom location

User Support Hub Install, Performance & Graphics
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I’ve had 2020 installed for 5+ years on C. I now want to install 2024 for the first time and have it install its core files in the default location on C: but have my packages, Official folder, and Community folder on D:\MSFS 2024. I’ve read the posts on how to do this, many of them over a year old, and all I see are contradictory statements. So, I apologize for asking a question that’s been beaten to death, but now that MSFS 2024 is starting into its second year, is there at last a method to accomplish this that’s standardized and widely accepted?

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  1. Install FS2024 on C:.
  2. Check where the Packages folder is installed by looking at the last line of the UserCfg.opt file.
  3. Physically move the Packages folder to D:MSFS.
  4. Edit the UserCfg.opt file to show where you moved the Packages folder to.
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I’m in the middle of a flight right now, but if you are using the Steam or Store version you should be able to find UserOpt.cfg in a folder such as “C:\Users\youruser\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024”.

Edit the “InstalledPackagesPath” entry. For example, I created a folder on drive “E:” called “Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024” and created a sub-folder called “Packages”. I set my installed packages path like this:

InstalledPackagesPath “E:\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\Packages”

And set the path to my Rolling Cache path to:

“E:\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024”

This creates a folder structure on drive E: that looks like this:

  • E:\
    • Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
      • Packages
        • Community
        • Community2024
        • Official2020
        • Official2024
        • StreamedPackages
      • ROLLINGCACHE.CCC
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I created E:\MSFS 2024 before I posted the question :grinning_face: However, I didn’t dare proceed further, so thanks for the modern guidance. I trust it much more than posts from a year ago

1 – Would you guys advise letting the MS Store install or would you use the Xbox App as some have advised?

2 – if simply letting the MS Store install it, is one prompted at any point to choose directories? If so, do you simply follow the defaults the installer offers all the way through?

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I haven’t ever used the Xbox App or the MS Store before, but I would say that you need to install it anyway before you can update the UserOpt.cfg. It doesn’t download streamed packages until you actually run it the first time, so you should have time to edit your community folder path before you run it.

There is a way to set or move your community folder in game. Here’s how:

  1. Go to the Marketplace
  2. Click on My Library
  3. Click the Gear icon to the right of the search box.
  4. Click the Modify button and it will let you select a new folder.
  5. Click the Confirm button to commit your changes and move the folder.

And to set your Rolling Cache folder:

  1. At the main menu, click the Gear icon in the upper right to get to Settings.
  2. Click the Online category.
  3. Scroll down to Rolling Cache Settings.
  4. Set your Rolling Cache Path first (if desired). Takes effect immediately.
  5. Set your Rolling Cache Limit (GiB) next (if desired). Takes effect immediately. This may take a few minutes to update your cache file.
  6. Click the Save and Back button to exit Settings.
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Either one is okay.

MS Store:
You select the drive.
The FS2024 app is installed in the drive:\XboxGames folder.
FS2024 is installed in the drive:\WpSystem folder.

Xbox:
You can create a folder to install to like D:\FS2024.

No. You can only select the drive.
There are no defaults; as in there are no other choices.

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Thanks very much to both of you who were so kind as to provide answers. Your info has allowed me to avoid an installation mess. I don’t see why Microsobo can’t simply make these options part of the installation process, but until they do, I think I have the recipe.

BTW, I actually preordered 2024 and paid for it 19 Nov., 2024. I initially had decided to wait two weeks to install it in order to let the servers recover from opening day shock. Reading the horror stories on these fora made the two weeks turn into 2 months, then 6 months, and 13 months. SU 4 has allowed me to take the plunge, but I might now wait another 11 days just to be able to jokingly say that the release fiasco made me so angry at Microsoft that I didn’t install 2024 until 2026.

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You’d only be hurting yourself if you did.

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Use MS Store.
Select the drive you want to install it on.

Takes just a few minutes.

Hit the skies…

If you don’t like it, de-install.
No harm, no foul.

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Note that I said i could “jokingly” say I was mad at Microsoft. I’m not really angry at all. I should explain my reasoning. I’ve always “liked” FS 2024. I just wasn’t willing to put up with the bugs when I had a perfectly functioning 2020. The latter works so well for me, and has always worked so well, that I may not have upgraded had I been sure that 2020 would continue in active development for a long time. I don’t really believe it will, so moving to 2024 at some point is sort of mandatory, but I wanted to continue with 2020 until a significant majority of the myriad of bugs at launch had been fixed. I think that after SU4, they have. It’s just that I’ve never been in any rush to do this upgrade.

Thanks again for all the help.