Do you mean the joystick doesn’t show up at all on the Options > Controls screen? Or does it show up as “blank” with no bindings?
If you don’t see it at all on the Controls setup screen and you are using Steam, try this fix
- Right-click on “Microsoft Flight Simulator” in the Steam Library
- Click “Properties”
- Change the “Steam Input Per-Game Setting” to “Forced Off”
If it does show up in Controls with no picture or bindings, that means you will need to set up the bindings yourself. There are a lot of threads on this already as well as the Forum Guides for New Pilots. The above Squirrel video linked by @vickers58 is good as is the following
Sim UK https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxVJXS6NlM0
Here are the Forum Guides links:
- MSFS Controls Guide 1: https://flightsimulator.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016018600-Peripheral-Control-Settings-Overview-and-FAQ\
- MSFS Controls Guide 2: [HOW TO] Use the Interface to Configure Your Controllers