Hi All,
I have ordered a new PC and it should arrive soon.
My question is around my current MSFS license and how do I get it on my new PC without having to buy it again.
my second question is around moving my MSFS directory to the new PC? is it possible to put the full folder on a USB and drag and drop?
sorry if these are silly questions, very new to PC gaming!
thanks for the help
kev
Hi kev,
I’m of the understanding that as long as you are signed into windows with the same account, you should be able to install msfs on your new rig, assuming you have the game pass version.
I would also think that you would have to install fresh.
Yes sign in using your accoount and you should be able to download to new pc, I did this a few months ago, I took a copy of all my community add on’s first and then did a fresh install and added my community mods afterwards
Thank you very much!
does this include purchase from Steam?
No , sorry I didn’t specify, this was the microsoft store version. If it’s steam I would have thought you would download it from your steam library once logged in
Correct, and probably much easier than trying to re download via Microsoft.
If you have a big enough USB drive Steam is pretty forgiving about being chucked around?
Thank you very much! I would of thought due to it being installed on another PC steam would prevent it somehow!
Just to be clear, what you get from the Microsoft store or Steam is just a stub of a launcher. Everything you download once the sim starts is from Microsoft servers and is the biggest part of the program by far. Either way, on a fresh install you probably want to redownload that stub.
And you can just copy the directory structure and paste it back. If it is a non-standard location, you need to find and edit UserConfig.opt to point to the actual location before you launch the program. That way when you get to the checking for updates screen, it finds the files, inventories them, and downloads only what it needs, if anything. They are apparently compressing the files better so a full download now is in the 80GB range instead of the 150GB it used to be, but even 80GB is a lot if you don’t need to. Plus you can be up and flying much faster.
Back when FS2020 first was released, some noticed that full re-downloads eliminated bugs that updates did not. I have no idea if that is still true (or ever was) but the upside of a full download is you get a new, pristine install that may not have some of the issues that may be lurking in an updated old install. But it could also be a big unnecessary waste of time.
So you don’t have to redownload if you don’t want to, but maybe you do? Also, settings, progress, achievements, and such are stored in Microsoft’s cloud. That should follow you wherever you go.
Someone already posted this in this forum. I found my packages folder @ C:\Users<account name>\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
This should give you an idea of where to find it and back it up.
1 create new folder named MSFS 2020 on for e.g. D drive // D=new SSD
2 copy Official and Community folders from
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages
and paste to D:\MSFS 2020
3 after that go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache
4 in notepad open file named userconfig.opt
scroll down to the bottom and edit last line
e.g.
InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages"
// Packages is root game folder
// D = new SSD
change
InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages"
to for e.g.
InstalledPackagesPath "D:\MSFS 2020"
save changes
After that go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Official
delete all files and folders
Go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache\Packages\Community
Delete all files and folders
1 create new folder named MSFS 2020 on for e.g. D drive // D=new SSD
2 copy root_game_folder Packages from
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator
to D:\MSFS 2020
3 after that go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator
4 in notepad open file named userconfig.opt
scroll down to the bottom and edit last line
e.g.
InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages"
// Packages is root game folder
// D = new SSD
change
InstalledPackagesPath "C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages"
to for e.g.
InstalledPackagesPath "D:\MSFS 2020\Packages"
save changes
After that go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight\Packages\Official
delete all files and folders
Go to
C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight\Packages\Community
Delete all files and folders
Thanks everyone!
I’m literally doing this for the few add ons I have and keeping my custom views.
What I while do is copy my complete MSFS directory and copy and paste to new download and hope that works😂
I don’t recall specifics. I think one thing to be aware of is there are a set number of PC changes you’re allowed to make per year. 3 or 4?
Moving to a new system, should I expect that all purchases from MSFS market site, will re-install?
(And do I have to clean out the Community Folder before hand. LOL)
Thank-you.
Yes, once you’ve logged back into Windows and your XBox profile on the new PC, your prior purchases will be available to download in the Content Manager once you get the sim installed and running again.
(I went through this process last fall).