I accidently started MSFS today with my Xbox camera controller unplugged. When I plugged it in I was asked default or ???. In my haste I erroneously chose default, thinking yea, the default one I use. Of course my hard earned settings are gone. I have restarted MSFS and it is telling me that a preset for the Xbox controller can not be found.
Is there a way I can restore the preset/preconfigured controller that took me weeks to fine tune so that I don’t have to start all over again? I don’t have a backup of the drive MSFS is installed on. Does MSFS back up customized settings?
Hello Roy,
With the Steam version, go to
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\userdata\139461221\1250410\remote
(perhaps the two series of numbers are differents on your PC)
You’ll find the local copy of your controllers profiles in the
inputprofile_xxxxxxxx files
Open them with the text editor, they are structured like an .xml file.
I don’t remember how I did it, it was a long time ago, but I have used them to restore my controllers settings.
At least you’ll will find inside all infos to recreate your profiles and settings.
I’ve been having some really odd things with my profiles for the last few weeks. No idea why. Been fine since I installs the sim but now it’s acting up.
Randomly, axis are being deleted from profiles that I KNOW were set and saved correctly and I have not changed anything on.
Just as randomly, I go to look and ONE axis (pitch on my “yoke disabled” profile) came BADK! I didn’t do that.
At some point the DEFAULT profile for my yoke was emptied. Yes, the one that you CANNOT even change or save over coz if you make any change it offers to save it as a new name. That is totally blank now.
I keep finding other things changed or missing. But I definitely 100% did not make those changes myself.
Very annoying and it seems to keep doing it randomly for 1 or 2 (usually axis, not buttons) on random control profiles I have set up.
Like the server is mixing them up. Or reverting to some really old ones I used to have.
Maybe I have too many. Is there a limit? Or, maybe at some point I renamed one or 2 but something is messed up recently that I have not really had the energy to try and solve with all the other issues I’ve been having in the sim of late.
When I plug a controller in that I had in use before and just plug back in with the sim already running I will be presented with this default/custom choice. If I click on „default“ it will just close the alerter and I‘m ready to fly with the last profile in use when this controller was connected. If I click „custom“ it will open the controller menu with this same profile open so I can customize it.
Note that all my controller buttons and axes are assigned externally with the exception of the HAT switches which I use for some view controls. All the profiles are called „[name of the controller] -profile 2“. The sim gave them this name in September 2020 they are that old however they have been edited slighty sometimes.
I noticed that the Xbox controller was showing as a generic (?) controller. I rebooted, MSFS recognized the controller properly, and I can control cameras again! Windows USB controller setup recognized and tested the controller properly, but MSFS didn’t see it as the Xbox controller I had programmed. After reboot it did. These kinds of things are what we love about MSFS.
Go figure!
Thanks for all the suggestions! I will buy you coffee if you come to Hood River, Oregon!
they are that old 
however they have been edited slighty sometimes.
