How to change the MSFS installation drive/folder, Replacement of PC
The Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS2020) installation folder can be easily moved to another folder or drive later.
You can move the "Community" folder and "Official" folder to a larger capacity drive, or move them from a slow hard disk drive to a fast SSD drive.
Even if you buy a new computer, you can just copy the installation folder and you won't have to download over 150GB of data from the Internet again.
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Contents
When you buy a new computer
When you buy a new computer, first copy the MSFS2020 data from your old computer to your new computer using the procedure shown here. Next, install MSFS on the new computer, and specify the copied MSFS data folder in the screen that appears during the installation.Check the MSFS data storage folder
The MSFS2020 installation drive/folder is located under the data storage folder specified on this screen when installing the game.
If you did not specify a data storage folder during installation, it will be located in "C:\Users\[user name]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft Flight Simulator\Packages". (Steam version)
The MSFS data storage folder contains at least two folders, "Community" and "Official."
Here, we will move the MSFS data from the F drive (hard disk) to the K drive (SSD).
Move MSFS data to another drive
First, copy all of the MSFS data to another drive.
Here, we are copying it to the K drive.
Note:
If you are using the tool MSFS Addons Linker , make sure you delete all symbolic links (so that no addons are installed) from the Community folder on the source drive before copying. Otherwise, the actual files will be copied to the destination Community folder instead of the symbolic links.
How to use MSFS Addons Linker to organize your Community folders
Change the folder name of the original MSFS data.
Here, "msfsdata" is changed to "msfsdata_backup".
If you are replacing your computer, this step is not necessary.
Next, start MSFS.
The original MSFS data folder will no longer exist (its name has changed), so the following screen will be displayed.
Click on the folder name in the image on the right to specify the new (copied) folder.
If you are replacing your computer, when you install MSFS on your new computer, specify the folder you copied from your old computer on this screen.
Once MSFS starts up successfully, the folder transfer is complete.
Please note that MSFS itself will recreate the original data folder on the original drive.
You can delete both of these, along with the renamed folder.
Change the location of the Community folder
Using the free software MSFS Addons Linker , you can freely change the location of the Community folder and enable/disable add-on content with one click. This tool is useful when you want to move only the contents of the Community folder to another drive while leaving the MSFS installation folder intact.
How to use MSFS Addons Linker to organize your Community folders