How do I ask for flight assistance or get help on the Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums?

Post your question in the User Support Hub, which the forum describes as the section "for user-to-user support" where you can "ask questions here to other simmers who may be able to help with your issue." That is the right place for general help with the simulator. Two things to check before you post: if your problem involves a third-party product, the forum states that "3rd Party Support/Bug Reporting should be sent to the designated support funnels of each 3rd Party Developer, and should not be conducted in these forums." And if you believe you have found a bug in the core sim or first-party content, that belongs in the Bug Reporting Hub instead, not the support hub.

Choose the right section first

The forum separates help requests by what is actually broken or in question. Picking the correct section is the difference between getting an answer and getting your topic moved or ignored.

The forum is explicit that third-party support and bug reporting "should not be conducted in these forums," so a question about an add-on developer's product will not be handled here no matter how you phrase it.

Before you post: search and check the bug list

The Bug Reporting Hub instructs users to "Utilize the voting system and only post if you do not see your bug listed." The same logic applies to support questions: if someone has already asked your question, you will usually get a faster answer by reading that thread than by starting a new one.

A practical check before posting:

1. Search the forum for the exact symptom, not just the product name.
2. If you find an existing topic, read it fully — the answer may be in a later reply.
3. If it is a bug, look for it in the Bug Reporting Hub and use the voting system rather than creating a duplicate.
4. Only start a new topic if nothing matches.

If you do post, give other simmers enough to work with

The people answering are other simmers, not a support desk with access to your machine. Your post needs to let a stranger reproduce or at least understand the problem.

Include:

• What you were doing — aircraft, phase of flight, location, and whether it is a default or third-party item.
• What you expected and what actually happened.
• Your sim version — the forum lists current versions as msfs-2024 Version: 1.8.16.0 and msfs-2020 Version: 1.39.12.0, so state which sim and build you are on.
• What you have already tried, so people do not repeat suggestions.
• Evidence — a screenshot, video, or exact error text if you have one.

For bug reports specifically, the forum notes that a "required template that populates when you click 'New Topic'" appears, and that you should "post one bug per topic." Fill the template in rather than replacing it with free-form text, and keep each report to a single issue.

Common places people go wrong

• Posting a third-party problem in the User Support Hub. It will be redirected to the developer's support funnel; you lose time.
• Filing a bug as a support question. Bugs need the Bug Reporting Hub and its template so they can be tracked and voted on.
• Duplicating an existing report. The forum asks you to post only if your bug is not already listed.
• Combining several bugs in one topic. The instruction is one bug per topic, which keeps voting and tracking meaningful.
• Leaving out the sim version. With two active sim versions in the forum, an answer for one may not apply to the other.

What to expect back

The User Support Hub is user-to-user, so responses come from other simmers and depend on someone recognizing your issue. Clear, specific posts with version numbers and evidence are the ones that get useful replies; vague posts tend to stall. If your issue turns out to be a reproducible bug rather than a usage question, move it to the Bug Reporting Hub with the template so it can be voted on and tracked properly.