What Is the Microsoft Flight Simulator Forums Website?

Updated

forums.flightsimulator.com is the official community forum for Microsoft Flight Simulator, operated by Microsoft and built on the Discourse platform. It is a discussion and support site, not the simulator itself and not a store. You go there to talk with other simmers, ask for flight assistance, share community content, and file bug reports for the core sim and first-party content.

What you can do there

The forum's own description states its purpose plainly: connect with other flight simmers, ask for flight assistance, or log official bug reports. In practice that breaks down into a few distinct activities:

  • Get help from other users. The User Support Hub is explicitly user-to-user support — you ask questions and other simmers answer.
  • Report bugs. The Bug Reporting Hub is for suspected or confirmed bugs that other users can reproduce.
  • Share and find community content. Screenshots, videos, tutorials, fly-in events, and groups live in the Community Content Hangar.
  • Discuss the sim and third-party products. The Discussion Hub covers core and third-party products and features.

Main sections at a glance

Section What it's for
Official Microsoft Flight Simulator Version-specific areas for MSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020, plus beta discussion (e.g., Sim Update 7 Beta for MSFS 2024)
Community Content Hangar Screenshots, videos, tutorials, fly-in events, and groups
Discussion Hub General discussion of core and third-party products and features; also a place for new members to introduce themselves
User Support Hub User-to-user help for problems
Bug Reporting Hub Bugs in the core sim and first-party content

Rules that affect how you use it

A few constraints are worth knowing before you post, because they determine whether your question or report gets answered:

  • One bug per topic. The Bug Reporting Hub asks you to post a single bug per topic and to use the voting system rather than duplicating an existing report.
  • Check first, then post. Only post a bug if you don't see it already listed, and only if other users can reproduce it.
  • Use the required template. Creating a bug report opens a template that populates when you click "New Topic" — fill it in rather than writing free-form.
  • Third-party issues don't belong here. Support and bug reporting for third-party developers should go to that developer's own support channels, not these forums. This applies in both the Discussion Hub and User Support Hub.

What it is not

It is not the simulator, and it is not a place to buy or download content. It is also not the right venue for third-party product support. If your problem involves an add-on from another developer, the forum's own guidance is to contact that developer directly.

Practical notes

The site is powered by Discourse and is best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Version numbers shown in the official section (for example, MSFS 2024 Version 1.8.16.0 and MSFS 2020 Version 1.39.12.0) reflect the state of the sim at the time the page was captured and will change over time — check the live forum for current versions. The footer links to the forum's Guidelines, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy, which are worth reading before your first post.