Free charts and a live moving map for MSFS 2020 and 2024

The short answer

MSFS does not hand you a full chart library for every airport. The default options are the EFB built into MSFS 2024, a paid chart subscription, or downloading plates yourself from each country's aeronautical publication. SimCharts sits in between: it is a free web app that shows charts from ChartFox next to a live map of your flight, and it works with both MSFS 2020 and MSFS 2024.

What you get without paying:

• Airport diagrams, departures (SIDs), arrivals (STARs) and approach charts, grouped per airport.
• Your aircraft position, heading and altitude on a moving map through the SimCharts Bridge.
• Procedures matched to the runway and flight plan you are actually flying.
• Decoded METAR and TAF, the favoured runway with headwind and crosswind, and published frequencies.
• Export back to the sim as an MSFS .PLN flight plan.

Where MSFS pilots get charts

Most simmers end up combining two or three sources. Here is how the common ones compare for MSFS. Prices change, so check each provider before you subscribe.

Navigraph is the most complete option and the right call if you need every chart worldwide with current commercial data. If you mainly fly between well-covered airports and want everything free, SimCharts gets you most of the way. For a fuller look at the trade-offs, read SimCharts as a Navigraph alternative and where to get free flight sim charts.

Set it up for MSFS

This takes a few minutes the first time. After that it is open the browser, start the sim, fly.

1. Create a free SimCharts account. No credit card is asked for.
2. Download the SimCharts Bridge for Windows and run the installer on the PC that runs MSFS 2020 or 2024.
3. Sign in on SimCharts, open the Bridge page and choose Open SimCharts Bridge. The desktop app links itself to your browser session.
4. Load your route. Import your latest SimBrief flight plan with your username or Pilot ID (see the SimBrief guide), or type the departure and destination ICAO codes.
5. Start a flight in MSFS with the Bridge running, then enable Sync with Current Flight on the map. Your aircraft appears and the map follows it.

MSFS 2020 and 2024 both talk to the Bridge through SimConnect, so the steps are the same in either sim.

Charts that follow your flight plan

A chart viewer that only lists PDFs makes you hunt for the right plate at the worst moment. SimCharts starts from your route instead. Pick a departure runway and the matching SIDs are offered first. Choose a STAR and approach for the arrival runway and the route on the map is redrawn with those legs, so you can see the arrival before you brief it.

The chart strip keeps the essential plates for departure and arrival in one row. Open one and it docks beside the map instead of covering it, with pen and eraser tools for your own notes. You can browse any airport too: try Amsterdam Schiphol, London Heathrow or New York JFK.

Weather, runway and frequencies

MSFS live weather is based on real-world data, so the real METAR at your destination usually tells you which runway is in use. SimCharts decodes the METAR and TAF into plain wind, visibility, cloud and pressure values, and works out the favoured runway with its headwind and crosswind components. Published frequencies for the airport are listed next to it, which helps when you fly online or tune the ILS.

Limits worth knowing

• Chart coverage depends on ChartFox. Europe and the US are well covered; some regions and small fields have gaps.
• Real-world charts follow the current AIRAC cycle, while your sim navdata may be older or newer. Procedure names can differ by a letter or number, so check the chart against what your FMS offers.
• The Bridge is a Windows app. Live position needs the sim running on a Windows PC.

Flying X-Plane as well? The same account works there; see charts and a moving map for X-Plane.

Questions pilots ask