Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will happily generate an IFR flight plan for you in about ten seconds — and it will just as happily route you through a mountain at 8,900 feet if you let it. This guide walks through both ways to file IFR (the World Map planner and the in-cockpit EFB), explains how the default ATC actually uses the plan you file, and shows you the common ways the system bites people.
If you have ever filed a route, taken off, and then watched ATC quietly vector you 90 degrees away from your first waypoint, this guide is for you.
What does filing IFR actually do in MSFS 2024?
There are three ways to fly with the default ATC, and they behave very differently.
No flight plan. You can take off without filing anything. ATC will only talk to you if you initiate contact (frequency requests, flight following, IFR pickup in the air). You are responsible for everything — navigation, altitude, separation from terrain.
VFR flight following. You file VFR with a destination and ATC offers traffic advisories and basic services. Altitudes are your problem. The route is whatever you fly.
IFR. You file a specific route — usually airways connecting your departure SID to your arrival STAR — and ATC issues clearances based on it. The sim assigns you a cruise altitude, runway, and (most of the time) a departure and arrival procedure. The autopilot's NAV mode will follow this plan if your aircraft supports it.
Filing IFR is what unlocks the "full" sim ATC experience: clearance delivery, taxi instructions, departure release, climb step-ups, en-route handoffs, descent clearances, and approach vectors. It is also what gives default ATC enough information to actually plan ahead instead of reacting to whatever you do next.
Where do I file an IFR flight plan?
MSFS 2024 has two places you can build and file an IFR plan:
- The World Map — the pre-flight planner you see before loading the flight. Fastest path. Best for plans you build from scratch.
- The Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) — accessed in-cockpit with the TAB key. Use this to refine a plan after you've loaded the flight, or to file IFR after departing VFR.
Both paths end the same way: the route gets sent to your aircraft's avionics (when the aircraft supports it) and to the ATC system. They are not interchangeable in workflow, though, so here is how each one actually plays out.
How do I file IFR from the World Map?
Open the World Map from the main menu. The left-hand panel is your flight planner.
1. Pick your airports. Add an Origin and Destination by searching ICAO codes. As soon as both are set, the planner draws a straight great-circle line between them.
2. Switch the map preset. This is the step most beginners skip. The default preset shows you a VFR-style map. For IFR planning, switch the map preset to IFR Low (anything below FL180) or IFR High (FL180 and above). This overlays the actual airway structure — low-altitude airways for IFR Low, high-altitude airways (jet routes) for IFR High — so you can see what the auto-router is going to use.
3. Click Auto-Route. The planner will generate an airway-based route between the two airports. You can then select departure and arrival procedures (SID/STAR) where available. This typically takes a couple of seconds.
4. Look at the route on the map. This is the step most people skip and then regret. The auto-router does not always assign a cruise altitude high enough to clear the terrain along the route. There is a well-known Steam thread where a player followed an auto-generated IFR plan straight into a mountain at 8,900 feet. In mountainous regions — the Alps, the Rockies, the Andes, the Himalayas — you should expect to manually raise your cruise altitude above the highest MEA on any segment.
5. Pick a cruise altitude. The planner suggests one. It is not always sensible. More on the legal rules in a moment.
6. Verify the runway and procedures. The auto-router picks a departure runway and a SID/STAR based on weather, wind, and connectivity. You can override these — useful when you want to start at a specific gate or fly a specific approach.
7. Save and load. The plan rides with the flight into the cockpit.
How do I file IFR from the EFB in the cockpit?
Press TAB in the cockpit to open the Electronic Flight Bag. The Navigation/Flight Plan tab is where the action is.
The EFB lets you:
- Modify the route you filed on the World Map
- Build a new route from scratch if you didn't file one
- Change the departure runway, arrival runway, and approach procedure
- Send the result to your aircraft's avionics and/or ATC
When you're happy, the EFB gives you two options: one button sends the plan to your avionics only; another also files it with ATC so they will issue clearances based on it (exact button labels may vary by Sim Update).
Two real-world caveats:
First, the avionics push doesn't work with every aircraft. The native MSFS 2024 flight plan import is supported by stock 2024 aircraft (default aircraft built for MSFS 2024) but does not work with MSFS 2020-native aircraft running in compat mode, and a number of third-party 2024 add-ons (PMDG, Fenix at the time of writing) maintain their own flight plan systems that don't accept the EFB push. For those, you build the route in the aircraft's own FMC/CDU.
Second, if you file IFR from the EFB after already being airborne, expect a slightly awkward handoff: ATC will issue a clearance from your current position to your filed first waypoint, which may not be the most efficient line.
Use the EFB path when you're already in the cockpit, when you want to swap a procedure after looking at the weather, or when your home airport has a runway change you didn't see coming.
What altitude should I fly IFR?
The default ATC follows the same altitude conventions as real-world IFR (14 CFR 91.179). In controlled airspace ATC assigns your altitude, but they generally follow the hemispheric rule — and the sim's ATC does too:
- Below FL180 — magnetic course 0–179° (eastbound): odd thousands (3,000, 5,000, 7,000 … 17,000). Magnetic course 180–359° (westbound): even thousands (4,000, 6,000, 8,000 … 16,000).
- FL180 through FL280 — eastbound: FL190, FL210, FL230, FL250, FL270. Westbound: FL180, FL200, FL220, FL240, FL260, FL280.
- FL290 through FL410 (RVSM airspace) — same-direction cruise levels are spaced 2,000 ft apart. Eastbound: FL290, FL310, FL330, FL350, FL370, FL390, FL410. Westbound: FL300, FL320, FL340, FL360, FL380, FL400.
The default ATC mostly respects this when assigning altitudes, but it has quirks. A common one: it will assign you something like FL310 even when your filed route only goes 120 nautical miles, leaving you essentially climbing and descending the whole flight. Another: in mountainous airspace it may assign altitudes well above your filed level (FL130-140+) to maintain MEA, then refuse to let you descend until very late on the arrival.
If the assigned altitude looks wrong, you can refile in the EFB or simply request a different altitude from ATC once airborne.
Why does ATC give me a different route than SimBrief?
You will eventually hit this: you build a beautiful SimBrief OFP, load it into your FMC, push back, request IFR clearance — and ATC reads back a completely different route.
This happens because SimBrief and the default ATC use different routing engines and different navdata cycles. SimBrief uses real-world AIRAC data and pulls realistic airline routings; default ATC uses the sim's bundled navdata plus its own auto-router. They rarely agree on which airway to use through a given FIR.
There is no perfect fix. The pragmatic options are:
- Fly the SimBrief route, ignore the ATC route. Set your FMC to your SimBrief plan. When ATC issues clearances or vectors, comply if it's a vector around traffic, but otherwise stay on your FMC route. ATC will eventually catch up.
- Refile in MSFS to match SimBrief. Type the SimBrief route waypoints into the World Map manually before loading the flight. ATC will then clear you on that route.
- Don't use SimBrief for short-haul. For flights under 200 nm with the stock ATC, the World Map planner is fine and avoids the mismatch entirely.
Our dedicated SimBrief to FMC workflow guide covers the matching process in detail.
Why is ATC not following my flight plan?
SID/STAR mismatch with assigned runway. You loaded the BIG3F departure off runway 27R. ATC then assigns runway 09L for departure because the wind shifted. The SID in your FMC is now invalid. Fix: when ATC issues a runway change, reopen the EFB or your FMC's Departure page and pick a SID compatible with the new runway before you taxi.
Vectors that ignore your filed route. Default ATC will sometimes vector you off your filed route — particularly on departure ("turn left heading 270, climb FL150") and on arrival ("turn right heading 110, descend 7,000"). This is intentional traffic shaping, not a bug. The vectors usually rejoin your route at a downstream waypoint. If they don't, request "direct [next waypoint]" once you're clear of conflicts.
Late descent clearance. The most common complaint about default ATC. You're at FL360, 60 nm from the destination, and ATC still hasn't started you down. You are now well above a sensible top-of-descent. Fix: don't wait. Request descent yourself at around 100 nm out. If you're given a "descend at pilot's discretion" or "descend FL240", begin the descent at your calculated TOD, not when ATC tells you.
EFB push silently fails. You hit Send to Avionics, the EFB confirms, and the FMC shows no flight plan. The aircraft you're flying doesn't support the import. Build the route in the aircraft's native FMC/CDU instead.
Auto-routed plan through terrain. Covered above. Always look at the map before accepting an auto-route in mountainous areas. The MSFS 2024 World Map shows terrain shading — use it.
Quick-Fix Table
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| ATC reads back a different route | SimBrief vs default ATC routing engines disagree | Refile in MSFS or fly your FMC route and ignore the readback |
| FMC empty after EFB push | Aircraft doesn't support the native import | Use the aircraft's own FMC/CDU; check our SimBrief to FMC guide |
| Assigned altitude clips terrain | Auto-router ignored MEA | Refile at a higher cruise; check sectional/IFR Low map before accepting auto-route |
| Vectored off filed route | Default ATC traffic shaping | Comply, then request "direct" to next waypoint once clear |
| Descent clearance very late | Default ATC quirk | Request descent yourself ~100 nm out; start descent at calculated TOD |
| SID invalid after runway change | Wind shift, ATC reassigned runway | Reload SID/STAR for the new runway in the EFB or FMC before taxi |
| ATC ignoring you on first contact | Wrong frequency, or you forgot to file | Check you sent the plan to both avionics and ATC, not just avionics |
| Plan won't auto-route | One airport has no IFR procedures in the navdata | Add a waypoint near the airport manually, or pick a nearby IFR-capable airport |
What to Read Next
If you want the full story on procedures, our SIDs and STARs explained guide breaks down what each procedure type does and how ATC strings them together. For the readback side — what to actually say when ATC clears you to FL310 — our ATC phraseology guide walks through every standard call from clearance delivery to handoff.
The single biggest improvement most people make to their IFR flying isn't a better add-on or a fancier FMC — it's spending five minutes looking at the route on the map before clicking Fly. The sim will hand you a plan that looks reasonable in the text list and routes you through the side of a mountain. Five minutes of map-staring fixes that problem permanently.
