Build, automate and troubleshoot your setup.

Quick start

1. Add your Flight Simulator step.Choose MSFS 2024 or MSFS 2020 from Add Flight Simulator.
2. Add companion applications.Use Add application for vPilot, FSUIPC, MobiFlight, AutoFPS or any other utility.
3. Choose when each step may continue.For example: process running, SimConnect connected, flight loaded, a TCP connection or a fixed delay.
4. Add Watchers for event-driven automation.Watchers can react independently when a condition changes and can run one or multiple executions.
5. Save the profile and run it.Your sequence and Watchers are stored together in the profile.

Startup sequence

The Startup Orchestrator runs strictly from top to bottom. For each step, it first performs the action and then waits until its continue condition or conditions are satisfied. Only then does the next step begin.

Phase labels such as Pre-flight, Simulator, After SimConnect, After flight loaded and Other are for organization only. The actual row order controls execution.

Timeout and errors

Each sequence step has a timeout. A timeout of 0 means wait indefinitely. You can choose whether a timeout stops the sequence or continues to the next step. Application/action launch failures can also be configured to either stop or continue.

Actions reference

Actions describe what MSFS Startup Manager should do. Most actions can be used both as a sequence step and as a Watcher execution. Availability is shown on each item.

Conditions reference

Conditions decide when a sequence step may continue or when a Watcher should trigger. Sequence conditions are checked roughly every 0.75 seconds while a step is waiting. Watchers use their configured check interval.

Watchers

Watchers run independently in the background while MSFS Startup Manager is open. They do not block the startup sequence. Each Watcher has one or more conditions and one or more ordered executions.

Trigger behavior

Trigger if already true when armed

Enable this if a Watcher should run immediately when its condition is already true at startup or after re-arming. Leave it disabled when you specifically want to wait for a new false → true transition.

Check interval

Controls how often conditions are evaluated. The minimum is 0.25 seconds and the default is 1 second. A custom-command condition is executed again on every check.

Cooldown

Prevents a Watcher from firing again too quickly. This is most important for Repeat while condition stays true.

Action start delay

Waits the configured number of seconds after the trigger before the execution list starts. The Watcher Manager shows a live countdown. A value of 0 starts immediately. Re-arm, disable or edit the Watcher to cancel a pending countdown.

Multiple executions

Use + Add execution to add more actions. They run sequentially from top to bottom after the shared trigger and optional start delay. Use Move up and Move down to control the order. If one execution fails, the remaining executions are not run and the Watcher shows an action error.

Run action now is for testing: it runs the complete execution list immediately and ignores the Watcher start delay.

Third-party application interaction

For desktop automation, target a visible window by title text, process name, or both. When both are supplied they must identify the same visible application window.

Press UI control

Use UI Automation whenever the target application exposes a proper button or control. It is generally the most reliable method because it targets the control rather than screen coordinates.

Send keyboard shortcut

Useful when the application already provides a keyboard shortcut. The manager activates the target window before sending the keys.

Click relative position

Use this as a fallback for custom graphical interfaces. Coordinates are relative to the application’s client area, so the action is less dependent on the window’s desktop position.

SimConnect

SimConnect is optional for general Windows automation but required for simulator-aware conditions. When available, the manager connects/reconnects automatically and displays current simulator, aircraft, ground and engine state at the top of the main window.

Advanced comparison examples:

AIRSPEED INDICATED | > | 30
AUTOPILOT MASTER | == | 1
SIM ON GROUND | == | 0
TITLE | contains | A320
GENERAL ENG COMBUSTION:1 | == | 1

Administrator-required applications

Application launches can use one of three privilege modes: Normal, Administrator - ask with UAC, or Administrator - no prompt (pre-authorized).

The no-prompt task runs only as your current logged-in user. No password is stored and it is not run as SYSTEM. If the application, arguments or working directory are changed, run Set up / update no-prompt launch again.

Use Elevated launches in the main window to review or remove created tasks.

Profile shortcuts

Create shortcut saves the current profile and creates a Windows .lnk. Opening that shortcut launches MSFS Startup Manager, loads that exact profile and automatically starts its sequence.

The shortcut stays linked to the JSON profile, so later saved changes are picked up automatically. You can create different desktop shortcuts for different aircraft or flight setups.

Data and logs

Your user data is stored outside the application:

%USERPROFILE%\MSFS Startup Manager\
    settings.json
    profiles\
    logs\
    elevated_tasks.json

profiles contains your saved sequence/Watcher profiles. logs contains diagnostic history. elevated_tasks.json tracks the pre-authorized administrator launches created by the application.

Troubleshooting