Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is more immersive than ever before. From detailed aircraft systems and breathtaking scenery to Career Mode, firefighting missions and glider flying, there's an incredible amount to experience. But with so many features comes an equally large number of controls, and constantly searching through cockpit panels or on-screen menus can interrupt the flow of your flight. That's where keyboard shortcuts become invaluable.
Learning just a handful of the most useful shortcuts can make flying feel smoother, faster and much more enjoyable. Whether you're preparing for departure, managing your aircraft during cruise or making a precision landing, the right keyboard command can save precious seconds and help you keep your attention focused on flying.
Below are 25 of the most useful Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 keyboard shortcuts that every virtual pilot should learn. These commands cover everything from engine management and flight controls to camera views, navigation and autopilot functions. Mastering them will not only improve your efficiency but also make every flight feel more natural and immersive.
1. Auto Start Engine — Ctrl + E
One of the first shortcuts every Microsoft Flight Simulator pilot learns is Ctrl + E.
Rather than working through an entire cold-and-dark startup procedure, this shortcut automatically starts the aircraft's engines and prepares it for departure. It's perfect for new pilots who are still learning the simulator, but even experienced flyers regularly use it when they simply want to get airborne quickly.
It's particularly useful when practising take-offs and landings, testing a new aircraft or jumping into a quick flight after work without spending several minutes completing startup checklists.
2. Engine Auto Stop — Ctrl + Shift + E
Once you've reached your destination, Ctrl + Shift + E performs the opposite task by shutting down the aircraft's engines.
Rather than individually switching off fuel pumps, magnetos and engine systems, this shortcut provides a quick and tidy shutdown sequence, making it ideal when you've completed a successful flight and are ready to park up.
3. Toggle Landing Gear — /
Landing gear is one of the most important aircraft systems during every flight.
Pressing / instantly raises or lowers the landing gear on compatible aircraft. Forgetting your landing gear is one of the most common mistakes made by new virtual pilots, so having this shortcut committed to memory can save you from an embarrassing belly landing.
Because it's only a single key press, you can quickly retract the gear after take-off or deploy it on final approach without hunting around the cockpit.
4. Increase Flaps — B
Flaps generate additional lift, allowing aircraft to fly safely at lower speeds.
Press B to extend the flaps gradually, helping you slow down smoothly during approach and improving stability before landing. Incremental flap deployment also reduces stress on the aircraft compared to deploying full flaps immediately.
5. Decrease Flaps — V
Once airborne, leaving the flaps extended creates unnecessary drag and reduces climb performance.
Using V gradually retracts the flaps, allowing the aircraft to accelerate naturally after take-off and return to an efficient cruise configuration. It's also useful during missed approaches or go-arounds when cleaning up the aircraft for another climb.
6. Toggle Parking Brakes — Ctrl + Space
Before starting the engines or entering flight plans into the avionics, it's essential that your aircraft stays exactly where it is.
Ctrl + Space toggles the parking brake on or off, making it quick and easy to secure the aircraft while carrying out pre-flight checks or requesting ATC clearance.
7. Apply Brakes — Space
The Space key applies the wheel brakes whenever you need to slow down on the ground.
Whether you're exiting the runway after landing, controlling your taxi speed or holding short of an active runway, instant braking gives you much finer control than relying on engine power alone.
8. Increase Throttle — R
Pressing R increases engine power in small increments.
This gives you smooth control during taxiing, climb and cruise, allowing you to make precise adjustments rather than large changes that could upset the aircraft's balance.
9. Decrease Throttle — F
Reducing engine power is just as important as increasing it.
The F key decreases throttle gradually, making it much easier to control descent rates, reduce speed before landing or slow down while taxiing around busy airports.
10. Toggle Autopilot Master — Ctrl + 1
Modern aircraft rely heavily on autopilot during longer flights.
Ctrl + 1 quickly enables or disables the autopilot master without requiring you to search around the cockpit. Whether you're settling into cruise or taking manual control for landing, this shortcut saves valuable time.
11. Toggle Autopilot Altitude Hold — Ctrl + F2
Maintaining a constant altitude manually over long periods can become tiring.
Press Ctrl + F2 to activate Altitude Hold, allowing the aircraft to maintain its current altitude automatically while you concentrate on navigation, communications or route planning.
12. Toggle Autopilot Heading Hold — Ctrl + F5
Need to keep flying on your current heading?
Ctrl + F5 activates Heading Hold, allowing the autopilot to maintain your selected direction. This is particularly useful after departure or when ATC instructs you to continue on a specific heading.
13. Toggle Autopilot Approach Hold — Ctrl + F3
Approach Hold is one of the most valuable autopilot modes available.
By pressing Ctrl + F3, compatible aircraft can capture localiser and glide slope signals during an ILS approach, helping guide the aircraft smoothly towards the runway with minimal pilot input.
14. Set Altimeter — ,
An incorrectly set altimeter can cause inaccurate altitude readings, particularly during IFR flying.
Fortunately, pressing the comma (,) key instantly sets the altimeter to the current local pressure. This is one of those shortcuts that experienced pilots use constantly during climbs, descents and when approaching airports with changing weather conditions.
15. Open Communications Panel — \
Air Traffic Control plays a major role in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Press \ to instantly open the Communications Panel, allowing you to contact ATC, request taxi clearance, acknowledge instructions or communicate with nearby airports without navigating through multiple menus.
16. Quick Reply — Enter
Once the Communications Panel is open, pressing Enter sends the highlighted response immediately.
This makes communicating with ATC significantly faster, especially during busy phases of flight when you're already managing several tasks at once.
17. Toggle Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) — Tab
The Electronic Flight Bag is one of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's biggest additions.
Press Tab to open or close the EFB, giving you quick access to flight planning, navigation information, mission details and other useful tools without leaving the cockpit.
18. Toggle Pushback — Alt + P
Getting away from the stand has never been easier.
Instead of searching through menus, Alt + P starts or stops pushback almost instantly, allowing you to begin taxi preparations much more efficiently before departure.
19. Back on Track — Shift + B
Everyone makes mistakes.
Perhaps you missed the runway, drifted too far off course or simply want another attempt at a landing.
Shift + B activates Back on Track, repositioning your aircraft so you can continue flying without restarting the entire mission.
It's especially useful when practising approaches or learning unfamiliar aircraft.
20. Sim Rate — Alt + R
Long-haul flights can take many hours in real time.
Pressing Alt + R gives you access to the simulator's time acceleration controls, allowing cruise sections to pass much more quickly while still completing the flight.
Used sensibly, Sim Rate can dramatically reduce the time needed for long-distance flights.
21. Toggle Active Pause — P
Sometimes you simply need a moment.
Whether you're adjusting graphics settings, answering the door or taking a screenshot, pressing P activates Active Pause.
Unlike quitting the flight entirely, this lets you temporarily pause your progress while preserving your current situation.
22. Cockpit / External View Mode — Backspace
Changing your perspective is essential when flying.
Press Backspace to instantly switch between cockpit and external camera views. Cockpit view keeps you immersed in the aircraft, while external view is perfect for checking landing gear, enjoying scenery or admiring your aircraft in flight.
23. Toggle Smart Camera — Ctrl + B
The Smart Camera automatically tracks interesting points around your aircraft.
Press Ctrl + B to toggle this feature on or off, making it easy to enjoy cinematic camera angles while flying or capturing impressive screenshots and videos.
24. Toggle Drone Camera — Shift + X
The Drone Camera is one of the simulator's best tools for content creators and aviation enthusiasts.
By pressing Shift + X, you can detach the camera from the aircraft and freely explore the surrounding scenery, capture dramatic fly-by shots or create professional-looking screenshots and videos from virtually any angle.
25. Activate or Deactivate VR Mode — Ctrl + Tab
If you own a compatible VR headset, Ctrl + Tab instantly switches between standard desktop mode and Virtual Reality.
This allows you to jump into an incredibly immersive cockpit experience within seconds, making every flight feel remarkably close to sitting in a real aircraft.
Why Keyboard Shortcuts Make You a Better Virtual Pilot
Although Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 allows almost every control to be operated with the mouse, relying entirely on clicking switches can slow you down during critical phases of flight.
Keyboard shortcuts allow you to perform important actions almost instantly, helping you maintain focus on flying rather than searching through cockpit panels. Over time, these shortcuts become second nature, reducing workload, improving situational awareness and making every flight feel smoother and more enjoyable.
Whether you're flying a light aircraft around your local airfield or crossing continents in a modern airliner, learning these commands will make you a more confident and efficient virtual pilot.
Learn Every Shortcut Faster with the Editors Keys AB10 Core
Remembering dozens of Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 shortcuts isn't always easy—especially when you're concentrating on navigation, radio communications and aircraft systems. That's exactly why the Editors Keys AB10 Core Microsoft Flight Simulator Keyboard was created.
Purpose-built for MSFS 2024, the AB10 Core features over 100 of the simulator's most useful keyboard shortcuts printed directly onto the keys in a clear, colour-coded layout. Instead of pausing to search menus or referring to printed shortcut lists, every important command is right in front of you. Whether you're deploying the landing gear, adjusting flaps, engaging the autopilot, opening the Electronic Flight Bag or communicating with Air Traffic Control, you can find the correct shortcut in seconds.
The AB10 Core connects via a reliable USB-C wired connection, making it ideal for dedicated flight simulator setups where consistent performance matters. Adjustable backlighting also makes it perfect for evening flights or immersive cockpit environments, ensuring every shortcut remains easy to see even in low light.
Perhaps the biggest benefit is how naturally it helps you memorise the simulator's controls. By seeing the shortcuts every time you fly, you'll quickly begin remembering the most commonly used commands without even thinking about them. Before long, many of the keyboard combinations in this guide will become instinctive, helping you spend less time searching for controls and more time enjoying everything Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has to offer.
Whether you're taking your very first flying lesson or regularly completing complex IFR procedures in airliners, the Editors Keys AB10 Core is one of the simplest ways to improve your workflow, reduce cockpit workload and enjoy a faster, more immersive flight simulation experience.
Final Thoughts
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 offers an extraordinary level of realism, but becoming a better virtual pilot isn't just about learning to fly. It's also about learning to operate the simulator efficiently.
These 25 keyboard shortcuts cover many of the commands you'll use on almost every flight, helping you complete common tasks more quickly while keeping your attention focused on the skies ahead. Once you've built them into your muscle memory—or made things even easier with a dedicated Microsoft Flight Simulator shortcut keyboard—you'll wonder how you ever managed without them.
The less time you spend searching through menus, the more time you'll have to enjoy the incredible world that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 puts at your fingertips.
