How to increase the field of view on FSX: Steam Edition

You know what's great? Flying. You know what's not so great? Flying while having your face pressed against the glass. Although the small field of view in the aging, but still great Microsoft Flight Simulator X, might have been alright with lower resolution screens when it released in 2006, the default field of view is a nuisance and quite annoying in the current age of wide hd monitors. This simple guide will show you how to fix this in an incredibly easy fashion.

The default FOV

Take a look at these screenshots. This is the default FOV for Microsoft Flight Simulator X: Steam Edition. Notice how the cockpit is so zoomed in, making it so if you want to adjust anything you have to stop looking where you are flying and fly blind. Everything is right in your face

How to increase the FOV

In order to increase the FOV permenantly to optimal levels you must find the fsx_se CFG file.
This is located in the following destination:

C:/Users/[username]/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/FSX-SE/

On Windows 7, in order to get here, paste that line into the start menu search bar, except replace [username] with the username of the account that FSX: SE is downloaded on.

Once you are in the FSX-SE directory, open fsx_se in a notepad. Make sure you open the cfg file and not the text file named fsx_se.CFG

Under where it says [Display] find the following line:

WideViewAspect=False

All you have to do now is change that line to:

WideViewAspect=True

Close the notepad and click save when the prompt comes up.

That's it! Now all you have to do is play FSX!

After the FOV increase

After you have done everything in the how to section your game will look like this. This is the same aircraft and location as the first set of screenshots




Have fun flying with a more immersive view on things!

[stuart.harwood.1959]

I Can't find the file either, I've been into the user directory and searched all the folders I can find without success.

[michel.vandekeere]

Very usefull tip: thanks a lot!
For me (Windows11), ithe file was simply 'fsx.CFG and it worked just as described when changing to 'TRUE'.
Amazing!
Much more enjoyable with this wide angle.
Congratulations.

[Papież w Płynie]

The only change I see is default zoom set to 0.60. Zooming to 1.0 restores old "aspect ratio".
Playing on 36" FHD display.

[kalnon]

As someone else already explained, zooming out is not the same thing as changing the aspect ratio. Besides, just zooming in and out will distort your view like when you zoom in with a camera lens and it will make everything in the cockpit like the instruments much smaller and much harder to read.

Changing the aspect ratio doesn't do that, instead it makes the FOV fit your 16:9 screen much better. FSX was designed for the old 4:3 monitors, it's a big difference.

[Kirb]

just hold space bar and scroll out thats it

[tallpiper]

I forgot to say, hit the plus key (+) to move back in close. So minus key to move POV back, + key to move back in close.

[tallpiper]

I increase the field of view by simply hitting the minus (-) key at the top of the keyboard. You can move back or move up. Adjust it the way you want. Perhaps you're talking of something different, but this is what I do.

[Chicken]

i cant find the .cfg file

[howiegerf]

That was Awesome! Thanks!

[Silent]

If you see only
[Display]
ChangeTime=4.000000
TransitionTime=4.000000

just type WideViewAspect=True at the end and save. you will need to load a scene and come back to the file, it will be false and will have other codes in the display section, just set to true.

that what i did, i dont know if this works with everyone.