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Your panel is ready when your airplane is

Windows

Load an airplane and the right panel opens on its own. No hunting through menus, no clicking around before every flight. Pick a different airplane and its panel comes up instead, so you can go straight to flying.

Simulation Instruments Studio includes a small auto-launch helper. It waits quietly in the Windows notification area, next to the clock, and opens the matching panel automatically as soon as an airplane loads.

Which simulators

• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and 2024. Auto-launch uses SimConnect. Install the free MSFS SDK, then copy SimConnect.dll from the SDK’s SimConnect SDK\lib folder into the Simulation Instruments Studio folder. Installing the SDK alone isn’t enough.
• X-Plane. Install the SIS X-Plane plugin from Settings > Simulator plugins… in Studio.

Turn it on

1. Open Simulation Instruments Studio and go to the Panels tab.
2. Open the panel, then click Auto-launch... The setting applies to the panel you have open.
3. Tick Auto-launch this panel.
4. If you want the helper running every time you start your computer, also tick Start the auto-launch helper with Windows.

In Studio 66 or later, Settings > Start auto-launch with Windows (right under Simulator plugins…) does the same thing.

Which airplanes open which panel

Each panel has its own airplane list. When an airplane on that list loads, that panel opens. Set up a list for each panel and every airplane in your hangar gets its own panel.

Build the list in the same Auto-launch dialog. Press Add current aircraft to add the airplane loaded in your simulator right now (the simulator needs to be running), or press Add rule to choose the simulator and type the airplane yourself.

Turn it off

To stop just one panel, open it, click Auto-launch... and untick Auto-launch this panel. Your other panels keep opening on their own.

To stop the helper for all panels, right-click the auto-launch icon in the Windows notification area and choose Quit auto-launch. If you don’t see the icon, click the ^ arrow to show hidden icons.

If Start the auto-launch helper with Windows is on, the helper starts again the next time you sign in.