StrataWx Quick Start
Order
  • Quick Start guide
  • Install, activate, first flight
  • For MSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020

StrataWx Quick Start.

Real-world weather in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020, from install to your first injected flight. StrataWx is two pieces that work together: a desktop app that builds the weather, and a small in-sim panel that flies it into the sim. This guide sets both up, then keeps going for activation, first flight and the handful of snags worth knowing about.

SimulatorStatus
MSFS 2024Live
MSFS 2020Live
X-PlaneIn work
Download StrataWx

Windows 10/11 x64. Signed installer. Free updates, forever.

The StrataWx desktop app injecting live weather at FL340: conditions, injection state, and the fusion engine's model agreement.
The desktop app is one half of StrataWx. The in-sim panel is the other. Leave the app running and it feeds the sim; this guide gets you there.

What you need

Windows 10/11 x64

A short checklist. If you already own a StrataWx license and have MSFS installed, you have everything.

RequirementDetail
Operating system Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit.
The simulator MSFS 2024, MSFS 2020, or both, from Steam or the Microsoft Store. Run each sim at least once before you install, so StrataWx can find its Community folder automatically.
A StrataWx license One license covers up to three of your own PCs. Buy for MSFS 2024, MSFS 2020, or both. See pricing.
Disk and runtime A few hundred MB in total, including a one-time StrataSim Manager the installer sets up for you. No admin rights and nothing else to install: the app brings its own runtime.
One weather engine Only one live-weather add-on should drive the sim at a time. If you run another engine (including our leading competitor's), turn it off so the two do not fight over the sim's weather.

Install StrataWx

MSFS 2024 and 2020

The installer is a single signed file. It detects your Community folder, copies in the in-sim panel, and sets up the desktop app in one pass. Your sim does not need to be open while it runs.

Five steps, start to finish.

  1. 01

    Download the installer

    Get StrataWx-Setup.exe from the button above or from your account. The file name is the same for every release, so a download link never goes stale.

  2. 02

    Run it, it opens normally

    Double-click StrataWx-Setup.exe. Our public releases are code-signed, so Windows opens the installer normally, with no "unknown publisher" wall to click past. If a SmartScreen notice ever does appear, choose More info, then Run anyway.

  3. 03

    Confirm your Community folder

    The setup screen shows a row for each sim it finds, MSFS 2024 and MSFS 2020, for both Steam and the Microsoft Store. If a sim reads "not detected", click Change and point it at that sim's Community folder. Leave "Install the in-sim weather panel" switched on. Own both sims? Tick "Install into both".

  4. 04

    Install

    Click Install. StrataWx installs to your user profile, default %LOCALAPPDATA%\StrataWx, with no admin prompt, and copies the panel into each Community folder you selected. The StrataSim Manager, which handles licensing, is set up quietly alongside it.

  5. 05

    Launch

    On the "You're all set" screen, use Launch StrataWx. Open Community is there too if you want to confirm the stratawx-injector panel folder landed.

Already running the sim? MSFS only loads Community add-ons at startup, so if it was open during install, close and restart it to pick up the panel. And if the installer spots another live-weather engine, it will suggest turning that one off first. Only one engine should drive the sim.

Activate your license

Up to 3 PCs

Licensing lives in the StrataSim Manager, a small companion app the StrataWx installer sets up for you. Activate there once, and the app unlocks.

Activate in the Manager.

  1. 01

    Open the StrataSim Manager

    Find it in the Start menu (it was installed with StrataWx) and open its License view.

  2. 02

    Enter your key and email

    Paste your license key and the email you bought with. Keys from our store look like STRATAWX_...; SimMarket buyers get an SWX-XXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXX key. The box turns green when the key checks out and tells you how many of your three installs are free. Watch for look-alike characters (0 and O, 1 and I) in a typed key; pasting avoids them.

  3. 03

    Activate

    Click Activate. That claims one of your three seats and stores the license so the app and the Manager share it, they never burn two seats on the same PC.

  4. 04

    Open StrataWx

    Launch the app. If it still shows the activation screen, click Recheck, it re-reads the shared license without a restart. One key unlocks whatever you own; buy one sim and there is an Add link to cross-grade to the other later.

Installed the app on its own, without the Manager? The app's activation screen takes the same details directly: paste your key (the purchase email is optional there) and click Activate.

Managing your PCs.

One license runs on up to three of your machines at once. Reinstalling on a PC you have already activated does not use another seat, it reclaims the same one. Moving to a fourth PC means freeing a seat first.

To do thisWhere
See your PCs, free a seat StrataSim Manager, License view: it lists your machines (used out of three) with "Free seat" on any PC, and "Deactivate this PC" on the one you are on.
Remove an old PC from the web The account portal at stratawxfs.com/portal. Sign in with the one-time email link (no password), then Deactivate the machine you no longer use.
Add the other simulator Use the Add link on your entitlement in the Manager, or buy the cross-sim upgrade. It is never a full re-buy.

Your first flight

Live, historical, sandbox

Start the app, start the sim, and StrataWx does the rest. There is no SimConnect wiring and no weather preset to add by hand.

Four steps to weather in the sim.

  1. 01

    Start the desktop app

    Launch StrataWx and leave it running. It quietly hosts a local weather engine at 127.0.0.1:19286, the loopback address the in-sim panel reads from. Close the app and the sim reverts to its own weather.

  2. 02

    Pick a mode

    Choose Live, Historical or Sandbox with the SOURCE selector. Live flies the weather happening right now; Historical replays a past moment; Sandbox lets you author exact conditions.

  3. 03

    Start MSFS and load a flight

    The app links to the sim on its own; the SIM LINK indicator turns green. StrataWx creates its "StrataWx Live" weather preset for you and begins injecting around the aircraft. Give it a few seconds after the aircraft loads to move from standby into injecting.

  4. 04

    Open the panel (optional)

    From the in-sim toolbar, open the StrataWx panel to watch what is being injected and to adjust turbulence, transition smoothing, freeze or refresh. Injection runs whether or not that window is open, so opening it is a choice, not a step you can forget.

Order is flexible, app first or sim first, but the desktop app must be running for weather to reach the sim. It is the engine; the panel just flies what the engine serves.

Troubleshooting

The handful of things worth knowing, and the fix for each.

The panel reads OFFLINE, or shows no data
The panel talks to the desktop engine, so OFFLINE means the app is not running. Launch StrataWx and leave it open, then load a flight; the panel connects when the app is up.
STANDBY instead means the app is running but there is no aircraft or preset yet. Load a flight and give it a few seconds to start injecting.
The StrataWx panel is missing from the toolbar
Either the panel went to a Community folder the sim is not reading, or MSFS was already open when it was copied in. MSFS only loads Community add-ons at startup.
Confirm the right Community folder (the app's Settings can re-point it, and StrataWx moves the panel for you), then fully restart MSFS and open the panel from the toolbar.
After an update the weather looks stale, or a banner says to restart MSFS
The in-sim panel loads only at sim start and does not ride the auto-updater, so if the sim was open during an app update it keeps running the old panel. The app shows an amber "restart MSFS to load the latest panel" banner when it notices.
Restart MSFS so the fresh panel loads. If it persists, close MSFS, relaunch the desktop app so it re-copies the panel, then start the sim again.
The temperature looks wrong, or too cold, in an imperial cockpit
A unit-detection fix ships on the current build line. Make sure you are up to date; if you are on the Stable channel and still see it, switch to Beta under Settings, Software to get the fix now. Then use "Upload logs to support" and tell us your MSFS temperature and pressure unit settings so we can close out any remaining edge case.
Weather keeps changing or fights the sim
That is the sign of a second live-weather engine running alongside StrataWx. Run only one: turn off any other injector (including our leading competitor's) and let StrataWx drive the sim.
Stutters, freezes, or unexpected behaviour on a long flight
The current build line smooths how often weather is applied and steadies the winds on descent, which is what a clean long flight depends on. Several of those stability fixes land on Beta first, so if you are on Stable and still hit this, switch to Beta under Settings, Software to get them now.
If anything odd remains, use "Upload logs to support" right after it happens, so we can see exactly what the engine did.
An update stalls or errors
The updater times out a stuck check or download and retries on its own, and it checks again every few hours. If it keeps failing, make sure your connection and firewall can reach download.stratawxfs.com, then relaunch the app. Every download is checksum-verified, and the updater never downgrades.

Updates

Automatic

You never chase a download. StrataWx keeps itself current, and updates are free for as long as you own it.

On launch, and every few hours after, the app checks the update feed, fetches the signed installer, verifies its checksum, and applies it in place. It never downgrades, so you always move forward. There is nothing to click, and no version to hunt down. If a release ever turns out bad, we re-publish the previous good build and it reaches everyone on the channel automatically.

ChannelWhat you get
Stable The default. Well-tested releases, updated automatically.
Beta The newest fixes first, switch to it under Settings, Software. Beta also receives stable releases, so a beta tester graduates on their own without reinstalling.

Getting help

If something is off, the fastest route sends us exactly what we need to help.

Upload logs to support, the fastest fix
In the app, open Settings, Software and click "Upload logs to support". One click gathers your recent logs, strips your license key, email and Windows account name, and sends them to us. You get a reference number to quote. Offline, it saves the bundle locally with a "Show file" link so you can send it later.
The support form
Open Support for a ticket that reaches a person. It helps to say which sim you fly (2024 or 2020), your aircraft and airport, the sim time, and whether the desktop app was running.
The community
There is a StrataWx community on Discord where the team and other pilots talk through issues and what is shipping next. Ask through the support form for the current invite.

Ready to get started? Download StrataWx, or head back to the overview to see everything it does.