3. Installation
Little Navmap for Windows is available as a 64-bit or 32-bit application and was tested with Windows 10 and Windows 11.
macOS is supported up from macOS High Sierra 10.13 inclusive. You need Rosetta to run Little Navmap on Apple Silicon / M1 computers.
Linux versions built on recent Ubuntu releases are available and should work on other distributions as well.
The macOS and Linux versions are both 64-bit.
Each version of Little Navmap and the other programs come with a plain text file CHANGELOG.txt
which has important notes and describes the changes between versions.
Warning
Do not install Little Navmap in the MSFS folder Community
or in the X-Plane plugins
folder.
Important
Apple macOS users: Keep in mind that you have to clear the quarantine flag for Little Xpconnect on update. See Clearing the Quarantine Flag on macOS.
3.1. Updating
Delete all installed files of a previous Little Navmap version before installing a new version or install into a new folder. All files from the previous ZIP archive can be deleted since settings are stored in separate directories (except Map Themes).
Warning
In any case do not merge the installation directories since old files can cause problems.
There is no need to delete the old settings directory. The program is written in a way that it can work with old setting files and adapts these if needed. In some cases settings are reset to default if an updated version is installed.
See Files for more information about settings, database and cache files.
3.2. Windows Builds
There are two builds of Little Navmap and Little Navconnect for Windows available now:
Windows 64-bit: For MSFS and all X-Plane versions. Download file is
LittleNavmap-win64-2.8.2.zip
for example.Windows 32-bit: For FSX and Prepar3D. Download file is
LittleNavmap-win32-2.8.2.zip
for example.
You can see the Windows build type in About Little Navmap and in the Window Title (64-bit
or 32-bit
).
Note that Little Navmap and all related programs are interoperable across the network (Little Navmap and Little Navconnect) as well as the X-Plane plugin (Little Navmap, Little Navconnect and Little Xpconnect).
Also both versions share the same settings and databases. You can switch from one version to another without problems.
3.3. Windows
The installation of Little Navmap does not change or create any registry entries in Windows and involves a simple copy of files therefore an installer or setup program is not required.
Warning
Do not extract the archive into the directory c:\Program Files\
or
c:\Program Files (x86)\
since this requires administrative
privileges. Windows keeps control of these directories, therefore other
problems might occur like replaced or deleted files.
There is no need to run Little Navmap as administrator. Adapt folder permissions if you have to export flight plans to protected places.
Extract the Zip archive into a directory like
c:\Users\YOURNAME\Documents\Little Navmap
or
c:\Users\YOURNAME\Programs\Little Navmap
.
Then start the program by double-clicking littlenavmap.exe
. The
extension .exe
might be hidden in Windows Explorer depending on
settings. In that case look for a file littlenavmap
having a light
blue globe icon .
3.3.1. SimConnect
Little Navmap comes with a SimConnect library and does not require a separate installation of SimConnect.
3.3.2. Unblock Application
Depending on system and anti-virus settings it might be needed to unblock the executable files.
This applies to Little Navmap (littlenavmap.exe
), Little Navconnect (littleconnect.exe
) and the Little Xpconnect plugin (win.xpl
).
You can do this in the Windows explorer by selecting properties and checking Unblock file
.
Detailed instruction can be found here, for example:
How to Unblock a File in Windows 10.
3.3.3. Improve Start-up Time
Anti-virus programs can significantly slow down the startup and execution of the program on Windows.
Therefore, it is recommended to exclude the following directories from scanning:
Disk cache for map tiles:
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Local\.marble\data
Scenery library and userpoint databases
C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel\little_navmap_db
These directories do not contain executable files and are accessed frequently by Little Navmap.
3.4. macOS
Extract the ZIP file and copy the Little Navmap
application to the
directory Applications
or any other directory.
Note
The menu entry which is referenced as Tools
-> Options
in this manual
for Windows and Linux
can be found in the application menu at Little Navmap
-> Preferences
on macOS.
3.4.1. First Start on macOS
Note on first start on macOS: When starting the application you will
get a message Little Navmap is from an unidentified developer. Are you sure you want to open it?
.
The procedure may be slightly different depending on whether you’re using Big Sur or Catalina.
Right or Ctrl-Click in the Finder on Little Navmap and select
Open
.You will see a dialog
Little Navmap cannot be opened because it is from an unidentified developer.
ClickOk
.Go to
System Preferences
->Security and Privacy
. You will see a message mentioning Little Navmap. ClickOpen Anyway
.Next a dialog
Are you sure you want to open it?
pops up. ClickOpen
.
3.5. Linux
Extract the archive to any place and run the executable file
littlenavmap
to start the program from a terminal:
./littlenavmap
Most file managers will start the program if double-clicked.
A desktop file Little Navmap.desktop
is included.
You have to adjust the paths to use it. You must use absolute paths in the desktop file.
See the Little Navmap - Frequently asked Questions for help if the program does not start.
3.6. Additional Programs
The Little Navmap Zip archive contains two additional folders:
Little Navconnect
: A complete copy of the program allowing remote
flight simulator connections for FSX, P3D, MSFS and X-Plane.
Little Xpconnect
: This is the 64-bit plugin that is needed for
Little Navmap or Little Navconnect to connect to X-Plane. See Little Xpconnect for installation and usage.
3.7. X-Plane Plugin
Little Navmap can only connect to X-Plane using the Little Xpconnect X-Plane plugin which has to be installed as well.
The Little Xpconnect plugin is included in the Little Navmap archive. You can always find the correct and matching version in your Little Navmap installation directory.
See Little Xpconnect for installation and usage.
3.8. Portable Execution
Running Little Navmap in portable mode instructs the program to place all settings, databases and cached files into the installation directory (i.e. the directory containing the executable file). No folders or files are created on the computer running the program from a memory stick, for example.
You can also use the portable mode to test new Little Navmap releases without affecting your current settings.
Scripts allow to run Little Navmap in portable mode by passing certain command line options to the program:
Windows:
Little Navmap Portable.cmd
macOS:
Little Navmap Portable.command
Linux:
Little Navmap Portable.sh
Three folders are created when running these scripts: Little Navmap Cache
for the online map image tiles,
Little Navmap Logs
for log files and Little Navmap Settings
used to store settings and databases.
See Command Line Options for more information.
3.9. Multiple Installations
Do not run more than one Little Navmap instances using the same settings folder in parallel. This can result in crashes when accessing the databases. Running several instances is prevented by the program on Windows but not on Linux and macOS.
You can instruct Little Navmap to create and use a different settings folder by passing the
parameter --settings-directory
to the executable when starting up. This is supported for all operating systems.
This parameter instructs the program to use the given directory instead of ABarthel
and allows to have two instances of Little Navmap running with their own settings
and databases.
Note that this does not override the full path and spaces are replaced with underscores.
Example:
How to use C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\ABarthel-XP
as a settings folder on Windows:
Right click on the
littlenavmap.exe
file (extension might be hidden in Windows explorer) and selectCreate Shortcut
.Right click on the newly created shortcut and edit the shortcut properties.
Append
--settings-directory ABarthel-XP
to the path in the settings field separated by a space before--settings-directory
.Click
Ok
.

Contents of the link properties dialog for the example above. Extended target folder input field to have the whole path visible.