Your approach is stable, ATC has just changed the runway, and suddenly you are hunting for the key that opens the radio panel. That is exactly where well-built flight simulator shortcuts earn their place. They turn the commands you use under pressure into visible, tactile controls instead of a half-remembered row of keyboard bindings.
For sim pilots, the goal is not to cram every available command onto a device. It is to build a cockpit extension that makes the next action obvious. A Stream Deck or Corsair Galleon can handle the jobs that interrupt the flow of a flight: views, radios, autopilot modes, lights, pushback, checklists and camera tools. Done properly, it feels less like operating a keyboard and more like operating an aircraft.
Why keyboard-only flying becomes a problem
Flight simulators give you an enormous command library because aircraft operations are enormous. Microsoft Flight Simulator, X-Plane and DCS can all demand controls for flight management, avionics, navigation, engines, communications and ground services. A keyboard can technically cover most of it. The problem is recall.
The more time you spend trying to remember whether a command is Ctrl, Shift, Alt, or a combination of all three, the less attention you have for speed, altitude, terrain and traffic. This gets worse when you move between aircraft. A simple VFR flight in a Cessna has a different rhythm from a cold-and-dark airliner departure or a combat sortie with radar and countermeasures.
A dedicated control surface does not replace a yoke, joystick, throttle quadrant or rudder pedals. It fills the gap between them. Physical flight controls handle flying; clearly labelled buttons handle the systems, panels and procedures around the flying.
Start with the flight simulator shortcuts you use most
Do not begin by mapping the entire simulator command list. Begin with one normal flight and notice every moment you reach for the keyboard. Those are your first buttons.
For most pilots, the first page should contain actions needed regularly from taxi to shutdown. External and cockpit camera views, pause, screenshot or recording controls, parking brake, landing gear, flaps, lights, ATC, checklist access and simulator menu commands all make strong candidates. If you stream or record, add your scene controls and microphone controls here only if they are genuinely used during a flight.
The second priority is aircraft management. Autopilot master, heading, altitude, speed and vertical mode controls are useful when your chosen aircraft does not already place them on dedicated hardware. For airliner flying, you may prefer buttons for opening the FMS, EFB, fuel and payload tools, ground services, charts or pushback utilities. For general aviation, map the controls that support hand flying and situational awareness rather than building a page that imitates an Airbus overhead panel.
There is a trade-off. A shortcut is only faster if you recognise it immediately. Twenty-four buttons on one screen can look impressive, but a smaller layout with strong labels, logical colours and folders is often quicker in actual use.
Group commands by flight phase
The cleanest profiles follow the way a flight progresses. Put pre-flight and ground functions together, then use a separate page or folder for take-off, cruise, approach and utility commands. You do not need a strict checklist page for every phase, but the layout should answer a simple question: what am I likely to need next?
A ground page might include battery, avionics, beacon, nav lights, parking brake, pushback and ATC. A cruise page might prioritise autopilot, map, weather, camera and quick access to navigation tools. On approach, landing lights, gear, flaps, spoilers, speedbrake and view changes deserve the closest positions.
This structure also reduces accidental inputs. Nobody wants to trigger an engine-start control while trying to change their camera during final approach.
Make each control readable at a glance
Generic icons are not enough for a serious sim setup. A white aeroplane silhouette may be fine for a broad camera category, but it should not be doing the work of a clearly labelled “Cockpit View”, “Drone Cam” or “Landing Lights” button.
Use icon design as a memory aid. Keep related systems visually consistent: lighting controls in one colour family, engine and electrical actions in another, views in another. Pair symbols with short text where there is any chance of ambiguity. “AP” can mean different things across aircraft and sim communities; “Autopilot” is slower to read but harder to misunderstand.
State feedback matters too. A button that changes colour when a function is active is more useful than a static label, especially for parking brake, lights, pause, push-to-talk and recording. Where your software supports toggles, build them as toggles. Where it does not, use labels that make the action clear: “Gear Down” is safer than a vague gear icon.
Premium, device-ready icon sets are particularly useful here because visual consistency is difficult to maintain when a profile has dozens or hundreds of commands. iConCity profiles are built around that practical reality: less time producing artwork and arranging pages, more time flying with a polished control centre.
Build layers instead of one overloaded dashboard
A Stream Deck is strongest when it uses folders, profiles and multi-actions intelligently. Think in layers. Your home page contains universal controls. From there, dedicated folders open for aircraft systems, cameras, ground operations, navigation or creator tools.
For example, a “Views” folder can hold cockpit, external, drone, instrument panel and passenger views. A “Lights” folder can hold beacon, strobe, nav, taxi, landing and cabin lights. This arrangement keeps the main page calm while retaining immediate access to depth when you need it.
Multi-actions can remove repetitive setup steps. One button could start a session by launching the simulator, opening your preferred chart application, setting a recording scene and muting non-essential desktop notifications. Another could prepare an airliner for departure by opening relevant in-sim panels and switching to a take-off page. Use these carefully: aircraft-specific sequences can fail if your starting state changes, a mod updates, or a cockpit switch is not where the sequence expects it to be.
For critical aircraft actions, a single direct command is usually better than automation. Reliability beats spectacle on short final.
Account for simulator and aircraft differences
Not every shortcut transfers cleanly between platforms. Microsoft Flight Simulator aircraft may expose commands through simulator bindings, toolbar menus, add-on controls or virtual cockpit interactions. X-Plane can vary significantly between default aircraft and complex third-party modules. DCS adds the extra complication of detailed, aircraft-specific switch logic.
That means a universal profile should focus on genuinely universal tasks: simulator views, camera tools, pause, push-to-talk, screenshots, map access and common menu actions. Build aircraft pages separately for specialised avionics and systems.
Before assigning a button, check how the command behaves. Is it a toggle, an on/off command, a hold action or a menu shortcut? Does the aircraft react to the simulator binding, or only to its own custom command? Test it while parked at the stand, not for the first time after rotation.
It is also worth protecting your work. Back up your profile before major simulator updates, aircraft updates or remapping sessions. A clean backup gives you a safe point to return to if a plugin changes its command names or a new profile experiment becomes a mess.
A practical layout for a 15-key device
A compact 15-key device is enough for a capable flight deck companion. Use the top row for universal controls such as pause, ATC, map, checklist and a home button. Keep key flight actions in the centre: gear, flaps, parking brake, autopilot and camera. Reserve the lower row for folders such as Lights, Views, Ground, Aircraft Systems and Stream.
If you fly mostly GA, replace the airliner systems folder with avionics, radio and navigation controls. If you fly airliners, put radios, FMS support, pushback and ground services closer to the front. The best profile is shaped by the aircraft you fly repeatedly, not by the largest possible list of commands.
Give yourself a few flights before judging the layout. Any new control scheme has a learning curve, and moving buttons too often prevents muscle memory from forming. Once a shortcut proves useful across several flights, keep it. If it has not been pressed in a month, move it into a folder or remove it.
Your simulator already contains the systems and detail that make aviation compelling. Give the commands you rely on a clear place to live, and the next time ATC changes the plan, your hands can stay where they belong: on the flight.