Get the best MSFS 2024 tips and tricks for PS5: improve DualSense controls, trim, landings, streaming, graphics and peripheral setup.
The best Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 tips for PS5 are to tune the DualSense, bind elevator trim and camera reset, start in a slow trainer, use clear weather while learning, connect by Ethernet, enable VRR on a compatible display, reduce traffic at busy airports, and keep time acceleration away from take-off and landing.
What should I change before my first PS5 flight?
Change the control profile, network connection and display setup before committing to a long flight. These adjustments prevent many of the control and scenery problems that otherwise look like aircraft faults.
- Create a clean controller profile. Keep the original profile as a fallback, then make a separate version for your preferred aircraft category. Avoid assigning the same button or button combination to unrelated commands unless the overlap is deliberate.
- Bind the essentials first. Elevator trim, wheel brakes, parking brake, flaps, landing gear, autopilot disconnect and camera reset matter more than rarely used cockpit functions. Our step-by-step PS5 control setup explains how to organise these without overcrowding the DualSense.
- Correct drift without making the controls numb. Increase an axis dead zone only enough to stop unwanted movement when the stick is centred. Use a gentler response around the centre if the aircraft feels twitchy; our controller dead-zone and response-curve guide covers the difference.
- Use Ethernet where possible. MSFS 2024 streams substantial world data. A stable wired connection helps prevent delayed ground textures, blurred scenery and sudden switches to lower-detail world data.
Essential DualSense control priorities
Do not try to place every cockpit command on the controller. Prioritise anything needed during take-off, approach or an unexpected autopilot disconnect.
| Control | Why it deserves a convenient binding |
|---|---|
| Elevator trim up and down | Removes constant stick pressure and prevents repeated pitch corrections. |
| Wheel brakes and parking brake | Provides predictable taxi control and avoids accidental take-off with the brake set. |
| Flaps and landing gear | Keeps configuration changes available without opening cockpit interaction mode. |
| Autopilot disconnect | Lets you regain manual control immediately if the autopilot behaves unexpectedly. |
| Camera reset | Recovers a usable forward view after moving around the cockpit. |
A keyboard and mouse can make cockpit interaction, text entry and complex airliner work quicker. Flight sticks, throttles and yokes must explicitly support PS5 or PS5 Pro; a PC or Xbox USB peripheral is not automatically compatible.
PS5 also cannot use PC-style Community folder mods. Aircraft, airports and other add-ons must be obtained and managed through the simulator's console-compatible Marketplace system.
How do I make DualSense flying smoother?
Smooth DualSense flying comes from small inputs, correct trim and the smallest dead zone that stops stick drift. Large control movements usually create an oscillation that becomes worse as the pilot tries to correct it.
- Trim after changing power or speed. Set the desired attitude and power, allow the aircraft to settle, then tap elevator trim until you can relax most of the pitch pressure. If you must hold the stick throughout cruise, the aircraft is not properly trimmed.
- Use rudder for runway tracking. Rolling the aircraft left and right is not an effective substitute for directional control during the take-off run. Make small rudder corrections and avoid holding full input.
- Stabilise the approach early. In a light trainer, use pitch mainly to manage airspeed and power mainly to adjust the descent path, recognising that both controls interact. If the aircraft is fast, steep or badly aligned close to the runway, go around.
- Exit cockpit interaction mode when controls appear dead. The same controller also operates the cockpit cursor. If a stick suddenly stops controlling the aircraft, close the interaction or focus mode before rebuilding the control profile.
- Remove conflicting assists individually. Assisted rudder, throttle or piloting can fight manual inputs and the autopilot. Disable the specific assistance feature causing the conflict rather than turning every aid off at once.
Which aircraft and conditions are best for learning on PS5?
A slow, fixed-gear piston trainer such as the Cessna 172 is the best starting point because it gives the controller more room for correction than an airliner or high-performance turboprop. Begin in daylight, clear weather and light wind at an airport with a long runway.
Practise one complete circuit at a time: take off, climb, level out, turn, descend and land. Add crosswinds, poor visibility and aircraft failures only after you can hold altitude and airspeed without chasing the controls.
Free Flight is usually a better place to test a new control profile than Career Mode because a poor binding cannot cost mission progress. When using Career Mode, favour simple daytime jobs in familiar aircraft until take-offs and landings are consistent.
Leave checklist assistance and useful visual guidance enabled while learning, but do not rely permanently on AI piloting. Maximum assistance can hide incorrect trim, excessive approach speed and weak rudder control rather than fixing them.
How can I improve MSFS 2024 performance on PS5?
A wired connection, restrained traffic and correct PS5 display output provide the most dependable improvement. Dense hub airports, complex aircraft, live traffic and heavy weather can still create a demanding combination on PS5 Pro as well as the standard PS5.
- Reduce traffic before sacrificing image quality. If performance drops mainly at major airports, lower live or AI traffic and ground-activity density where those controls are available. These objects add simulation and rendering load.
- Use VRR correctly. Enable variable refresh rate in the PS5 system settings and on a compatible television or monitor. VRR can make uneven frame delivery less distracting, but it does not guarantee a particular frame rate.
- Distinguish streaming faults from frame-rate faults. Melted buildings, delayed textures and missing world detail usually point to data delivery. Jerky camera movement and slow cockpit response at a crowded airport more often indicate rendering or simulation load.
- Test add-ons one at a time. If a problem begins after installing Marketplace content, remove or disable the suspected item through the simulator's content controls and restart before reinstalling the entire simulator.
Our detailed PS5 graphics, HDR and performance recommendations cover display calibration, VRR and traffic choices without applying irrelevant PC settings.
Common PS5 mistakes that cause avoidable problems
- Starting at a parking stand and expecting a running aircraft. A runway start is normally the easier ready-to-fly choice; a parking position may load the aircraft cold and dark.
- Ignoring the active control profile. Check which profile is assigned after connecting another device or changing aircraft. A correct binding in an inactive profile has no effect.
- Using time acceleration near the destination. Increased simulation rate can destabilise the autopilot, rush fuel and navigation updates, and leave too little time to configure for landing. Use our safe time-acceleration controls and recovery steps before shortening a long cruise.
- Continuing an unstable landing. Floating, bouncing or approaching far too fast is not rescued by aggressive braking. Apply power, go around and set up another approach.
- Troubleshooting a suspended online session for too long. If live weather, multiplayer, Marketplace content or streamed scenery stops loading, fully close and relaunch the simulator before changing multiple settings.