Fix an FSX monitor that goes blank: use Alt+Enter, correct resolution and refresh rate, reset fsx.cfg, and check Windows 10 graphics settings.
FSX and FSX: Steam Edition usually make a monitor go blank when full-screen mode selects a resolution, refresh rate or graphics output the display cannot maintain. Press Alt+Enter to return to windowed mode, then use the monitor’s native resolution. If the screen stays black, reset fsx.cfg and test one monitor without overlays.
How do I get the FSX picture back immediately?
Alt+Enter is the quickest way to escape a faulty FSX full-screen display mode without restarting the computer.
- Toggle windowed mode. Press
Alt+Enterwhile FSX has focus. A brief black screen is normal while Windows changes display modes; allow several seconds for the picture to return. - Restore focus if necessary. Press
Alt+Tabto select FSX, then tryAlt+Enteragain. - Recover Windows. If the desktop will not appear, press
Ctrl+Alt+Deleteand close FSX through Task Manager. On Windows 10 or 11,Win+Ctrl+Shift+Bcan restart the graphics driver when the whole desktop has stopped drawing. - Correct the display mode. Start FSX in a window, open its display settings and choose the monitor’s native resolution with a refresh rate known to work on that display.
If windowed mode works, FSX itself is running; the fault is almost certainly the full-screen mode, graphics driver or an application drawing over it. Our guide to switching FSX safely between windowed and full-screen modes explains the recovery sequence in more detail.
What does the type of blank screen tell me?
The state of the monitor, FSX audio and Windows desktop distinguishes a display-mode failure from a rendering fault, simulator freeze or hardware problem.
| What you see | Likely cause | First action |
|---|---|---|
| Screen blanks as full screen opens, but FSX sound continues | Unsupported resolution or refresh rate, or a full-screen driver conflict | Press Alt+Enter and change FSX’s display mode |
| Monitor reports “No signal” | The GPU changed output, its driver reset, or the cable or display lost the signal | Test one monitor connected directly to the active graphics card |
| Windows remains visible but the FSX window is black | DirectX rendering problem, overlay or graphics modification | Disable overlays and Preview DirectX 10, if available |
| FSX menus or panels appear, but the outside world is black | Aircraft, shader, scenery or rendering fault rather than signal loss | Test a default aircraft and default airport in daylight |
| The final image remains fixed and FSX stops responding | Simulator freeze rather than a blank monitor | Wait briefly, then inspect add-ons and application errors |
| FSX closes when the display disappears | Application or graphics-driver crash | Check Windows crash information and isolate add-ons |
If the display remains active but FSX shows a white sky, black ground or corrupted scenery, use our separate checks for repairing an incorrectly rendered FSX scene. Changing the monitor resolution will not normally fix that symptom.
I am using Windows 10 — do the same fixes apply?
Yes. On Windows 10, start with Alt+Enter, a supported display mode and the correct GPU; compatibility settings should be secondary tests, not the first response.
- Match the desktop display. Use the monitor’s native resolution and a stable refresh rate offered by the graphics driver. Avoid choosing a mode merely because it appears in FSX’s list. Our guidance on selecting a safe FSX resolution and refresh rate covers mixed-resolution and high-refresh displays.
- Try disabling full-screen optimisations. Open the properties of the active
fsx.exe, find its compatibility options and disable full-screen optimisations. Use this when windowed mode works but every full-screen attempt goes blank. - Select the high-performance GPU. On a laptop or dual-GPU computer, add
fsx.exeto Windows Graphics settings and assign the high-performance processor. Restart FSX afterwards. - Turn off overlays temporarily. Disable the Steam overlay, recording software, frame-rate displays, graphics filters and other programs that draw over FSX.
- Test without DirectX 10 Preview. If FSX offers the Preview DirectX 10 option, turn it off and restart the simulator. This preview renderer can expose driver, shader and add-on incompatibilities.
- Avoid stacking compatibility changes. Windows XP compatibility mode, administrator mode and full-screen tweaks can interact. Change one option at a time and keep it only if it fixes the fault.
How do I reset FSX display settings?
Renaming fsx.cfg makes FSX create a clean configuration and redetect the available display hardware.
- Close FSX completely. Check Task Manager if necessary to confirm that
fsx.exeis no longer running. - Open the configuration area. Enter
%APPDATA%\Microsoft\in File Explorer’s address bar. - Locate the active folder. Look for
FSXorFSX-SE. Steam Edition can use either name depending on installation history, especially when boxed FSX has also been installed. The modification date offsx.cfghelps identify the active copy. - Back up the file. Rename
fsx.cfgtofsx.cfg.oldrather than deleting it. - Restart the simulator. FSX should generate a new
fsx.cfg. Test a windowed flight before changing graphics settings or restoring any manual tweaks.
This removes settings and edits stored in that configuration file, but it does not uninstall aircraft or scenery. If no fresh fsx.cfg appears, you probably renamed the file in the wrong FSX profile folder.
What if I still get the same result?
If a clean configuration gives the same result, isolate the monitor, graphics driver and add-ons in a controlled test rather than changing several settings together.
- Use one display. Disconnect secondary monitors, televisions, docks and display adaptors. Make the remaining screen the Windows primary display.
- Check the physical output. On a desktop, connect the monitor to the graphics card running FSX, not a motherboard video socket. Try another cable or input if the monitor reports “No signal”.
- Load a basic flight. Use a default aircraft, default airport, fair weather and daylight. A picture that disappears only after a particular aircraft or location loads points towards an add-on rather than full-screen mode.
- Remove deliberate graphics modifications. Disable shader injectors, replacement graphics libraries and visual filters according to their own removal method. Do not delete unfamiliar files from the FSX directory at random.
- Repair the graphics driver. Update or reinstall the appropriate driver. If the fault began immediately after a driver change, rolling back to the previous working driver is a more useful test than repeatedly reinstalling the same release.
- Compare other 3D applications. If the monitor also loses signal outside FSX, investigate the cable, monitor input, graphics card, cooling and power delivery. Our broader guide to diagnosing repeated flight-simulator signal loss covers those hardware and driver checks.
Can multiple monitors make FSX go blank?
Yes. FSX can open on the wrong output or fail when displays use different GPUs, resolutions or refresh rates.
Get the main flight view stable on one monitor first. Reconnect additional displays individually, then use windowed mode while testing undocked panels or secondary views. On laptops, monitor outputs may be internally wired to a particular GPU, so use the Windows graphics preference instead of assuming every socket is driven by the dedicated card.