Install and use MSFS Map Enhancement in MSFS 2024, choose imagery settings, and fix blank tiles, connection errors and stutters.
Install MSFS Map Enhancement on the Windows PC running Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, allow its network component through the firewall, choose an imagery source, and start the service before loading a flight. Leave MSFS 2024’s online world-data streaming enabled. The utility cannot be installed on Xbox Series X|S or PlayStation 5.
What do you need before installing it?
Use a current Windows release whose documentation explicitly lists Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 compatibility. Older builds intended only for MSFS 2020 may fail to detect the simulator or redirect the wrong requests.
Download the installer directly from the project’s developer rather than using an unofficial repack. Map Enhancement depends on an internet connection throughout the flight, alongside MSFS 2024’s own streaming requirements; our explanation of how MSFS 2024 uses an internet connection covers the simulator-side requirements.
How to install MSFS Map Enhancement
- Close MSFS 2024. Also stop any other map-replacement utility, local proxy or tool that changes simulator imagery.
- Extract the download. If it arrives as an archive, unpack it to a normal folder before running the installer. Do not launch the installer from inside the archive.
- Run the supplied installer. Approve administrator access only when the official installer or its network helper requests it.
- Allow the network component. If Windows Firewall displays a prompt, permit the utility on trusted private networks. Disabling the firewall or antivirus globally is unnecessary.
- Select MSFS 2024 if offered. Some builds detect the simulator automatically; others provide a simulator or package-location selector. Make sure it is not pointing to an old MSFS 2020 installation.
- Finish the first run with default settings. Test the basic configuration before increasing cache, image quality or level-of-detail options.
MSFS Map Enhancement is primarily a desktop utility, not an ordinary scenery folder. Do not copy its installer or application directory into the Community folder. If a particular release includes a separate companion package, follow its supplied instructions and verify the destination using our guide to finding and using the correct MSFS 2024 Community folder.
How do you use Map Enhancement in MSFS 2024?
- Enable online world data in MSFS 2024. The exact menu wording can change with simulator updates, but online functionality and streamed world imagery must remain enabled.
- Choose an imagery source. Begin with a built-in source that needs no additional credentials. Only select a source requiring an API key if you have a valid key and understand that provider’s limits.
- Start the redirection service. Use the utility’s Start control and wait until its status indicates that it is running or ready.
- Launch MSFS 2024 and load a test flight. Pick a familiar location where roads, coastlines or fields make the source easy to identify.
- Leave the utility running. Closing it during a flight can interrupt tile requests or return the simulator to its normal imagery.
- Stop it cleanly. After leaving MSFS 2024, use the utility’s Stop or restore control before closing it. This allows its proxy or routing changes to be removed correctly.
Which imagery and cache settings should you choose?
The safest starting point is the default imagery source, cache and LOD configuration. Change one option at a time so that a failed provider or over-aggressive setting is easy to identify.
| Option | Choose it when | Main drawback |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in, no-key source | You want the simplest compatibility test | Image age and colour vary by region |
| Alternative imagery source | Coverage is visibly better for the area you fly | May require credentials or impose request limits |
| Default LOD and cache | You value stability or have limited bandwidth | Distant imagery may be less detailed |
| Higher detail or larger cache | Your connection and storage can sustain it | More bandwidth, storage use and possible stutters |
MSFS 2024’s rolling cache can preserve old tiles and make a source change appear ineffective. Clear it once, or temporarily disable it while testing, rather than repeatedly deleting every cache after successful flights.
Why is MSFS Map Enhancement not working?
Most failures come from an outdated utility build, blocked network access, conflicting map tools or cached imagery. Work through these checks in order:
- Stock imagery still appears: close the simulator, stop every competing map utility, start Map Enhancement first and reload the flight. Confirm that its status remains running.
- Blank, grey or chequered tiles: switch to the basic imagery source, clear the utility’s own cache and restart both programs. A source may be unavailable or rejecting excessive requests.
- “Access remote image server” appears: check the selected source, firewall, VPN, proxy and cached connection state. Our focused guide explains how to repair the remote image server error without disabling security software indiscriminately.
- Heavy stuttering or delayed tiles: return LOD, concurrency and cache options to their defaults. Map Enhancement and MSFS 2024 are both downloading data, so increasing every quality control can saturate the connection.
- No internet after closing the utility: reopen it with the same permissions and use its Stop, Restore or Reset Network function, depending on the build. Restart Windows if the routing change was not released cleanly.
- The tool stopped working after a simulator update: install a Map Enhancement build that explicitly supports the updated simulator, then verify that MSFS itself completed the update correctly using our MSFS 2024 update checks.
A mistake we see constantly is stacking Map Enhancement with another imagery replacement and then trying to fix the resulting conflict by raising cache or LOD values. Run one map-redirection tool at a time.
Does Map Enhancement improve all MSFS 2024 scenery?
Map Enhancement changes streamed ground imagery; it does not replace terrain mesh, handcrafted airports, buildings, vegetation placement or aircraft scenery. Photogrammetry also remains a separate Microsoft data layer.
That separation can produce colour boundaries where photogrammetry meets replacement satellite imagery. If an area looks inconsistent, temporarily disable photogrammetry as a test. Doing so removes the 3D city layer rather than repairing the underlying imagery mismatch.