Fix MSFS 2020 freezing mid-flight: isolate add-ons, rebuild rolling cache, test DX11, check scenery streaming and reduce memory pressure.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 usually freezes during a flight when an incompatible Community add-on, corrupted rolling cache, scenery-streaming stall, exhausted RAM or VRAM, unstable graphics driver or DX12 problem blocks the sim. Fix it by testing a clean add-on profile, rebuilding the cache, using DX11, reducing memory-heavy settings and checking online data.
Is it a hard freeze, a stutter or Active Pause?
A hard freeze leaves MSFS 2020 unresponsive and does not recover, often forcing you to end the process. A pause lasting a few seconds is a frame-time or streaming problem instead; our guide to diagnosing stutters and micro-pauses covers that separate fault.
If menus, cameras and cockpit controls still work but the aircraft remains fixed in space, check whether Active Pause, ordinary pause or slew mode has been activated. Control bindings vary, so search the Controls Options screen rather than assuming a particular key.
What causes MSFS 2020 to freeze mid-flight?
The pattern of the freeze usually identifies the likely cause faster than reinstalling the simulator.
| Freeze pattern | Likely area | Best first test |
|---|---|---|
| Always at the same airport or coordinates | Scenery add-on, rolling cache or streamed photogrammetry | Remove local scenery, reset the cache and repeat with online scenery disabled |
| Only with one aircraft or livery | Aircraft package, livery or avionics component | Fly the same route in a default aircraft with its default livery |
| After a long flight or near a detailed destination | RAM, VRAM, traffic or scenery load | Reduce level of detail and traffic, then monitor memory use |
| Frozen picture while sound continues | Graphics driver, GPU instability or DirectX | Use DX11, remove overclocks and test a stable graphics driver |
| Short pauses that recover | Scenery streaming, cache access or uneven frame times | Treat the problem as stuttering rather than a hard freeze |
How do I fix MSFS 2020 freezing during a flight?
Use a controlled stock-aircraft test and change one variable at a time. A mistake we see constantly is applying several supposed fixes together, which hides the actual cause and lets the freeze return later.
Create a repeatable test. Use a default aircraft and livery, a clear-weather preset and the same departure or troublesome area. Note whether the freeze follows the route, aircraft or elapsed flight time.
Test without third-party content. Close MSFS, temporarily move everything out of the
Communityfolder and run the stock test again. If Safe Mode is offered after the forced shutdown, it is also useful for a clean test.If the freeze disappears, restore packages in batches until it returns. Check aircraft, liveries, airport scenery and utility add-ons—not just the last package installed. Cleaning
Communitydoes not remove Marketplace content from theOfficialpackage area, so temporarily uninstall or disable suspect Marketplace packages through Content Manager as well. Do not empty theOfficialfolder manually.Delete the rolling cache. Use the rolling-cache deletion control in MSFS 2020's Data settings, then test with rolling cache disabled. If that solves the freeze, create a fresh cache on a fast local drive or leave it off when your connection is reliable. Our explanation of when to disable or rebuild rolling cache covers the trade-offs.
Separate online streaming from a local fault. Temporarily turn off Online Functionality, Bing World Data and Photogrammetry, then use preset weather and offline traffic. If the route works, re-enable those features individually; broadband speed alone does not rule out packet loss or a stalled scenery request.
Test DX11 and reduce graphics load. On PC, switch from DX12 to DX11 and restart MSFS before testing. DX11 is a useful stability check, not an automatic performance upgrade; our DX11 and DX12 comparison for MSFS 2020 explains which mode suits different problems.
Reduce Terrain Level of Detail, Object Level of Detail, texture resolution and airport or AI traffic. These settings matter most when freezes appear near detailed hubs or late in a long flight.
Check memory and system stability. Close memory-heavy background applications, keep the Windows page file enabled and system-managed, and confirm that the drive holding MSFS has free space. Return CPU, GPU and RAM tuning to known-stable settings, disable overlays for the test, and watch RAM and VRAM use while reproducing the problem.
Check the graphics driver and installed packages. Install a stable driver, or roll back if freezing began immediately after a driver change. Update packages through Content Manager and use the installation platform's repair or verification facility only after add-ons and caches have been ruled out. A full reinstall is a last resort because it may leave the real add-on or cache problem untouched.
Xbox-specific checks
On Xbox Series X|S, fully quit MSFS 2020 instead of resuming the same Quick Resume session, restart the console and delete the rolling cache from the simulator's Data settings. Test with online scenery disabled and temporarily remove recently installed Marketplace aircraft or scenery through Content Manager.
Xbox has no user-accessible Community folder or PC DirectX selector, so skip those steps. Preserve sufficient internal storage space and reinstall the affected Marketplace package before considering a complete simulator reinstall.
What if MSFS freezes at exactly the same place?
A repeatable freeze at the same coordinates usually points to scenery, cached data or a package loaded as you approach that area. Start a short test near the location rather than repeating the entire flight, then compare a default aircraft with online scenery off and all third-party scenery removed.
If every default aircraft freezes there with add-ons removed, rolling cache off and online data disabled, repair the base installation. If only one aircraft freezes there, the aircraft or livery is still the stronger suspect because the location may simply trigger a demanding avionics or scenery-loading event.
When the whole PC freezes
If Windows also locks, restarts or shows a display-driver reset, treat it as a driver, thermal, power, memory or hardware-stability problem rather than an ordinary MSFS content fault. Windows Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer can reveal display-driver failures, hardware-error reports or storage faults around the time of the freeze.
If MSFS closes to the desktop instead of remaining frozen, follow our broader Microsoft Flight Simulator crash checklist; crashes and application hangs overlap, but they are not the same failure.