Should MSFS 2020 rolling cache be on or off?
In Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, leave rolling cache on if your connection is slow, capped or unreliable, or you repeatedly fly over the same area. Turn it off if you have fast, stable, uncapped internet or cache writes cause stutters. Neither setting is universally faster, so test both.
The rolling cache is a fixed-size disk file containing recently streamed Bing terrain, aerial imagery and photogrammetry. It reduces repeat downloads when you revisit an area; the oldest data is overwritten as the cache fills. It does not cache aircraft, add-ons, live weather or the whole world.
When should rolling cache be on or off?
Choose the setting according to your connection, flying habits and storage performance rather than treating rolling cache as a universal optimisation.
| Setting | Choose it when | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| On | Your internet is slow, unstable or metered, or you frequently revisit the same airport and surrounding region. | Uses disk space and creates read/write activity; stale or damaged cached data can occasionally cause scenery problems. |
| Off | You have fast, stable, uncapped internet, fly in different parts of the world or have limited SSD space. | Previously visited scenery must be downloaded again, increasing bandwidth use and dependence on the connection. |
Rolling cache normally provides no benefit on the first visit because that scenery still has to be downloaded. Its value appears on later flights over the same tiles. It is also unlikely to raise average frame rates; it mainly changes network use, scenery delivery and disk activity.
What rolling cache size and drive should I use?
Use a modest cache that leaves ample free space for simulator updates, temporary files and installed scenery.
There is no universally correct capacity. A pilot repeatedly flying around one city needs less than somebody covering a large region, while dense photogrammetry consumes cache space faster than ordinary terrain. Making the file enormous does not make scenery sharper or increase FPS.
On PC, place it on a fast local SSD where the simulator exposes a cache-path selector. Avoid a slow hard drive, a cloud-synchronised folder or removable storage that may be disconnected. A large cache reserves meaningful capacity, so account for it when planning MSFS installation and free-space requirements.
How do I test rolling cache properly?
A controlled comparison is the most reliable way to decide because connection quality and storage performance vary between systems.
- Create a repeatable flight: use the same aircraft, airport, route, graphics settings and weather preset for each run.
- Test with caching on: open the simulator's Data settings, enable Rolling Cache, select an appropriate size and apply the change. Fly the route once to populate the cache, then repeat it.
- Test with caching off: disable it, apply the setting and repeat the same flight. Do not change graphics options between tests.
- Compare the relevant symptoms: watch for terrain loading, photogrammetry detail, pauses and network usage rather than judging only by average FPS.
If pauses appear only with caching enabled, the cache drive may be slow, nearly full or busy with another process. Our guide to diagnosing MSFS 2020 stutters and micro-pauses explains how to separate cache-write pauses from graphics, CPU and add-on problems.
When should I delete the rolling cache?
Delete and rebuild the rolling cache when previously visited scenery becomes malformed, refuses to update or behaves differently from uncached areas.
- Photogrammetry or terrain is corrupted in one location that previously worked.
- Scenery remains outdated or broken after a relevant simulator or world-content update.
- Stutters began after moving, resizing or interrupting creation of the cache.
- You are turning caching off specifically to reclaim its allocated storage.
Use the simulator's Delete Rolling Cache control in the Data settings while no flight is running. Do not clear it after every flight or every routine update; doing so removes the bandwidth-saving benefit. Also, do not assume that switching the feature off has reclaimed the file's storage without checking the delete control or configured location.
Will rolling cache fix blurry scenery?
Rolling cache only helps blurry or late-loading scenery when repeated downloads or damaged cached data are the cause.
It cannot compensate for disabled online world data, server-side delivery trouble, an insufficient Terrain Level of Detail setting or a connection too slow to obtain the original imagery. If detail remains poor with both cache states, follow our blurry and low-quality scenery checks instead of continually enlarging the cache.
Can rolling cache replace an internet connection?
No, rolling cache is not a dependable offline-world download.
Some recently visited terrain may remain available, but older tiles are automatically evicted and several online services still require a connection. For reliable offline use, install the simulator's supported offline data and expect less detailed scenery than its streamed Bing imagery and photogrammetry.