Why do Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020 crash?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 and 2020 usually crash because of incompatible add-ons, damaged cache or package data, graphics-driver faults, unstable CPU, GPU or RAM tuning, exhausted memory or VRAM, or software conflicts. Test a default flight with third-party content removed and stock hardware settings, then restore one variable at a time.

Is this a simulator crash or an aircraft crash?

A software crash closes Microsoft Flight Simulator, leaves it unresponsive or returns a console to its home screen. A collision, overstress event or other in-simulator aircraft failure is different: the simulator remains open and displays the result.

A brief stutter while scenery loads is not necessarily a crash either. If the application recovers, investigate performance and streaming load; if the whole PC blue-screens, freezes hard or restarts, suspect a low-level driver, RAM instability, temperatures, power delivery or hardware before blaming the simulator.

Why do MSFS 2024 and 2020 crash at random?

A supposedly random crash to desktop usually has a repeatable trigger, such as one aircraft, airport, weather state, online service or level of system load.

• Incompatible third-party content: aircraft, liveries, airports, scenery, utilities and shared libraries can break after a simulator update. Packages copied from MSFS 2020 should not be used in MSFS 2024 unless compatibility has been confirmed.
• Graphics-driver trouble: a damaged installation, problematic update or driver failure under sudden GPU load can close the simulator without a useful error.
• Marginal hardware stability: CPU or GPU overclocks, undervolts and borderline XMP or EXPO memory profiles may appear stable elsewhere but fail under a long MSFS workload.
• Damaged data: interrupted content updates, incomplete packages and a corrupted rolling cache can cause loading or location-specific crashes.
• Memory and VRAM pressure: complex aircraft, dense airports, high-resolution textures, traffic, VR and long sessions can consume the remaining headroom.
• Software conflicts: overlays, capture tools, controller remappers, RGB suites, monitoring tools and companion applications may hook into the simulator.
• Online or simulator faults: live weather, traffic, multiplayer, photogrammetry or a service-side problem can be responsible when default content is otherwise stable. Reinstalling will not correct a remote service failure.

What does the timing of the crash tell you?

The stage at which Microsoft Flight Simulator crashes is one of the strongest clues to its cause.

How do I fix Microsoft Flight Simulator crashes?

The fastest reliable method is to establish one clean, repeatable test flight and change only one variable between runs.

1. Finish updates and record the trigger. Allow simulator, installed-content and operating-system updates to complete, then restart the PC or console. Note the aircraft, livery, airport, weather, online features, flight phase and approximate point of failure so every test uses the same conditions.

2. Use the simulator's Safe Mode. After an abnormal shutdown, MSFS may offer Safe Mode at the next launch. This is not Windows Safe Mode; it is a diagnostic session that disables most third-party simulator content.

   On PC, close MSFS and move every package outside the Community folder as an additional check. Do not put disabled packages in a subfolder inside Community, because the simulator may still scan them. The folder location varies with the installed platform and any custom packages path.

   Safe Mode is not a permanent repair. External utilities, overlays and hardware software may still run, while some optional installed packages may need to be disabled separately through the simulator's content controls.

3. Create a simple baseline flight. Use a default aircraft and livery, a small default airport, clear preset weather and no live traffic, multiplayer or photogrammetry. If this works, restore weather, online services, aircraft and scenery separately rather than all at once.

4. Return the PC to stock settings. Remove CPU and GPU overclocks or undervolts and temporarily disable XMP or EXPO. MSFS stresses the processor, graphics card and memory together, so tuning that survives other games can still be unstable here.

   If stock settings stop the crashes, treat the tuning, cooling or hardware stability as the fault. Do not conceal it by lowering an unrelated simulator setting.

5. Stabilise the graphics driver. Install pending Windows updates and a suitable GPU driver. If crashes began immediately after a driver update, roll back to the previous stable driver; otherwise use the driver's clean-install option instead of repeatedly installing over the existing package.

   In MSFS 2020, test DirectX 11 if crashes occur with DirectX 12 selected, particularly when an error mentions the graphics device or the failure appears under heavy GPU load. This fallback applies to MSFS 2020 only; MSFS 2024 does not offer the same choice.

6. Close overlays and external utilities. Shut down recording overlays, frame counters, monitoring tools, RGB and motherboard suites, camera tools, controller remappers and companion applications. Disconnect non-essential USB devices while retaining the controls required for the test.

7. Reset cached and online data. Delete the rolling cache through the simulator's data settings, restart MSFS and leave the cache disabled for a short test. Try preset weather, offline traffic, no multiplayer and no photogrammetry before restoring each feature individually.

8. Preserve memory and VRAM headroom. Lower texture resolution when VRAM is tight, terrain and object detail when dense scenery is the trigger, and AI, ground traffic or cockpit-display demand in CPU-heavy situations. Our setting-by-setting MSFS 2024 performance advice explains which adjustments target the GPU, CPU and scenery-streaming load.

   Keep adequate free space on the Windows and simulator drives. Do not disable the Windows page file while diagnosing crashes; a system-managed page file is the safest baseline.

9. Repair or verify the installation. Use the repair or verification function supplied by the platform through which MSFS was installed. Verification may not inspect every separately downloaded or streamed package, so a particular aircraft or airport can remain damaged afterwards.

   Do not move arbitrary files out of the Official folder as if it were another Community folder. Remove or reinstall optional and Marketplace packages through the simulator's content management controls so their installation state remains tracked.

10. Restore add-ons in controlled batches. Add aircraft, scenery, utilities and liveries in small groups, repeating the exact test after every change. A mistake we see constantly is copying an entire MSFS 2020 Community folder into MSFS 2024 and assuming every package remains compatible.

How can I identify which add-on is crashing MSFS?

The quickest method is a half-split test: prove the simulator works clean, restore half the add-ons, then continue testing the half that contains the fault.

1. Move every package outside Community while the simulator is closed and confirm that the exact crash no longer occurs.
2. Restore approximately half the packages and repeat the same aircraft, airport and conditions.
3. If it crashes, split the restored group again. If it remains stable, test the other half.
4. Continue until one aircraft, livery, scenery package, utility or shared library remains.
5. Check the isolated package's simulator compatibility, structure and required dependencies before restoring it.

Use the known trigger for every run. A short flight elsewhere proves little when the original failure occurred while loading a particular airport or operating one aircraft system.

Do not test only the main aircraft while leaving an old livery, sound replacement, panel modification or shared avionics library installed. For location-specific faults in MSFS 2024, our scenery package and Community-folder checks cover nested folders, dependencies and duplicate airports.

Why does MSFS crash with one aircraft or airport?

A failure tied to one aircraft or location usually indicates a content conflict rather than a general installation fault.

For an aircraft-specific crash, remove its liveries, sound or panel modifications and any utility that connects specifically to it. Update the aircraft and all required dependencies together, then test it at a simple default airport.

For an airport-specific crash, disable every package covering the airport and surrounding area, including duplicate airport versions, regional enhancements, object libraries, old aerial imagery and overlapping scenery. Test the default airport before restoring the suspect package without other local scenery.

Cross-testing separates the causes: fly a default aircraft at the suspect airport, then the suspect aircraft at a simple default airport. If only the location fails, investigate scenery; if the aircraft fails everywhere, investigate its package and dependencies. If each works alone but not together, suspect package interaction or insufficient memory and VRAM headroom.

Why does MSFS crash only with live weather or online data?

A crash that disappears with preset weather and online services disabled usually involves cached data, a transient service problem, network software or an add-on conflict.

Test live weather, live traffic, multiplayer and photogrammetry one at a time across fresh sessions. If the simulator remains stable offline, the core installation is less likely to be damaged; our live-weather session and conflict checks cover the related online-service troubleshooting without repeating it here.

What do ‘Your last session ended unexpectedly’ and 0xc0000005 mean?

Neither message identifies the root cause of a Microsoft Flight Simulator crash.

‘Your last session ended unexpectedly’ means only that the previous simulator process did not close normally. Choose Safe Mode after an unexplained crash to desktop; Normal Mode is reasonable if you deliberately ended the process or know the interruption came from a power cut or system restart.

The error 0xc0000005 is a memory-access exception, not proof that physical RAM is faulty. In MSFS 2020, seeing FlightSimulator.exe or a Windows system module in Reliability Monitor also rarely identifies the real culprit by itself. Use the timestamp and crash pattern to correlate the event with an add-on, driver, airport or load condition.

How do I stop MSFS crashing on Xbox or PlayStation?

Console troubleshooting uses the same clean-content principle but omits PC-only driver, Community folder, overclock and page-file steps.

MSFS 2024 is available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PS5 Pro. MSFS 2020 remains a PC and Xbox title and was never released on PlayStation.

• Fully close the simulator instead of resuming a suspended session, then restart the console.
• Complete console, simulator and installed-content updates before testing.
• Clear the simulator's rolling cache and test without live weather, multiplayer, traffic and photogrammetry.
• Disable or remove the most recently installed optional aircraft, livery or scenery through the simulator's content controls.
• Use a default aircraft at a simple default airport to establish a baseline.
• Keep adequate storage free for updates and temporary data.
• Reinstall a suspect content package before reinstalling the whole simulator.

Should I reinstall Microsoft Flight Simulator?

A full reinstall is justified only when MSFS still crashes in a clean state after repair, driver, cache and hardware-stability checks have failed.

Consider reinstalling when:

• platform repair or verification repeatedly reports or fails to correct damaged files;
• an interrupted update leaves packages that cannot be repaired or removed normally;
• the simulator crashes with default content, stock hardware settings and no external utilities;
• the package location or its permissions appear damaged.

A platform uninstall may leave downloaded packages, the Community folder or synchronised settings behind. MSFS 2020 also separates its launcher from the much larger package installation, so removing the launcher alone may not create a clean baseline.

Move third-party content aside, note any custom package location and follow our clean MSFS 2024 PC installation sequence before restoring add-ons. If the clean simulator is stable and the crash returns only after old content is restored, another reinstall will waste time; the fault is in the restored package, dependency or utility.