Advanced Troubleshooting: How to troubleshoot crashing/CTDs issues

Below, you will find troubleshooting steps that are particularly useful when the crash occurs:

• While clicking "Fly"
• Mid-flight
• When navigating menus
• When changing options
• After a certain period of time.

If the crash happens when clicking "Play" or launching the simulator, check our other articles too:

• Checklist: How to troubleshoot crashing/CTDs issues
• Basic Troubleshooting: How to troubleshoot crashing/CTDs issues

UPDATE OR CLEAN INSTALL YOUR GRAPHICS DRIVERS

When your graphics drivers are either not up to date or suffering from some form of corruption, this can also cause crashes during gameplay. When trying this step, we recommend you completely remove your old drivers before updating to the latest versions. To remove your old drivers and then update to the latest:

1. Press the Windows Key
2. Type Add or Remove Program
3. Scroll down the list and find your graphics driver
4. Click the driver once and select uninstall. Confirm this by clicking Uninstall again.
5. Once complete reboot Windows
6. Download the latest drivers from here:
• Nvidia - Click Here
• AMD - Click Here
7. Install the latest driver and then reboot your PC again

ROLL BACK TO YOUR PREVIOUS DRIVER

However, if the problem started after updating the drivers, the safest option is to roll back to the previous version. See your manufacturer's instructions.

DISABLE CPU & GPU OVERCLOCKING

We advise against using overclocked systems to play Microsoft Flight Simulator. The increased voltage causes overheating and can gradually damage your computer's hardware (CPU, GPU, RAM, and motherboard).

If your system is overclocked:

1. Disable Intel SpeedStep, XMP Profiles etc... on your Bios overclock menu
2. Lower or disable your CPU overclock values
3. Disable GPU overlocking for your Microsoft Flight Simulator game profile on Radeon Software or Nvidia nTune (this applies to custom user overlock settings, not for factory overclock settings of the manufacturer)

Please refer to your manufacturer's guidelines regarding how to disable or lower the overclocking speed of your CPU and GPU. 

INCREASE THE VIRTUAL MEMORY (PAGEFILE) ON YOUR SYSTEM

• In the Windows Seach bar, type Advanced system settings and open the Control Panel.
• Make sure you're on the Advanced tab.
• Click the Settings button from under the Performance
• On the Performance Options box, go to the Advanced tab > Performance 
• Click on Settings
• On the Virtual Memory box, uncheck the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives
• Click to select the drive on which Windows 10 is installed (by default C:)
• Click to select the Custom size radio button.
• In the now-enabled fields, type the pagefile's minimum and maximum size in megabytes (MB) according to your computer's physical memory.
• Click Set and then click OK.
• Restart your computer.

DELETE CUSTOM PERIPHERAL PROFILES

Corrupted profiles can cause the sim to crash when clicking the "Fly" button.

1. Close Microsoft Flight Simulator
2. Uninstall or Disable plug-ins such as FaceTrackNoIR or TrackIR.
3. Launch the sim 
4. Go to Options > Controls Options
5. For each peripheral plugged into the sim with a custom profile, click on "Preset Manager" then "Delete" then press "Yes"
6. Click "Fly" and try again

If you're able to launch a flight after deleting the custom profiles of the peripherals, simply rebuild a custom profile from the default mapping or use the default mapping.

CPU & RAM COMPATIBILITY

If your CPU isn't compatible with your RAM, you'll need to lower the speed of your memory sticks.

To find out if your RAM is compatible with your CPU, go to your manufacturer's website, select your CPU, and search for "Memory Specifications"

• Intel website
• AMD

Example: Intel® Core™ i7-1160G7 Processor (12M Cache, up to 4.40 GHz, with IPU) supports

Max Memory Size (dependent on memory type) 32 GB
Memory Types LPDDR4x-4267

Please refer to your manufacturer's guidelines regarding how to lower the speed of your Memory.

POWER SUPPLY (ALL VERSIONS)

Power supply problems manifest themselves under load. To avoid bottlenecks, ensure that your power supply is providing enough power for your whole system while running processor-intensive tasks like playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, not just your GPU. 

You may have devices plugged into your computer (such as a webcam, external hard drive, card reader, or USB drive). Each of these devices draws power from the PC, which could cause the power supply to run in an underpowered state. 

REINSTALL VISUAL C++ (ALL VERSIONS) 

To install or reinstall Visual C++ redistributable packages for Visual Studio 2015, 2017 and 2019 simply do the following:

• Press the Windows Key + R, type "appwiz.cpl" and then press Enter.
• Locate the Microsoft Visual C++ programs on the list.
• Select each entry and then click Uninstall.
• Download a fresh copy of Microsoft Visual C++ from this page and then install it.

 

exFAT DRIVES

If the sim is installed on a drive formatted in exFAT, format the drive to NTFS instead. 

DO A CLEAN INSTALL

As a last resort, try uninstalling and reinstalling the game. You'll find detailed instructions in the following knowledge base articles:

• Microsoft Store version - How to Repair or Uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Steam - How to Repair or Uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Game Pass - How to repair or uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Retail disc version - How to uninstall and reinstall Microsoft Flight Simulator

 

SEARCH THE FORUMS

If the problem persists after doing a clean install, visit the CTD Help forum.