"Your graphics device has encountered a problem and Microsoft Flight Simulator will exit" error message

The error message box "Your graphics device has encountered a problem and Microsoft Flight Simulator will exit" appears when the GPU encounters an issue, leading to CTDs or freezing of the simulator.

Below, we’ve outlined some of the most frequent reasons why this pop-up appears:

• Faulty drivers
• An application bug
• GPU overheating
• GPU overclocking

Although we cannot display the exact cause of the CTD/freeze in the pop-up, here are some tips that may help improve the performance. 

 

DO A CLEAN INSTALLATION OF YOUR GRAPHICS DRIVERS

When your graphics drivers are either outdated or suffering from some form of corruption, this can also cause crashes during gameplay. We recommend that when trying this step, 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 your manufacturer's website:
   • Nvidia 
     • Recommended version: 526.98 release date 2022.11.16
   • AMD
7. Install the driver and then reboot your PC again

 

ROLL BACK THE DRIVERS

If the problem started after a driver update the safest option is to roll back to the previous version. See your manufacturer's instructions.

LOWER THE GRAPHICS

• Open the General Options menu > Graphics
• Reduce Global Rendering Quality to "Low-end" then click "Apply and Save"

If the crashing stops, slowly increase the quality until you find the optimal settings for your system.

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:

Disable Intel SpeedStep, XMP Profiles etc... on your Bios overclock menu

1. Lower or disable your CPU overclock values
2. 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)
3. Please refer to your manufacturer's guidelines regarding how to disable or lower the overclocking speed of your CPU and GPU.

You'll find additional tips in this article: All versions - How to improve the performance