How To Fix Microsoft Flight Simulator Crashing On Startup & Loading Screen Issue

It is no doubt that Microsoft Flight Simulator is a big hit in the gaming market. You just need to download it through the Microsoft store and virtually travel the world.

Like other new games, it also crashes in the startup. Many players on Reddit complained about the MFS crashing issues in the startup.

Now if you also encounter these issues, you won’t suffer anymore. Here are the best possible fixes that you can try on your own easily and quickly.

Why does Microsoft Flight Simulator Keep Crashing on the Desktop?

Various reasons can cause this game to crash. By searching from the various platforms we found the most common causes of this game crash.

Your PC does not meet the minimum requirements
Outdated GPU drivers
Random game bug
Corrupted game files
Hardware limitations
Issues with startup apps
Issues with overlay apps

How To Fix Microsoft Flight Simulator Keeps Crashing On Startup

Don’t try all these fixes at once, just give them a try one by one and apply the fix that suits you.

1. Check System Requirements

Before diving into other fixes, you must first check the system requirements that suit running Microsoft Play Stimulator.

System Requirements	Minimum System Requirements	Recommended System Requirements
Operating System	Windows 10 64-bit	Windows 10 64-bit
Processor	Intel i5-4460 or AMD Ryzen 3 1200	Intel i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
Memory	8 GB RAM	16 GB RAM
Graphics	NVIDIA GTX 770 or AMD Radeon RX 570	NVIDIA GTX 970 or AMD Radeon RX 590
DirectX	Version 11	Version 11
Storage	150 GB available space	150 GB available space

If your PC hardware is not supported to run the game, then read this article to know what is the best pre-built gaming PC. An Upgrade on the PC will help you to fix your issues.

Fix 2. Run As an Administrator

This is the simple fix when experiencing a crash issue at launch. So instead of clicking on the launch button from the Microsoft Store. You need to give privilege to the game.

Type “Flight Simulator” in the Windows search bar
Select Properties from the context menu
From the Properties, menu select Local Files
Select Run as an administrator in the menu

Fix 3. Update your graphics driver

Mostly Microsoft Flight Simulator Keeps Crashing on a Desktop that has outdated or corrupted graphics drivers. To improve gaming performance and fix the offline crashing on startup or while joining the game you need to update the graphics card driver.

There are two methods to update your system’s cards i.e. Manual and Automatic.

In the manual method, you need to visit the concerned site search for the latest compatible drivers, and download them on your PC. If you don’t have relevant skills then there are chances that you might install the wrong drivers.

So we suggest you adopt an automatic method in which you need to download Driver Easy on your PC. This tool will automatically scan your PC for outdated graphics drivers and update it instantly.

Fix 4. Verify the integrity of game files

Some players reported that they launched a game that had missing files from Microsoft Flight Stimulator. Missing and corrupted game files are the main source of causing the game to crash even at the startup. So you can try to verify the integrity of game files.

Go to your Steam library. Right-click Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and select Properties.
Navigate to the LOCAL FILES tab and click VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE…. Then wait for the progress bar to finish
Launch Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and test your flight

Fix 5. Change your power plan

Windows has a feature known as a power plan that manages the ways a computer uses power. Changing the power plan to boost the performance. This fix was found helpful to fix the crashing issue at startup while loading the screen.

On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to invoke the Run box. Type or paste control /name Microsoft.PowerOptions and click OK
In the pop-up window, select High Performance and click Change Plan settings
Click the Turn off the display drop-down list and select Never. Then click Save changes
Launch Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and see if the problem has gone away

Now check if the game crashes at startup, then try the next fix below

Fix 6. Unplug Peripherals

Gaming gears, when compatible with the game can boost the gaming experience. Some gamers reported that when there are two or more peripherals plugged in then it leads the game to crash even at the startup.

So if you’re using gears such as controllers, joysticks, and yokes, try unplugging them. If the crash disappears, you can root out the problem by disabling peripherals one by one.

But if you are using only the mouse and keyboard and still face crash issues then move to the next fix below.

Fix 7. Increase virtual memory

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 consumes lots of memory, and it’s likely to crash when the physical memory is used up. To overcome crashing issues you need to increase the virtual memory on your PC.

Here’s how you can do this:

On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and type advanced system settings. Click View Advanced System Settings.
Under the Performance section, click Settings
In the pop-up window, navigate to the Advanced tab. Under the Virtual Memory section, click Change.
Select the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives checkbox. Then select Customize size.
Enter the Initial size and Maximum size according to the physical memory of your computer. Microsoft recommends that virtual memory should be 1.5 to 3 times the size of physical memory. In my case, the physical memory (actual RAM) of my computer is 8 GB, so the Initial size for me here is 8 x 1024 x 1.5 = 12288 MB, and the Maximum size should be 8 x 1024 x 3 = 24576 MB. Once you’ve entered your size of virtual memory, click Set, then click OK to save the changes.

Restart your computer.

Fix 8. Reset the Copy of MFS

This fix helps to resolve the issue and prevent crashes at the startup.

Here’s how you can apply this fix:

Uninstall the game
Press the Windows Key
Type in wsreset
Right-click and select run as administrator
Once complete perform a system reboot
Press the Windows Key
Reinstall the game (Please install the game to your C: drive)
Type in Apps and Features
Find Microsoft Flight Simulator on the list
Select Advanced Options
Select Reset

Fix 9. Close Background Apps & Overlay

After thorough research, it is found that the background app and overlay apps cause the Flight Simulator to crash on startup. You can need to disable the overlays feature found in Steam, Discord, GeForce Experience, etc

If you have the following apps make sure you either disable them or uninstall them.

Realtek audio drivers
Nahimic Service
Seagate Toolkit
Asus Sonic Studio 2
Windows Audio Service
Garmin Express
WD Backup
Logitech G Hub
MSI Afterburner / Riva Tuner Statistics Server
EVGA Precision
OBS
Xsplit
Discord
MacType
Warsaw Banking App
Wallpaper Engine
A-Volute Sound studio
Capture One
MSI afterburner
Process Lasso
FRAPS
Citrix

Fix 10. Set Graphics To Low End

Follow these steps:

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

Fix 11. Delete Rolling Cache