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If Microsoft Flight Simulator (MSFS) began stuttering, freezing, or crashing to the desktop after you installed an aircraft add-on, start by testing the simulator without third-party content. Launch in Safe Mode or temporarily move the Community folder, then compare the same flight. If the problem disappears, restore packages in small batches until one aircraft or package brings it back. If the problem remains, clean the simulator’s package indexes and rolling cache, then check drivers, Windows, and graphics settings.
This process matters because an add-on can conflict with another package, leave bad cached data, or overwrite files used by the simulator. Microsoft’s guidance treats PC crash diagnosis as a controlled process of elimination rather than a single repair button.
First, separate a stutter from a crash
Use the symptom to choose the first test. A stutter is a recurring frame-time hitch or pause while the simulator continues running. A freeze may leave the image and sound stuck until you close the program. A crash to desktop (CTD) ends the simulator completely, sometimes without an error message. These outcomes can have different causes, so note exactly which one you see.
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| What you observe | Useful first comparison | What the result tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Stutter or hitch after loading an add-on aircraft | Fly the same route with the Community folder empty and the aircraft package removed | If performance returns, the aircraft or an interaction with another package is implicated |
| Crash during startup or aircraft loading | Launch in Safe Mode | A stable Safe Mode launch points toward third-party content |
| Crash at one repeatable airport, waypoint, or location | Complete the clean-state checks before testing that location again | A repeatable location-specific failure is suitable for a bug report after the checklist |
| Pink textures, missing surfaces, or visual corruption with a crash or stutter | Remove third-party packages and repair base files if needed | Corrupt or overwritten texture files are a likely line of investigation |
Before changing anything, reproduce the problem once if it is safe to do so. Record the aircraft, livery, airport, weather, flight phase, and whether the failure is a hitch, full freeze, or CTD. Also note whether the symptom occurs every time or only occasionally. This record prevents you from changing several variables at once and losing the useful comparison.
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Run the decisive add-on test
Use Safe Mode
When MSFS offers Safe Mode after a problem, accept it for the diagnostic flight. Safe Mode temporarily disables third-party Marketplace content and Community-folder mods. It does not identify the exact package automatically; it only provides a clean comparison environment.
- Start MSFS and choose Safe Mode when the prompt appears.
- Load the same aircraft or a comparable default aircraft, airport, weather preset, and route you used when the issue occurred.
- Observe whether the stutter, freeze, or CTD returns.
- Exit and record the result before changing another setting.
If Safe Mode is stable, the cause is probably an add-on or a combination of add-ons. If the same failure occurs, continue with the vanilla-state procedure below; do not assume the aircraft package is responsible merely because it was the most recent installation.
Move the Community folder when Safe Mode is unavailable
You can perform the same comparison manually. Close the simulator, then move or rename the Community folder so MSFS cannot load its contents. Do not delete it: moving it preserves your packages for later testing. Start the simulator and repeat the flight using only content that remains enabled.
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Package locations vary between Microsoft Store or Game Pass installations, Steam installations, and custom package locations. Use the package path configured for your installation, and move the Community folder found inside that location. If you cannot find it, check the simulator’s current package-location setting rather than creating a second folder in a guessed directory.
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Isolate the aircraft or package that reintroduces the problem
Microsoft says there is no automatic method that names the incompatible add-on. Isolation is therefore a repeatable restore-and-compare procedure.
Restore in small, trackable groups
- Keep the Community folder empty while MSFS is closed.
- Return the suspect aircraft and its required dependency packages first. Do not restore every package at once.
- Start MSFS and repeat the recorded flight. If it remains stable, close the simulator before adding another group.
- Add other aircraft, liveries, scenery, utilities, and libraries in small batches. Keep a written list of what each batch contains.
- When the symptom returns, remove half of that batch and test again. Continue narrowing the group until one package or a small interaction is reproducible.
- Test the identified package by itself, then with the other package that appears to trigger the interaction. This distinguishes a defective package from a conflict.
Once a package is implicated, check its publisher’s compatibility notes and current update before reinstalling it. If an update does not resolve the issue, leave the package disabled and contact the publisher with your simulator version, package version, reproduction steps, and any repeatable location. Avoid repeatedly reinstalling an unverified package while the simulator is unstable.
Do not confuse a livery with the aircraft core
Test the aircraft’s base package without optional liveries or cabin and sound add-ons. A livery can contain an incompatible model or texture even when the aircraft itself works. Restore optional components only after the base aircraft passes the same flight.
Return to a genuinely vanilla simulator
If the issue continues with the Community folder empty, remove third-party packages from both the Community and Official package areas for testing. Microsoft’s checklist also calls for removing the simulator’s content index files and clearing the rolling cache. These steps remove stale references and cached package data that can survive after an add-on has been changed.
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Clean the package indexes
Close MSFS completely before changing files. In the active package location for your installation, delete content.xml and the related .dat files identified by Microsoft’s checklist. The simulator recreates required index data on the next launch. Do not delete arbitrary files from the installation; remove only the index files named in the official procedure and only after confirming you are in the active package location.
Clear the rolling cache
- Open MSFS’s data or options menu and locate the rolling-cache control.
- Delete the existing rolling-cache file or use the in-game option to clear it.
- Restart MSFS and allow scenery and aircraft data to be downloaded again.
- Repeat the controlled flight before restoring add-ons.
A stale or conflicting cache can preserve bad package data, so clearing it is an important diagnostic step. It is not a guaranteed cure for stuttering: if the hitch remains with a clean cache and no third-party content, move to the graphics and system checks.
Test Marketplace content separately
Third-party content installed through the in-game Marketplace can be involved even when the Community folder is empty. Temporarily uninstall or disable Marketplace packages for the test, then launch the same vanilla flight. Restore Marketplace products only after the clean test is stable, using the same one-at-a-time method as Community packages.
Check graphics settings and system software
Use Global Rendering Quality as a controlled test
If MSFS still crashes after third-party content has been removed, reduce Global Rendering Quality and repeat the flight. This is a diagnostic comparison, not a permanent recommendation to run at a lower quality. Record the original setting and the test setting so you can tell whether the change affected the failure.
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A lower setting that prevents a CTD suggests that workload or a graphics-related configuration is involved. It does not prove that the add-on was harmless; the add-on may have pushed an already marginal configuration over its limit. Continue testing in the clean state before restoring packages.
Update the graphics driver and Windows
For crashes that persist in a clean simulator state, install the current driver for your NVIDIA or AMD graphics card and apply pending Windows updates. Restart the computer after updates, then repeat the same recorded flight. Microsoft includes current GPU drivers and Windows updates in its general CTD checklist because outdated system software can reproduce a crash independently of add-ons.
Change one category at a time where possible. If you update the driver and alter several graphics options simultaneously, you will not know which change affected the result. Keep a short log of the driver version, Windows update status, Global Rendering Quality, and test outcome.
Repair visual corruption and pink textures
Pink textures, flashing surfaces, or missing aircraft materials are not merely cosmetic when they appear with a new aircraft, stutter, or crash. Microsoft attributes these artifacts to corrupt texture files or files overwritten by add-on mods.
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- Close MSFS.
- Remove third-party packages from the Community and Official package areas for the test.
- Clear the rolling cache and remove the applicable content index files.
- Launch the simulator with only base content and check the affected aircraft or location.
- If corruption remains, use the repair or file-verification procedure for your installation so damaged base files can be restored.
If the visual problem disappears after removing one package, do not copy its files back into the simulator manually. Keep the package disabled until its publisher provides a compatible version.
Use this decision path for common cases
| Test result | Next action | Stop condition |
|---|---|---|
| Safe Mode or an empty Community folder is stable | Restore aircraft and other packages in small groups, then isolate the group that reintroduces the symptom | Keep the identified package disabled or updated until it passes alone |
| Safe Mode is still unstable | Remove third-party packages from Community and Official areas, clear content index files and rolling cache, and retest | Proceed to driver, Windows, and graphics checks if the vanilla test still fails |
| Lower Global Rendering Quality changes a crash | Keep the lower setting only as a diagnostic reference while checking drivers and system configuration | Do not label the add-on compatible solely because the lower setting helped |
| Pink textures disappear when add-ons are removed | Identify the package that supplied or overwrote the affected textures and seek an update or remove it | Repair base files if corruption remains without add-ons |
| The simulator crashes at the same location after all checks | Document the exact location and reproduction steps and submit a bug report | Include the completed troubleshooting steps rather than reporting only that MSFS crashed |
What to include in a useful bug report
Microsoft advises filing a bug report when a crash occurs at the same location every time, after you have completed the relevant checklist. Include the aircraft and package versions, airport or coordinates, weather, flight phase, and whether the crash is repeatable in the vanilla state. State whether Safe Mode was stable, whether the Community folder was empty, whether Marketplace content was disabled, and whether clearing the rolling cache or lowering Global Rendering Quality changed the result.
Describe the failure precisely: a frame-time hitch, a complete freeze, or a CTD. Mention visual symptoms such as pink textures and provide the order in which you tested packages. A report that identifies a reliable reproduction path is more actionable than a list of every add-on installed on the system.
Prevent the next add-on conflict
- Keep a backup of the Community folder’s package list before installing a new aircraft.
- Install one major aircraft or scenery package at a time, then fly a short repeatable test route.
- Read the package’s compatibility notes and required dependencies before copying files.
- Keep optional liveries, sound packs, and utilities disabled until the base aircraft is stable.
- After a simulator update, test essential aircraft with third-party content isolated before restoring the full collection.
- When a problem appears, remove or move packages rather than deleting them, so you can identify the change that mattered.
The practical rule is simple: establish a stable vanilla baseline, change one package group, and retest the same scenario. That approach separates an aircraft defect, a package conflict, cached data, and a system-level crash without guessing.
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