How To Fix Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 Lag, Low FPS, Or Stuttering

Are you experiencing lag, stuttering or FPS drop when playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020? This is a common complaint from a lot of players lately although we believe that not all cases are caused by the game itself. 

In this troubleshooting guide, we’ll show you the reasons why this game may stutter or lag and how to narrow down the causes for your particular case.

What can cause Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 lag, low FPS, or stuttering issues

THere are a number of possible reasons why Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 may lag or suffer from low FPS. Let’s discuss each of them below.

Random glitch.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is visually stunning game but it’s far from perfect. Even on computers optimized for gaming, the game can sometimes suffer from stuttering or low FPS. 

Infrequent random lag on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 may occur from time to time as Asobo, the game’s developer continues to release incremental patches to lessen the chances of problems and to fix new ones.

PC is low on resources.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is graphics-heavy game so you may need to ensure that you allocate any available resources when it’s running. This means closing Google Chrome browser (which is also a RAM-hog application), or any other applications that you don’t need. 

If you don’t have a high-end gaming PC, then make sure that only the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is running.

Outdated graphics card drivers.

If your computer’s GPU has an old version of drivers, it can potentially affect your gaming experience. Make sure that you keep drivers updated all the time.

Slow or intermittent connection issues.

In case you don’t know it, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 requires a fast broadband connection in order to continuously display the views of the world you’re looking at. The game is constantly talking to the server in order to download the maps it needs. 

If your internet connection is slow or if it’s disconnecting regularly, this can result to lag or stuttering issues when playing Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

Unknown software issues.

Third party programs may interfere with Windows or with games. If you noticed that Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 is lagging after installing a new program, you must consider deleting that application to see if that will fix the problem.

Hardware limitations.

Games like Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 are best enjoyed in highest settings. If your computer is a few years old already, its hardware components may not be strong enough to render graphics in the settings you’re using right now. 

Try to set graphics settings of the game to lower configuration and see if that will eliminate low FPS, lag or stuttering.

What are the minimum system requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020?

Below are the minimum system requirements for MFS2020. Bear in mind that even if your PC meets these specs, it does not mean that you may be able to run the game in its highest settings. 

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Intel i5-4460 | AMD Ryzen 3 1200
  • Memory: 8 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 770 | AMD Radeon RX 570
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space

What are the recommended system requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020?

If you want to enjoy the game in its full beauty, you should strive to have these specs at the minimum (a more powerful PC than this setup is preferable):

  • Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
  • OS: Windows 10
  • Processor: Intel i5-8400 | AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
  • Memory: 16 GB RAM
  • Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970 | AMD Radeon RX 590
  • DirectX: Version 11
  • Storage: 150 GB available space

How to fix Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 lag, low FPS, or stuttering issues

If you can’t figure out why your Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 game is lagging, these are the possible troubleshooting steps that you can try:

  1. Be patient.

    Even if your PC is optimized for gaming and you’ve checked everything that might possibly cause lag or low FPS, there will still be times that the game will simply hit some snag. In my case, I sometimes even encountered the occasional crashing issue on top of infrequent lag or stuttering.
    I know there’s nothing wrong with my computer or internet connection so it’s most probably just a random fluke with this game. 

  2. Restart Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

    Sometimes, all it takes to eliminate lag in any game is to force close the application and fire it back up. If you haven’t done that yet, make sure that you do that now.

  3. Reboot your PC.

    If your PC has been up and running for some time already, make sure to close everything, shut the machine down for 30 seconds (by turning it off normally and disconnecting the power cable), before starting it up again. 
    Once the computer has been rebooted completely, start the game and see if Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 continues to lag.Windows Start button

  4. Update graphics drivers.

    One of the simplest ways to keep bugs in gaming is to ensure that you take care of GPU drivers. 
    NVIDIA has released a special update for new games such as Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020, A Total War Saga: TROY, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2. If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, make sure that you check this new driver version.

    How To Check For AMD GPU Driver UpdatesNVIDIA

  5. Ensure there’s no active downloads.

    If your PC is actively downloading when you’re playing, it can affect the game and may cause it to stutter or lag as the map can’t be downloaded in time. Make sure to turn off any program that may be downloading in the background like torrent apps. 
    To check if you have slow internet connection, try running a speed test.

  6. Check for internet issues.

    Intermittent connection issue, just like slow download, can impact Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and cause it to lag. Try checking for intermittent connection problem using another device such as a smartphone. If your phone keeps getting disconnected from the internet, you may be having a problem with your wifi or your local network. Make sure to troubleshoot with your Internet Service Provider first before you play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 again.back of router cable

  7. Use lower graphics settings.

    Not everyone can have an ideal gaming PC so if your own is not that powerful at this time, try tweaking some graphics settings. If lag does not occur again after you lower the video settings of the game, that means that you have a weak computer. 
    Consider upgrading it if you want to play Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 in higher settings.

Suggested readings:

Visit our TheDroidGuy Youtube Channel for more troubleshooting videos and tutorials.


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1 thought on “How To Fix Microsoft Flight Simulator 2021 Lag, Low FPS, Or Stuttering”

  1. “Rebooting, leaving your PC off for 30 seconds and unplugging it at the wall”. Lol, the 30 seconds and unplugging it at the wall is completely unnecessary and will achieve nothing. With respect, there’s nothing really knowledgeable or useful in this vlog. There are so many more practical things that can be done to address lage, low FPS and stutters.

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