How To Fix It If Microsoft Flight Simulator Crashes on Windows 11 (Steam)

The Microsoft Flight Simulator is one of the most popular games released by the company last year. It has been so stable since it was released, although some gamers reported minor issues every now and then.

Among the most common problems reported are the game crashes, wherein the Flight Simulator just stops responding or even closes by itself. The Xbox game version of it also has issues like the one on PC.

If you’re one of the gamers bugged by this issue frequently, then you might want to check the minimum system requirements of the game and compare them with the hardware specs of your PC. If it’s a hardware-related issue, you can fix Microsoft Flight Simulator by upgrading your hardware.

Another thing you have to look into are the Microsoft servers because if the problem is due to some issues with the servers, then all you can do is wait it out as it will surely be fixed within an hour or two.

But assuming that your PC meets the minimum requirements and that there are no issues with the servers, then here are the things you can do to fix Microsoft Flight Simulator crashing issue:

First solution: Reopen Microsoft Flight Simulator

When it comes to fixing game crashes, the first thing you need to do is to make sure that it’s not just due to a minor glitch in the game. What you need to do is to force stop Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and then reopen it to see if the crashes still occur after that. Here’s how you do that:

Step 1: Press Shift + CTRL + Esc simultaneously to pull up the Task manager.

Step 2: Look for Microsoft Flight Simulator service and right-click it.

Step 3: Click End Task to force close the game.

Step 4: Reopen the game from your Steam library.

Most of the minor issues that cause games to crash can be fixed by this procedure. However, if Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 continues to crash after this, then move on to the next solution.

Second solution: Restart your Windows 11 computer

After making sure that it’s not due to a minor glitch in the game, the next thing you need to do is to refresh the memory of your computer.

There are times when the operating system glitches can also cause games to crash, especially CPU-intensive games like the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020.

So restart your computer and see if the problem gets fixed. Here’s how:

Step 1: Right-click the Start icon.

Step 2: Hover the cursor over Shut down or sign out.

Step 3: Click Restart.

Wait for Windows 11 to finish the reboot and then relaunch the Microsoft Flight Simulator to see if the problem is fixed. Most of the time, this is the solution to problems involving the operating system. If this doesn’t fix the problem, try the next solution.

Third solution: Check your Internet connection

While the game files are stored locally on your computer, PC Microsoft Flight Simulator needs to be constantly connected to its servers to download and upload your progress and other things.

What you need to check next is your internet connection. You should be getting a fast and stable connection to be able to enjoy games like this. Here’s how you do that:

Step 1: Log on to SpeedTest.net.

Step 2: Once the page loads, click Go to begin the test.

Step 3: When the results show, compare the speed to your plan to see if the problem is due to slow or unstable connection.

Network and internet problems can often be fixed by simply rebooting your router or modem. However, if you have a stable connection and yet the Microsoft Flight Simulator crashing issues continue, then try the next solution.

Fourth solution: Install all Windows 11 updates

Microsoft often fixes issues with its games, apps and operating system by rolling out updates. So the next thing you have to do is make sure your Windows 11 is updated. Here’s how you check for updates:

Step 1: Right-click the Start icon to pull up the options menu.

Step 2: Launch the Windows Settings app by clicking on Settings.

Step 3: On the left pane, click Windows Update.

If there’s an available update for your computer’s OS, then download and install it. After that, try to see if the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 works properly.

Fifth solution: Update your graphics card driver

Game crashing issues can also be fixed by obsolete graphics driver. Thus, the next thing you have to do is to check if there’s an update available for your graphics card and install it if necessary.

Here’s how you update your graphics card if you’re an Nvidia user:

Step 1: Click on the small arrow pointing upwards on the system tray.

Step 2: Right-click the Nvidia Settings icon.

Step 3: Click Nvidia GeForce Experience to open it.

Step 4: To check for Graphics card driver, click Drivers.

Step 5: Now click Check For Updates to try and download the driver for the Microsoft Windows 11.

After the download, click Express Installation to install the driver.

Aside from this procedure, you can also check the driver of your GPU by going to the Device Manager.

Once you’ve updated the driver of your graphics driver, try to see if the crashing issues are fixed. If not, then move on to the next solution.

Sixth solution: Verify integrity of game files

Another possibility as to why the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 crashes is when some of the game files are corrupted or missing. If you downloaded the game from Steam, then you can try to verify the integrity of the game files to fix any issue with the installation files.

Here’s how it’s done:

Step 1: Launch the Steam client.

Step 2: Click Library.

Step 3: Right-click Microsoft Flight Simulator, and click Properties.

Step 4: Click the Local Files tab.

Step 5: Click Verify integrity of game files and wait until the process is finished.

When it comes to fixing the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 crashing problem, this will be enough to make the game run perfectly again. However, if the problem remains, then move on to the next solution.

Seventh solution: Increase virtual memory

Virtual memories actually serve as additional RAM where some of the caches will be created. So if you think your computer is running low on RAM, it’s better to just increase the virtual memory as it can solve several issues including game crashes.

Here’s how it’s done on your Windows 11 PC:

Step 1: Press the Windows key + R to pull up the Run service.

Step 2: In the Open field, type in SystemPropertiesAdvanced and press OK to view Advanced System Settings.

Step 3: Under the Performance section, click Settings.

Step 4: Click the Advanced tab and click Change under the Virtual memory section. Make sure the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” box isn’t checked.

Step 5: Tick Custom size and enter ‘12288’ in the Initial size field and ‘24576’ in the Maximum size field.

Step 6: Click Set, and then OK.

Alternatively, you can also pull up the same window by opening Settings and then type Advanced System Settings. You can click the result and it will bring you to the same window where you can edit the virtual memory of your device.

If the Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 game still crashes after this, then move on to the next solution.

Eighth solution: Reinstall Microsoft Flight Simulator

After doing the previous solutions and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 continues to crash when you play it, then it’s time to uninstall it completely from your computer and then re-download it from Steam.

It will make sure all corrupt installation files are deleted and you have a fresh copy on your PC. Here’s how you uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator from your computer:

Step 1: Launch the Steam client.

Step 2: Click Library.

Step 3: Right-click Microsoft Flight Simulator, and hover the cursor over Manage.

Step 4: Click Uninstall and click the Uninstall button again to proceed.

Step 5: Once the game is successfully uninstalled, restart your computer and then reinstall it from Steam or from Microsoft Store.

This will fix the crashing problems with the Flight Simulator.