A practical guide to diagnosing and fixing crashes to desktop, stutters, and general performance problems in Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024. The techniques below are ordered from least to most disruptive.
Many third-party aircraft and systems in MSFS use WebAssembly (WASM) modules — compiled code that the sim runs for avionics, autopilots, and other logic. The sim caches the compiled output of these modules to speed up loading. When a sim update ships, that cached data can become stale or corrupted, causing stutters, display errors, WASM crashes (the "orange screen of death"), or CTDs — even with add-ons that were perfectly stable before the update.
References:
Before diving into cache cleaning, good addon management is the foundation of a stable sim. MSFS Addons Linker (free, by bad2000) is the community standard for this.
Download: flightsim.to/addon/1572/msfs-addons-linker
Instead of physically copying addons into the Community folder, Addons Linker stores them wherever you like and creates symbolic links into Community. This means:
- You can enable/disable individual addons (or groups) with a single click before launching the sim.
- Bisecting a CTD is fast — disable half your addons, test, narrow it down.
- No files are ever duplicated or moved.
The dedicated MSFS 2024 executable is
MSFS_AddonsLinker_2024.exe, introduced in version 0.22.x.
Limitation: Addons Linker manages what enters the Community folder. It does not touch the WASM cache files that the sim has already compiled. For post-update stutter and WASM errors, you need the steps below.
References:
The sim maintains a WASM cache folder with subdirectories named after each installed package. These get rebuilt on first flight load. Deleting them forces a full recompile — which is exactly what you want after a major update.
Close the sim completely first, then navigate to the WASM folder for your version:
| Install type | WASM cache path |
|---|---|
| MS Store / Xbox app | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.Limitless_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\WASM |
| Steam | %APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\WASM |
You can delete everything inside the WASM folder — the sim will rebuild it on next flight load. If you want to be more surgical, delete only the subfolder(s) named after the problem aircraft or addon.
⚠️ Warning: Some addons store settings inside aworksubfolder under their WASM directory (control mappings, third-party connections). Check before deleting if you have customized settings for a specific aircraft.
References:
Stale scenery indexes can also cause CTDs, particularly on approach or when flying into complex airports. FenixSim and others recommend clearing these after updates:
| Install type | LocalCache path |
|---|---|
| MS Store | %LOCALAPPDATA%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalCache |
| Steam | %APPDATA%\Microsoft Flight Simulator |
Inside that folder, delete:
SceneryIndexes(folder)SceneryCache(folder)Content.xml(file — the sim will regenerate it)
Also consider disabling the rolling cache if you have it enabled, or at minimum clearing it from within the sim's settings (Options → Data).
References:
Stale GPU shader caches can cause stutters on first flights, especially after driver or sim updates.
NVIDIA users:
- Open NVIDIA Control Panel → Manage 3D Settings → set Shader Cache Size to Disabled
- Reboot
- Run Windows Disk Cleanup → select DirectX Shader Cache → delete
- Reboot
- Re-enable Shader Cache in NVIDIA Control Panel
Reference:
Several automated tools bundle these cache-clearing steps:
- MFS Cleaner / Fixer — clears caches, manages startup, DLSS swapping (MSFS 2020 & 2024)
- MSFS2020/2024 Cache Removal Tool — clears DirectX and NVIDIA graphics caches
- Cache Cleanup for MSFS 2020 and 2024 — prefetch, DXcache, and other temp files
These tools are convenient but are essentially scripting the same manual steps above. They do not handle the WASM recompile that safe mode triggers (Step 3).
This is the most thorough technique for post-update instability. When MSFS enters safe mode, it disables all third-party content — Community folder mods and Marketplace purchases — and on next launch forces a full WASM recompile for every package you re-enable. This is the key benefit over just clearing the cache manually: you can selectively re-enable addons one at a time (or in batches) and let the sim rebuild each one fresh.
MSFS writes a running.lock file when it launches; if the sim crashes, this file remains and triggers the safe mode prompt on the next launch. You can create this file yourself to force safe mode at any time.
The file goes in the sim's Content directory (not the AppData cache folder):
| Install type | Path |
|---|---|
| Xbox app (default) | C:\XboxGames\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\Content\running.lock |
| Steam | Your Steam library path, e.g. D:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\Content\running.lock |
Your install path may differ — navigate to your MSFS 2024 install and look for the
Contentfolder.
Open a PowerShell or Command Prompt window and run:
# Adjust the path to match your install
New-Item "C:\XboxGames\Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024\Content\running.lock" -ItemType FileOr simply create a blank file named running.lock (no extension) in that directory using File Explorer (make sure Windows is not hiding extensions).
If you prefer a GUI tool: MSFS Safe Mode Switch (GitHub, free) is a small PowerShell/exe tool that creates or removes the running.lock file for MSFS 2020 or 2024 with a button click, including an option to auto-launch the sim immediately after.
- The sim presents a "Safe Mode or Normal Mode" dialog.
- Choose Safe Mode.
- The sim loads with only stock Asobo content — all third-party packages (Community folder and Marketplace) are disabled.
- After the sim loads successfully, go to Profile → My Library and re-enable your addons individually or in groups.
- Each time you load a flight with a newly re-enabled WASM-based aircraft, the sim recompiles that aircraft's WASM module fresh.
Important: Safe mode in MSFS 2024 does permanently disable all add-ons (not temporarily). You must re-enable them manually in My Library. This is the intended behavior — it's the mechanism that makes the selective recompile possible.
This makes safe mode ideal for:
- Post-update "everything stutters" problems
- Isolating which addon is causing a CTD (re-enable in batches, binary search)
- Forcing a clean WASM rebuild for every aircraft in your library
References:
| Symptom | Try first |
|---|---|
| CTD after installing a new addon | Disable addon via Addons Linker; test |
| Stutter with one specific aircraft after update | Delete that aircraft's WASM subfolder (Step 2a) |
| General stutter/CTDs after a sim update | Clear WASM + Scenery cache (Steps 2a, 2b) |
| Persistent CTDs, can't identify cause | Forced Safe Mode + selective re-enable (Step 3) |
| Stutter on first few minutes of any flight | Clear DirectX shader cache (Step 2c) |
| Rolling cache CTDs on approach | Disable or rebuild rolling cache (Step 2b) |
- Always clear caches with the sim fully closed.
- After any major sim update (Sim Update X), clearing the WASM cache proactively is good maintenance even if you're not experiencing problems yet.
- WASM crashes (orange/red instrument displays) are usually not the same as CTDs — they're module-level failures that don't always kill the sim. The cache clear in Step 2a is the primary fix.
- If a specific aircraft is consistently problematic, check the developer's own support pages (iniBuilds, PMDG, FenixSim, etc.) — they often publish aircraft-specific cache clearing instructions.