How to fix graphical artifacts and pink texture issue

This issue occurs when the texture files for the aircraft/scenery are corrupt or have been overwritten by add-on mods.

This can happen with 3 different scenarios:

  • You are installing the Sim for the first time, or you are doing a reinstall
    → There are issues with file download or decompressing that causes the file(s) to get corrupt
  • You are updating the Sim
    → There are issues with file download or decompressing that causes the file(s) to get corrupt
  • You have installed 3rd party add-on(s) that is/are causing a conflict with the core sim files

How to fix the issue:

  1. Remove all 3rd party add-ons from your Community and Official folders.
    How to restore the sim to its vanilla state to get back in game
    → If the issue persists
  2. Locate your Sim “Packages” folder and delete all fs-base* files and folders inside the “Packages” folder and restart the Sim. This will force the Sim to download all the files and replace any corrupted files.

DEFAULT INSTALLATION LOCATIONS

For the Windows Store install:
C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe

For the Steam install:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\MicrosoftFlightSimulator

Important: Windows 10/11 by default hides the “AppData” folder, so you will have to go to “View” > in the menu of File Explorer, and select “Hidden items” to see it.

For Custom install:
If you happened to use a custom location for your Flight Simulator installation,
then proceed there.

  1. If the issue still persists
    → Do a clean install of the Sim
    How to repair or uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator via the Xbox app
    How to uninstall Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam
    How to install Microsoft Flight Simulator on Steam

Alternatively, you can try doing these steps to narrow down which file in particular is causing the problem, then delete just that file:


If the issue still persists after going through all troubleshooting steps, please turn “Hardware Acceleration GPU scheduling” off:

Go to Windows Settings > System > Display > Graphics Settings

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