Are you on Steam or Microsoft Store version?
Microsoft Store
Are you using Developer Mode or made changes in it?
I have used it in the past but not during this issue.
Brief description of the issue:
Sim will not load due to getting stuck in “Press Any Button to Start” and then asking to login to Xbox loop. Happens maybe 3 out of 10 times. When I press a key it asks me to login to Xbox. I click on the login button and it brings me back to “Press Any Button to Start”.
Provide Screenshot(s)/video(s) of the issue encountered:
Detail steps to reproduce the issue encountered:
Start Microsoft Flight Simulator. This issue only happens about 3 out of 10 times. All other times it start normally. If I come back the day after having this issue, it sometimes works.
PC specs and/or peripheral set up of relevant:
Dell 5510 i7-10870H RTX 3060 (laptop) 16 GB RAM 512 GB SSD
Thrustmaster T.16000M
Build Version # when you first started experiencing this issue:
Not sure. The last time I encountered this issue was today (1/29/2022).
Temporary fix:
I have found that this process allows Flight Simulator to start normally after encountering this issue, but does not prevent it from happening again later on.
Log out of my Xbox account and the Microsoft Store
Restart my PC
Log back in to Xbox
Run sim
This has worked every time. However, I have encountered this issue again several days after applying this fix.
This is a temporary fix. Asobo/Microsoft, please fix this issue permanently so I don’t have to waste time going through this process. Thank you.
Hello. Running Steam version of MSFS20 on a PC. All had been fine. I had paused a flight for over a week. Finally came back to it and only Steam was running. Relaunched MSFS via Steam and it said MSFS had crashed and if I wanted Safe Mode or Normal Mode. I chose normal and now I’m forever stuck at “Press Any Button to Start”. I have tried rebooting, powering off and back on. Ensured that MS Store was running and Xbox app was running. I checked firewall settings and both Steam and MSFS are allowed to pass through. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling via Steam. I tried the fix fix feature in Steam. I forced Xbox services to start Automatically. None of this helps. And oddly I can’t see xbox running in task manager. Got any thoughts?
HI. Still fighting with it. Took all those steps. Of course MSFS updated today 9/22 on steam. now what happens is that it tries to launch but the opening sequence has a black box in the middle that flashes. Then I hear the normal music but the screen is black and the lower right corner has a blinking swirl.
This is a Steam version. Before I had even tried to unload at Steam and it didn’t help. I’m wondering if I should unload it from Control Panel and then reload it from scratch via Steam. I never added any community add on stuff. Just the regular updates that were provided free of charge.
I have a C and E drive and I have it installed over on E.
I even tried the -FastLaunch instruction but that didn’t help either.
At the end of the checklist, there were links to others.
Did you complete those four lists as well?
If you did, then a reinstall may be the next thing to try.
I personally had to do a windows reset.
I can try those. But I’m wondering at this point if it would be easier to to an Add/Remove Programs and uninstall MSFS. Then go into Steam and reinstall it. Certainly being a hassle at this point. Esp when it was working fine, no issues.
I think I finally got it. I removed MSFS all together via control panel and started from scratch via Steam installing everything onto my E drive. So far so good. Not sure why this happened. But hopefully it does not happen again. Thanks again for your help.
This has happend to me today MARCH 2024.
I performed several of the recommended fixes. None of them worked.
Finally I performed a system restore back to the day before when I had been flying.
After the System Restore restart, I was able to open MSFS and fly again.
THAT WAS GREAT.
Thought I had solved the bug.
I closed down MSFS and opened it under again just to confirm that the System Restore had solved the problem.
ALAS IT HAD NOT.
The same issue popped ups again… For no discernable reason.
I made no changes, did not install anything.
I gave up in disgust.
Between windows updates and MSFS updates, I seem to spend more time messing around with fixes than I do flying.
Does anyone know the specific issue that causes this loop?
Is there a patch or something that fixes the problem without having to reinstall stuff?
I cannot fathom why the bug would reoccur after a successful System Restore and opening MSFS.
I run MSFS on an Xbox, so the following may not be helpful, but I thought I would contribute what I know.
I have been dealing with the same issue for several days. I have tried many of the suggested solutions given in the forum and elsewhere on the internet. I have talked to MSFS Support about this.
Some things I tried (without success):
Reverting to the native Xbox controller (I had been using a flight stick).
Hard reboot of the console (many times).
Clearing the saved data file (this article is for Xbox but there may be a similar procedure for PC How to delete a cloud save on Xbox to fix some loading issues or reset the logbook). Caution: This will require a complete re-download of all of your content, whether included in your version of MSFS or purchased on the Marketplace. Fortunately, none of my content was lost doing this, but it took hours to download. Also, all of the custom settings in Control Options were preserved.
Deleting MSFS and reinstalling.
After a lot of troubleshooting, the most reliable (but not perfect) fix I found was to always sign out of MSFS before shutting down the Xbox. Even using this method, sometimes the “Press any key” screen would still not respond when I used the flight stick, but if I closed the console and then opened using the Xbox controller, I could get back in the game and could then use the flight stick.
I don’t know what the equivalent procedure would be on a PC, but this worked for me.
Yes. I tried the above checklist - along with several other “recommendations” on other searches. All of the suggestions date back several years. Nothing recently. I notice the same problem started 2 days ago for @CaptBMcKay.
If I cannot get a specific reason for the issue (other than those global suggestions such as repairing or reinstalling or signing in etc.) then I will have to try another System Restore earlier than the one I have already tried.
This problem has just started for me. Ran fine this afternoon, but after shutting down gave me the “press any button” xbox login infinite cycle. Have never seen this before, despite using MSFS since 2020.
