MSFS Marketplace purchase hanging on the Xbox “spinning circle” screen
That “Xbox logo / rotating circle” screen is usually where MSFS hands the purchase off to the Xbox store flow. If it never returns, it’s typically either (a) the in-sim storefront handshake is stuck, or (b) there’s something about that specific purchase flow/account state that’s failing even though other purchases work.
Here’s a checklist I’d run through in order.
1) Confirm the basics (sounds obvious, but it matters here)
- Make sure MSFS is fully updated (not just the base game—let it sit on the main menu long enough to finish any background “checking for updates” stuff).
- Try a different Marketplace item (even something free) and see if the same Xbox spinner happens, or only with paid aircraft.
- If the aircraft is part of a bundle/edition upgrade (some are), try a different paid item that’s definitely just a normal Marketplace purchase.
2) Hard reboot the console (clears a lot of “store overlay” weirdness)
Don’t just “Restart.” Do a full power cycle:
- Shut the Xbox down.
- Unplug power from the console for ~60 seconds.
- Plug back in and boot up.
- Launch MSFS and try the purchase once.
3) Check Xbox-side sign-in and store state
Even if other purchases work, MSFS can be picky about the store session it gets back.
- Fully sign out of your Xbox profile, then sign back in (not just inside MSFS).
- If you have multiple profiles on the console, temporarily remove any extra accounts and test with only the purchasing account signed in.
- Verify you’re not in any “offline” type mode, and that the Microsoft Store itself works normally on the console.
4) Try the purchase from a different angle (to isolate the in-sim UI)
If MSFS is hanging when it calls the Xbox purchase UI, sometimes initiating it from a different screen helps:
- Try opening the item from the Marketplace “Product page” (not from a carousel tile if you were doing that).
- If the aircraft appears under “Content Manager” (some Marketplace items do once “owned”), check there as well after a restart—even if the purchase “looked” stuck.
5) Network/DNS quick sanity check
This one’s boring, but Marketplace calls can be sensitive.
- If you’re on Wi‑Fi, try wired (or vice versa) for one test.
- Reboot the router/modem.
- If you have any kind of strict filtering (family controls, Pi-hole style DNS, aggressive firewall), try temporarily bypassing it.
6) If it’s only happening with one specific aircraft
If other Marketplace purchases work but one aircraft always hangs:
- Double-check it’s actually compatible with Xbox (some products are PC-only; normally MSFS won’t offer them on Xbox, but it’s worth confirming what exact aircraft it is).
- Wait until the sale ends? (Not ideal, I know.) Sometimes a stuck purchase state clears after the store backend updates, but it shouldn’t take “months,” so this is more a clue than a fix.
A couple questions so we can narrow this down
- Which exact aircraft(s) are you trying to buy (name + developer), and does the spinner happen for every paid aircraft or only certain ones?
- What exact version of Xbox are you on? Your post says “Xbox One,” but MSFS is typically on Xbox Series X|S—are you perhaps on Series S/Series X and just using “Xbox One” generically?
- Do free Marketplace items download normally for you inside MSFS?
- When it hangs, how long have you left it sitting on that spinning screen (2 minutes vs 20+ minutes)?
Answer those and we can zero in on whether this is a general storefront handshake issue, a specific product entitlement problem, or something account/session related.