How To Check FPS On Windows 10 | Fast On Screen Counter

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How To Check FPS On Windows 10 is easiest with Xbox Game Bar or your GPU overlay, giving a live frame rate number while you play.

FPS means frames per second. It’s the count of images your PC draws each second while a game runs. Higher FPS usually feels smoother, but the “right” number depends on your screen refresh rate, the game style, and what feels good to you.

This guide shows the fastest ways to see FPS on Windows 10, then helps you fix the common “counter won’t show” headaches. You’ll end with one method you can stick with, and you’ll know what the number is telling you.

Picking The Right FPS Method For Your Setup

Windows 10 gives you more than one path. Some counters are built into Windows, some come from your graphics driver, and some come from the game launcher. The best choice is the one that matches how you play.

Method Best For Fast Toggle
Xbox Game Bar Any PC, quick check, no extra installs Win + G
NVIDIA Overlay GeForce GPUs, low fuss, extra stats Alt + R
AMD Performance Overlay Radeon GPUs, detailed metrics Ctrl + Shift + O
Steam Overlay Steam games, set-and-forget Steam settings
MSI Afterburner + RTSS Deep tuning, frametime graphs OSD toggle shortcut

If you want a built-in option, start with Xbox Game Bar. If you already run NVIDIA App, the driver overlay is often cleaner and sticks across more games. If you play through Steam, the Steam counter is the least distracting.

How To Check FPS On Windows 10 With Xbox Game Bar

Xbox Game Bar ships with Windows 10. It can show FPS through the Performance widget. Once it’s pinned, it stays on top while you play.

  1. Open Game Bar — Press Win + G to bring up the overlay.
  2. Open Performance — Click the Performance widget, then look for the FPS tile.
  3. Grant access — If Windows asks for permission to track FPS, approve it and restart your PC once.
  4. Pin the widget — Click the pin icon so the FPS box stays visible after you return to the game.
  5. Trim the view — Use the widget options to show only FPS if you want a smaller box.

Once you pin the Performance widget, the FPS tile stays visible while you play. If you want fewer numbers on screen, hide the extra tiles and keep only FPS.

When Game Bar FPS Shows “N/A”

Sometimes the FPS tile says N/A, or it never appears. This usually comes down to a permission toggle, a service that’s off, or a game that blocks overlays.

  • Restart once — A reboot after the first permission prompt fixes a lot of “N/A” cases.
  • Turn Game Bar on — Go to Settings → Gaming → Xbox Game Bar and switch it on.
  • Enable captures — In Settings → Gaming → Captures, allow Game Bar features to run.
  • Use borderless — Some older full-screen modes clash with overlays; borderless often behaves better.

Checking FPS On Windows 10 With NVIDIA In Game Overlay

If your PC has a GeForce card, NVIDIA’s overlay can show FPS with a tiny counter or a fuller stats panel. On many systems this comes through the NVIDIA App.

  1. Open NVIDIA App — Launch the NVIDIA app from the Start menu.
  2. Enable In Game Overlay — Go to Settings and switch the overlay on.
  3. Toggle the stats view — Press Alt + R in-game to show or hide the performance overlay.
  4. Change the layout — Use the overlay menu to pick the corner, size, and which metrics show.

NVIDIA documents the Alt + R toggle and the overlay setup in its own help article: NVIDIA App In-Game Performance and Latency Overlay.

Fixes When The NVIDIA FPS Counter Won’t Appear

When you press Alt + R and nothing happens, the cause is usually simple. Start with the fast checks below.

  • Check the shortcut — Open the overlay settings and confirm Alt + R is still assigned.
  • Close other overlays — Discord, Steam, and Afterburner can fight for the same hook; turn off extras and retry.
  • Run the game once — Launching from inside the NVIDIA app can register the title and make the overlay behave.
  • Update the app — Newer games can need updated overlay components.
  • Switch display mode — Try borderless if a game’s true full-screen blocks the overlay.

Checking FPS On Windows 10 With AMD Radeon Performance Overlay

On Radeon cards, AMD Software can show performance metrics, including FPS. The overlay is handy when you want more than a single number, like GPU load and temperature.

  1. Open AMD Software — Right-click the desktop and open AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition.
  2. Enable the overlay — In Settings, turn on the in-game overlay features if they’re off.
  3. Toggle the overlay — Press Ctrl + Shift + O to show or hide the Performance Overlay.
  4. Pick what shows — Use the Performance panel to select metrics and on-screen placement.

Common AMD Overlay Snags

If the overlay shows in one title and vanishes in another, it’s often a renderer mismatch or a game-specific block.

  • Try another game — This tells you if the overlay itself is working.
  • Disable third-party OSD — RTSS can clash with Radeon Overlay; turn one off.
  • Reset shortcuts — Check AMD shortcut settings if Ctrl + Shift + O does nothing.

Showing FPS In Steam Games On Windows 10

Steam has long offered a simple FPS counter. Newer Steam builds also include a deeper performance monitor, yet the classic counter is still the quickest.

  1. Open Steam settings — Click Steam → Settings.
  2. Go to In Game — Select the In Game tab in the sidebar.
  3. Set the FPS counter — Choose a corner under “In-game FPS counter.”
  4. Use high contrast — Turn on high contrast if the number blends into bright scenes.

Steam documents its performance monitor settings inside its own help center, including where to turn the FPS readout on and how the detail levels change what you see. See Understanding the In-Game Overlay Performance Monitor if you want Steam’s full explanation.

Steam’s counter is light and stable, yet it only works for games launched through Steam. If you launch a game from another launcher, pick Game Bar or your GPU overlay instead.

Using MSI Afterburner And RTSS For FPS And Frametime

If you want the most control, MSI Afterburner with RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) is a popular choice. It can show FPS, frametime, GPU usage, CPU usage per core, and charts. It can also log data so you can spot stutter.

  1. Install Afterburner — Download MSI Afterburner from MSI and install it with RTSS when prompted.
  2. Open Monitoring — In Afterburner settings, open the Monitoring tab.
  3. Select FPS and frametime — Tick Framerate and Frametime, then mark “Show in On-Screen Display.”
  4. Set an OSD toggle — In the On-Screen Display tab, set a toggle shortcut you’ll remember.
  5. Tune RTSS level — In RTSS, pick a detection level that works with your game, then test.

Why Frametime Often Tells You More Than FPS

FPS is a speedometer. Frametime is the feel. Two games can sit at the same FPS, yet one feels rough because frames arrive in uneven bursts. A frametime graph helps you spot micro-stutter and shader compilation hiccups.

As a quick read, a flat line is good. Spikes mean pauses. When you see spikes, lowering shadows, turning off ray tracing, or limiting FPS can smooth things out.

Making Sense Of The FPS Number

Once you can see FPS, the next step is knowing what you’re aiming for. A shooter on a 144Hz monitor wants a different target than a single-player story game on a 60Hz panel.

Match FPS To Your Monitor Refresh Rate

Your monitor refresh rate is measured in hertz (Hz). A 60Hz display refreshes 60 times per second. If your game runs at 120 FPS on a 60Hz display, you may still gain lower input lag, yet you won’t see every frame as a separate image.

  • Check your refresh rate — Right-click the desktop → Display settings → Advanced display.
  • Pick a realistic goal — Aim for a stable FPS near your refresh rate, not a peak that swings.
  • Use a limiter — Capping FPS can cut heat, fan noise, and stutter spikes.

Watch For CPU Or GPU Limits

If FPS won’t climb no matter what graphics settings you change, one part of the PC is hitting its ceiling.

  • Lower resolution for GPU limits — Dropping resolution or render scale usually boosts FPS when the GPU is the bottleneck.
  • Lower crowds and physics for CPU limits — Settings tied to simulation often hit the CPU more than the GPU.
  • Check background load — A browser with many tabs or a download client can steal CPU time.

Quick Ways To Raise FPS After You Measure It

Once you’ve got an FPS counter on screen, small changes can move the needle fast. These are practical tweaks that work across most games.

  • Try true full-screen — Some titles run faster in true full-screen, though overlays may prefer borderless.
  • Lower shadows first — Shadow quality is often a heavy setting for both GPU and CPU.
  • Reduce ray tracing — Ray tracing can crush FPS; try a lower preset or switch it off.
  • Use DLSS or FSR — Upscaling modes can add FPS with a small image hit, especially at 1440p and 4K.
  • Update GPU drivers — Driver updates often fix stutter and boost performance in new releases.
  • Set a frame cap — A steady 60 or 90 can feel smoother than a wild swing between 70 and 140.

Troubleshooting Checklist When Any FPS Counter Fails

Overlays are small apps running on top of a game. When they fail, it’s usually a hook conflict, a permission issue, or a blocked render mode. Run this list in order and you’ll usually get a result within minutes.

  1. Restart the game — Close the game fully, then relaunch and test the shortcut again.
  2. Restart the PC — A full reboot clears stuck overlay services.
  3. Update Windows 10 — Pending updates can break Game Bar and driver components.
  4. Update the overlay app — NVIDIA App, AMD Software, and Steam update their overlay modules often.
  5. Disable extra overlays — Keep one overlay active while testing; add others back later.
  6. Switch to borderless — If true full-screen blocks your overlay, borderless can fix it.
  7. Run as admin — If a game runs as admin, the overlay may need admin rights too.

Choosing A Setup You’ll Keep Using

If you want one method that works in most places, Xbox Game Bar is the default pick on Windows 10. If you want a cleaner, smaller counter that sticks across more titles, your GPU overlay is often the winner. If you only play Steam games, Steam’s built-in counter stays out of your way.

Pick one, set a shortcut you’ll remember, and leave it on for a night of gaming. After that, you’ll start to spot patterns fast: which settings tank FPS, which maps stutter, and whether your upgrades are paying off.