FPS Counter Guide: How to Show FPS in Any Game (Windows 2026)

Monitoring your frame rate is the single most effective way to evaluate PC gaming performance, troubleshoot stuttering, and fine-tune graphics settings for optimal fluidity. Whether you are aiming for a rock-solid 144 FPS in competitive shooters or trying to maintain 60 FPS in hardware-demanding AAA titles, having a reliable fps counter on your screen gives you real-time feedback on how your system is performing.

In this guide, we will cover every major method to enable an FPS counter on Windows 10 and Windows 11, ranging from zero-install built-in Windows tools to advanced hardware telemetry overlays like RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS). If you are experiencing unexplained frame drops or want to learn why your FPS is low, tracking frame rates is your first step toward diagnosing bottleneck issues.

Method 1: Steam Overlay FPS Counter (Easiest for Steam Games)

If you play games primarily on Steam, Valve provides a lightweight, built-in FPS counter that works seamlessly across virtually all Steam titles without needing third-party software.

1. Open the Steam client on your PC.

2. Click on Steam in the top-left menu bar and select Settings.

3. Navigate to the In-Game tab on the left sidebar.

4. Find the In-game FPS counter dropdown menu.

5. Select your preferred screen position: Top-left, Top-right, Bottom-left, or Bottom-right.

6. (Optional) Toggle on High contrast color so the counter appears bright neon green, making it easy to read against dark game backgrounds.

Pros: Zero performance overhead, effortless setup, auto-starts with Steam games.
Cons: Only works inside Steam titles; does not provide frametime graphs or 1% low metrics.

Method 2: Built-in Windows Xbox Game Bar (No Downloads Required)

Windows 10 and Windows 11 come pre-installed with the Xbox Game Bar, offering a quick way to monitor FPS across games from Steam, Epic Games Launcher, PC Game Pass, and standalone executables without downloading extra apps.

1. Press the keyboard shortcut Win + G while in desktop mode or inside a game to bring up the Game Bar overlay.

2. Click the Widget Menu icon on the top bar and select Performance (or press Ctrl + Shift + O).

3. In the Performance widget window, click the FPS tab.

4. If this is your first time using it, you may see a message stating “FPS access requested.” Click the Request Access button, confirm the Windows UAC admin prompt, and restart your PC to grant Windows performance logging permissions.

5. Once enabled, hover over the Performance widget title bar and click the Pin icon so the FPS counter stays on screen after closing the main Game Bar interface.

Pros: Pre-installed on Windows; works across all game launchers.
Cons: Requires administrator access setup; widget customization options are limited compared to RTSS.

Method 3: NVIDIA App & GeForce Experience Overlay (For NVIDIA GPUs)

If you own an NVIDIA GeForce graphics card (GTX, RTX), you can utilize NVIDIA’s native performance telemetry overlay built into the NVIDIA App or GeForce Experience software.

1. Open NVIDIA App or GeForce Experience and verify that the In-Game Overlay setting is enabled in the settings menu.

2. In any game, press Alt + R to instantly toggle the performance overlay on or off.

3. To customize the HUD metrics, press Alt + Z to open the main overlay, click the Settings (gear) icon, select HUD layout, and choose Performance.

4. Select between Basic (FPS only), Advanced (FPS, GPU Utilization, GPU Clock, VRAM, Temperature, Power Draw, Render Latency), or Custom displays.

NVIDIA also offers NVIDIA FrameView, a dedicated lightweight benchmarking utility that logs detailed frametime statistics, power efficiency (watts per frame), and 99th percentile frame rates to disk for analysis.

Method 4: AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition Overlay (For Radeon GPUs)

Radeon GPU users can take advantage of AMD’s comprehensive Adrenalin Software overlay, which features robust real-time hardware telemetry.

1. Press Alt + R or Shift + Ctrl + O to bring up the AMD Adrenalin overlay.

2. Click on the Performance tab at the top and select Metrics.

3. In the right-hand panel under Tracking, toggle on FPS, GPU Utilization, VRAM Usage, and CPU Utilization.

4. Enable the Show Metrics Overlay toggle switch.

5. Customize the overlay position, background opacity, text color, and size to fit your display preferences.

Method 5: MSI Afterburner & RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) (Enthusiast Standard)

For PC gamers who demand maximum precision, MSI Afterburner combined with RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS) is the industry-gold standard for FPS and frametime monitoring. It provides customizable On-Screen Displays (OSD), 1% low / 0.1% low tracking, and frametime variance graphs.

1. Download and install MSI Afterburner (ensure the checkbox for RivaTuner Statistics Server is checked during installation).

2. Open MSI Afterburner and click the Gear (Settings) icon.

3. Navigate to the Monitoring tab.

4. Under Active hardware monitoring graphs, select Framerate, then scroll down and check the box for Show in On-Screen Display.

5. Repeat step 4 for additional metrics you wish to track, such as Frametime, Framerate Min/Avg/Max, GPU Temperature, or CPU Usage.

6. Go to the On-Screen Display tab to set a global hotkey (e.g., Shift + F12) to toggle the counter instantly while gaming.

7. Open the RivaTuner Statistics Server application from your system tray to adjust font styles, color schemes, text sizing, and screen positioning.

Tracking frametime graphs alongside your average FPS allows you to identify stuttering caused by background tasks, thermal throttling, or asset streaming issues. If you want to dive deeper into performance optimization, read our full guide on how to boost FPS on PC.

Comparison of Top FPS Counter Overlays

Not all FPS counters offer the same depth of information. Here is a quick breakdown of how the top overlay options compare in feature set and recommended use cases:

Setting	Recommended Value	Why
Steam Overlay	Top-Left / High Contrast	Lowest overhead for Steam library games.
RivaTuner (RTSS)	OSD + 1% Lows Enabled	Essential for monitoring frametime smoothness and stutters.
Xbox Game Bar	Pinned Performance Widget	Quickest built-in solution without extra software installs.
NVIDIA / AMD Overlay	Basic Performance HUD	Native hardware telemetrics for GPU load and temperature.

Method 6: Enabling Native In-Game FPS Counters

Many competitive online games include native FPS counters directly inside their game engines. Using native counters eliminates third-party overlay hooks, ensuring maximum anti-cheat compatibility and minimal input latency.

• Valorant: Go to Settings > Video > Stats > Client FPS and select Text Only or Both. You can also monitor network round-trip time and total frame time.

• Counter-Strike 2 (CS2): Go to Settings > Game > Telemetry > Display FPS or open the developer console (~) and type cl_showfps 1.

• Fortnite: Navigate to Settings > Video Options > Show FPS and toggle it to On.

• Call of Duty (Warzone / MW3): Open Settings > Interface > Telemetry > Custom and turn on FPS Counter, GPU Temperature, and Server Latency.

• Apex Legends: In the EA App or Steam launch options, add the command-line argument +cl_showfps 1 or +cl_showfps 4 for detailed frame telemetry.

Understanding FPS Telemetry: FPS vs. Frametime vs. 1% Lows

When monitoring performance, relying solely on your Average FPS can be misleading. Two systems might both report an average of 120 FPS, yet one feels buttery smooth while the other suffers from annoying hitches.

• Average FPS: The total number of frames rendered divided by 60 seconds. It gives a general snapshot of raw performance.

• Frametime (ms): The time it takes in milliseconds for the GPU to render an individual frame. At 60 FPS, each frame should ideally take 16.6ms. A flat, consistent frametime line indicates smooth motion. Spikes in frametime represent noticeable stutters.

• 1% Low FPS: The average frame rate of the slowest 1% of frames during a gaming session. If your 1% low is significantly lower than your average FPS (e.g., 144 FPS average with a 30 FPS 1% low), you are experiencing severe micro-stuttering.

To eliminate stutters, reduce input lag, and achieve buttery-smooth frametimes, check out our guide to optimize your gaming PC for low latency.