How to Show FPS Counter

In this guide, we will show you the easiest ways to show the FPS counter for every game without installing additional software. We will use what is possibly already installed applications like game clients (Steam, Uplay, and others), graphics driver software, and even the “hidden” Windows Game Bar which is mostly overlooked as a tool for gamers.

Steam Client

1. Open Steam Settings.

 
2. Go to the In-Game tab and select the position of the FPS counter to show the FPS counter in-game. Enabling High contrast color is optional but helpful.

 
3. Steam’s FPS counter looks like this.

 

EA Origin

1. Open the Origin Application Settings.

 
2. Click the Origin In-Game tab then turn on Enable Origin In-Game.

 
3. Select any position for the FPS counter to display it.

 
4. Origin’s FPS counter looks like this.

 

Ubisoft Connect (formerly UPLAY)

1. Click the Uplay Menu icon then click Settings.

 
2. In the General tab, click the check box for Display FPS counter in-game.

 
3. Uplay’s FPS counter looks like this.

 

AMD Relive

1. If you have and AMD Radeon HD 7700 card or newer, Radeon ReLive has a built-in FPS counter. Make sure you have the latest AMD Radeon driver installed. Download the latest AMD drivers here.

Watch this video if you don’t know exactly what graphics card is in your system.

[wpsm_video width=”720″ height=”420″]https://youtu.be/DrbrGY9_TBo[/wpsm_video]

 

2. Right-click on the desktop, click AMD Radeon Settings then click the Relive tab and look for the “Toggle Toolbar Hotkey”.

 
3. Press the corresponding Toolbar Hotkey, click the Performance tab, open the Metric Options, and enable the Show Metrics option.

 
4. Minimize the Metric Options and expand the Select Metrics the turn on the FPS option. You can also turn on other metrics to show.

 
5. This is what the AMD Relive’s FPS counter looks like.

 

GeForce Experience

1. If you have a GeForce GT/GTX 600 card, GeForce Experience also has a built-in FPS counter. Make sure you have the latest GeForce driver installed. Download the latest GeForce drivers here.

Watch this video if you don’t know exactly what graphics card is in your system.

2. Open the GeForce Experience and click the gear icon.

 
3. Enable the Experimental Features by clicking the check box, then turn on the In-Game Overlay option and click the Settings button.

 
4. In the Settings overlay, click the HUD layout.

 

5. Click the FPS counter tab then select the position where you want to show the FPS counter. Click the Back button when you are done.

 
6. GeForce Experience FPS counter looks like this.

 

Windows Xbox Game Bar

Xbox Game Bar Performance Overlay comes with Windows 10 1809 update (October 2018). Make sure you update Windows and the Xbox Game Bar version to 3.34.11002.0 or newer. You can update the Xbox Game Bar through Windows Store.

 
1. Enable Xbox Game Bar. Go to Windows Settings by clicking the gear icon on the Windows Start button.

 
2. Click the Gaming menu with the Xbox icon.

 
3. Turn on the Game Bar, and look for the Open Game Bar Windows shortcut key (Win + G is the default shortcut key).

 
4. Press Win+G. The Game Bar will appear and click the Performance (beta) icon to show the performance window with the FPS counter.

 
5. If it is your first time using the Bar, click the FPS tab then click “Request Access”. Follow the instructions then it will ask you to restart your PC.

 
6. Press Win+G after restarting your PC and it prompts a window confirming that Game Bar can now use the FPS counter.

 
7. Click the pin icon to pin/unpin the overlay.

 
8. Xbox Game Bar with FPS counter looks like this.

 
For OpenGL and Vulkan games, you may need to run the game in window mode to use Game Bar.

 

In-Game Settings

Some games have built-in FPS counters. You just need to look into the settings, graphics settings usually.

 
Other games have hotkeys for their FPS counter to display, like F9 for Paladins. Other games can display an FPS counter via console or additional command line arguments.

 

Bandicam

If none of the methods we mentioned worked, we recommend Bandicam. Bandicam is probably the easiest to use and supports a wide variety of games including those which are built on OpenGL and Vulkan APIs. You can download Bandicam here. No need to buy the full version if you will only use the FPS counter.

 
1. In the Bandicam application window, click the FPS tab and enable the Show FPS Overlay and select its position.

 
2. Click the gamepad icon before launching a game.

 
3. Bandicam FPS counter looks like this.

 
We know about MSI AfterBurner and NZXT Cam and similar software can display FPS counter and more performance metrics. Guides on how to use them will be on another article.

 

MSI Afterburner

Click here for info on how to show FPS using MSI Afterburner, including an overlay customization guide,