In November 2019, Microsoft announced the incorporation of a frame per second (FPS) counter in the Xbox Game Bar application. An essential piece of information if you want to know the true performance of a game and check if it is true when a developer tells you that his game can run at 60fps without breaking a sweat. Here’s how to turn on this new functionality on Windows 10 computers, as well as Windows 11.
What are frames per second in a video game?
Frames per second are the measurement used to count the number of frames or images that are displayed on the screen during one second. In the course of development of a video game, this figure can vary from a few FPS to 60FPS (which is usually the maximum standard amount to which most blockbusters in the world of gaming aspire) depending on the graphic load of the title and the ability of the programmers to keep the game flowing even in the most technically demanding moments. With the right hardware, even 240FPS can be reached.
This data is not an indication of the quality of the image (for that we would have to look at the resolution), but of the refresh rate of the audiovisual content that is shown on the screen.
How to activate the native FPS counter of Windows 10/11
Depending on the updates that your PC has received, it is possible that you already have the Xbox Game Bar among the Windows 10 applications. The new fps counter should appear automatically since it is a function that was released almost 3 years ago. If you have Windows 11, this feature should come pre-installed by default.
You can check it simply by pressing the Win key + G or typing “Xbox Game Bar” in Cortana. Once the application is open, you will find the frame counter in the “ Performance ” window.
If you click on the “FPS” field, a drop-down will opens where you must give certain permissions to your user. Select “Request access”, give the relevant permission, and then restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
Once the PC restarts, you just need to open a game and launch the application (Win+G) to see the fps counter working in real time.
Lastly, note that the FPS counter is only displayed when you are running a game in the foreground. If you don’t see the performance bar with FPS, it may be hidden. You can bring up the performance bar again by pressing Win+G and clicking the monitor-shaped icon on the Xbox Game Bar main menu.
How to get the Xbox Game Bar
If you still do not have the tool installed, you can also find it available for free in the Microsoft Store.
- Open the Microsoft Store (you can find it in Cortana or in the start menu app listing) and search for the Xbox Game Bar app. You can also load the Xbox Game Bar installation tab by entering it from your browser.
- Install the app and wait for all drivers to update. Reboot the computer.
- Launch a video game on your PC and then execute the key combination “Win + G”.
This will open the Xbox Game Bar, where you can see the frame counter, as well as other interesting data regarding the performance of the game, such as the consumption of CPU, GPU, and RAM memory.
FPS counter not working?
If the frames per second counter does not show any data, make sure that you have administrator permissions on the computer, and that you are also part of the local group “ Performance Log Users ”.
To check this last piece of information, you can type “ Team management ” in Cortana, and in the administration panel, navigate to “ Team management (local) > Local users and groups > Groups ”. Here you will find a group called “ Performance Log Users ”: if your Windows 10 or Windows 11 user is not in the group, add it and restart the computer.
You can also perform this same action through commands, opening a terminal window with administrator permissions and running the following command:
net localgroup “Performance Log Users” <user_name> /add
Once the command is applied, restart the computer so that the new policies are applied.
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