If you’ve just reinstalled your operating system and noticed that your in-game overlay FPS counter has gone, along with the NVIDIA tab that used to appear in the upper left corner, you’re not alone.
Occasionally, you might also run into the FPS counter displaying as “N/A” and only returning when you hit Alt + R or switch to a different game. This can be quite annoying and seems like a strange bug.
But it’s a common hiccup for gamers and can be solved.
Let’s take a look into the steps to troubleshoot when you come across the GeForce Experience FPS counter not showing.
How to fix when your in-game overlay FPS counter has gone
Not every solution is guaranteed to work. Take the time to go through these methods and find the one that can come to your rescue when the FPS counter isn’t working as expected.
Before you dive into these troubleshooting steps, give this default HUD key combination (ALT + R) a shot to check if the in-game overlay works with the FPS counter in it.
Manually turn off FPS counter and turn it back on
You can try this straightforward approach: manually turn off the FPS counter settings in the GeForce Experience overlay configuration and then re-enable them.
- Open the Geforce Experience app.
- Go to settings using the top right gear icon.
- Then go to general settings.
- Click on settings under the in-game overlay block.
- Select HUD layout.
- Go to performance > and select off to disable the FPS counter.
- Then turn it back again.
You can make things easier by just toggling the in-game overlay option, which will also disable the FPS counter.
Assign the game to 3D settings
You don’t have to go all the way to customize the 3D output settings. But simply adding the game there (if it’s not already listed) can be enough to bring back the FPS counter while you’re playing it.
- Open the Nvidia control panel.
- Head to manage 3D settings.
- On the right panel, switch to program settings.
- Just add the game exe and save the settings without altering anything else.
Afterward, relaunch the game and see if the FPS counter is still unavailable.
Many folks have found this trick to be effective: simply having the game listed in that section brought back the FPS counter for them.
You might be interested in How To Fix: GeForce Experience Login Not Working!
Rescan for games within Geforce Experience
If the previous method didn’t work try rescanning the games.
- Open GeForce Experience.
- Go to the gear icon on the app and select the games & apps section.
- Under scan location add your game folder address.
- Once you’ve entered the game’s location, go ahead and run a scan for GeForce Experience to find and recognize the games in your collection.
- Once the scan is complete, select the game where the FPS counter didn’t work earlier.
- Click on Launch.
Following these steps should assist you in restoring the FPS counter, just as it has helped others.
Make a quick clip and turn off the recording
Capturing a brief video clip, whether you have privacy settings enabled or not, and then trying out the FPS overlay in a different game before switching back to your original game, is also an effective approach.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Start a recording in GeForce Experience with the desktop privacy setting disabled or enabled.
- Stop the recording after a couple of seconds.
- Launch a different game to test.
- Make sure to enable performance HUD overlay (use ALT + R) to check if the FPS numbers reappear.
- If it does appear return to your original game.
- Confirm that the FPS counter is working on the game you wanted.
Tip: if your display privacy settings are missing on Geforce Experience, check out this video.
Use the Xbox performance tab
Xbox Gamebar and NVIDIA Performance Overlay share similarities in that both provide FPS counter while gaming.
If you’re still not seeing the FPS counter in your GeForce Experience, consider using the Xbox performance tab and tailor it to show only the FPS.
- Press Windows + G to open the Xbox game bar.
- Click on the performance tab.
- Click on the tab settings to adjust to display only FPS counter (in case you want to monitor only FPS)
- Under matrics, uncheck CPU, GPU, VRAM, and RAM to display only the FPS counter.
In addition to these steps, force-closing all GeForce applications in the Task Manager and then relaunching GeForce Experience can help the performance statistics and FPS function appear as expected.
Summing up: Keep in mind that not every solution may be compatible with your system, as what works for one person might not work for another. The methods I’ve mentioned above have proven effective for many users in one way or another.
It’s worth giving them a try, and with any luck, your Nvidia FPS counter will be back in action for your favorite games.