How do I display the FPS counter in FSX?

In Microsoft Flight Simulator X and FSX: Steam Edition, press Shift+Z to display the built-in FPS counter. If frame rate does not appear on the first press, press Shift+Z again because the shortcut cycles through several red diagnostic-text overlays. Keep pressing it to cycle the display off.

How do I turn the FSX FPS counter on and off?

Use the built-in Cycle Coordinates/Frame Rate command while you are in a flight.

1. Load a flight and wait until the cockpit or external view is fully displayed.
2. Press Shift+Z and look along the top of the screen for red diagnostic text.
3. Press it again if necessary until the line containing Frames/sec appears.
4. Hide the overlay by continuing to press Shift+Z until all diagnostic text disappears.

This works in both the boxed edition of FSX and FSX: Steam Edition, in windowed or full-screen mode. Our FSX keyboard-command reference covers this shortcut and other default controls.

Why does Shift+Z not show the frame rate?

The shortcut usually fails because the command has been reassigned, another window has keyboard focus, or an add-on is intercepting the keys.

• Cycle the overlay again: one press may show coordinates or other flight data rather than the FPS figure.
• Return focus to FSX: close any open text field, map, menu or add-on window, then click the main simulator view before trying again.
• Check the assignment: open FSX's control settings and search for Cycle Coordinates/Frame Rate. Restore Shift+Z or assign an unused combination.
• Test for a key conflict: temporarily assign the command to another key. This identifies utilities or add-ons that capture Shift+Z.

Do not confuse the Target frame rate graphics setting with the counter. The target setting limits the requested frame rate; it does not display the frame rate FSX is actually producing.

What does the FSX FPS figure mean?

The Frames/sec value is the simulator's live rendering rate, so it will change with aircraft complexity, scenery, weather, traffic and camera view. A stable reading generally matters more than a brief peak: high FPS interrupted by pauses can feel worse than a lower but consistent rate.

FSX: Steam Edition may also display a separate frame-rate overlay provided by the Steam client. The built-in Shift+Z counter is usually preferable when comparing FSX settings because it works in both main editions.

How should I test FPS accurately in FSX?

For a useful comparison, keep the aircraft, airport, weather, traffic, time and camera view unchanged between tests. Let scenery finish loading before reading the counter, and judge a representative range rather than one momentary number.

A mistake we see constantly is changing several sliders at once, which makes it impossible to identify the setting responsible for a gain or loss. Change one option, repeat the same test, and record both smoothness and frame rate. Our FSX performance-testing and configuration guide explains this process in more detail; if the result remains low, use our focused FSX FPS and performance fixes rather than chasing the highest possible counter reading.