How to enable Steam Deck Performance Overlay — See FPS, GPU/CPU data, and more
See how well your games are running on Steam Deck.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
The Steam Deck has become one of my favorite gaming handhelds thanks to its ability to play several games in my Steam library. But since many games aren’t specifically designed for Valve’s handheld, some perform rather badly or can have depressingly low framerates.
If you’re curious about just how well a game you are playing is running, you can easily check its performance directly within theSteam Deckwithout needing to install any additional software. Of course, it’s possible to accidentally turn this on by mistake, so I’ll go over how to turn it on and off. You can also increase your enjoyment of playing your favorite games with thebest Steam Deck accessories.
How to see Steam Deck FPS and performance
From there you can easily jump into any game and you’ll see performance data show up on the screen depending on the Performance Overlay Level selected. The higher the Performance Overlay level, the more info you’ll see, but the more obtrusive the information will be as well. Remember that if a game cannot handle a higher framerate limit it might cause the game to run less efficiently, so you might need to turn the framerate limit back to its default if you made adjustments to it.
Check that Steam Deck performance data
Valve really understands its audience and it’s great that the ability to check up on FPS, GPU, and CPU performance is baked right into the Steam Deck. Newer titles are more likely to work well with it, but older classics will often tend to run less smoothly or won’t work with the handheld at all. At any rate, it’s nice that we can see just how well a game is running while it’s being played on Steam Deck.
Get the Windows Central Newsletter
All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.
Self-professed gaming geek, Rebecca Spear, is one of Windows Central’s editors and reviewers with a focus on gaming handhelds, PC gaming, and laptops. When she isn’t checking out the latest games on Xbox Game Pass, PC, ROG Ally, or Steam Deck; she can be found digital drawing with a Wacom tablet. She’s written thousands of articles with everything from editorials, reviews, previews, features, previews, and hardware reviews over the last few years. If you need information about anything gaming-related, her articles can help you out. She also loves testing game accessories and any new tech on the market. You can follow her@rrspearon X (formerly Twitter).
