8 Ways to Fix Fortnite FPS Drops on a Windows PC

Fortnite is among the most fun battle royale games for Windows PCs. However, frequent and notable FPS drops spoil the Fortnite gaming experience for some players. For example, one player said in a Reddit post, “It’s been months since I haven’t been able to play Fortnite properly… The game constantly experiences FPS drops even when using the lowest graphic settings.” Big FPS drops cause game stuttering and less responsive gameplay. Here are some ways to fix Fortnite FPS drops on Windows 11/10 PCs.

Looking for more Fortnite guides from KeenGamer?

• 7 Ways You Can Fix Fortnite Not Launching on a Windows PC
• 5 Ways to Fix the “Out of Video Memory” Fortnite Error on a Windows PC
• 9 Ways to Fix Fortnite Voice Chat Not Working on a Windows PC
• 7 Ways to Fix the Fortnite Matchmaking Error on a Windows PC
• 6 Ways to Fix Fortnite Error 10022 on a Windows 11/10 PC

Set High-Performance Graphics Mode

PC games are usually set to a default Let Windows Decide graphics performance option. Having that setting selected can reduce graphical performance with a power saving applied. So, try selecting the High-Performance graphical setting for Fortnite as follows:

1. Activate the Windows tool for file searching by clicking its taskbar magnifying glass icon or search box.
2. Enter graphics settings into the file search box and click on the matching result.
3. Click Browse and select the FortniteClient-Win64-Shipping file in the Fortnite\FortniteGame\Binaries\Win64 folder.
   
   

   Graphics settings options

4. Select Add to add Fortnite to graphics settings.
5. Click Fortnite’s Options button.
6. Select High Performance within the graphics preference settings box.
   
   

   The High performance option

7. Click on Save to apply the settings.

Disable Background Apps

Background apps consume system resources Fortnite needs for frame renderings. Therefore, freeing up system resources by disabling background apps is a widely recommended potential solution for Fortnite FPS drops. You can free up system resources by disabling background software via Settings in Windows 10 like this.

1. Activate the Windows 11/10 search tool from the taskbar.
2. Enter the background apps search phrase.
3. Click Background apps to view those settings.
   
   

   The Let apps run in the background option

4. Click the toggle switch for the Let apps run in the background option to turn off that setting.

Windows 11’s Setting app doesn’t include that option. However, you can disable individual apps via Apps & features in Settings. Input Apps & features into the Windows 11 search box and select to open the matching result. Click the three-dot button for an app and select Advanced options. You can select Never on the Background app permission drop-down menu to disable the app.

Disable Overlays

Overlays consume more system resources that would be better reserved for Fortnite. So, it’s recommended to disable overlay features in software like Discord and GeForce Experience. Plus, turn off the Xbox Game Bar overlay in Windows.

The In-Game Overlay option

Turn Off High-Resolution Textures

Some players confirm turning off high resolutions can fix Fortnite FPS drops. That setting increases system resource requirements for graphical rendering, which can notably undermine gameplay performance on lower-spec Windows PCs, at least. This is how you can disable high-resolution textures via Fortnite’s installation options in Epic Games Launcher.

1. Run Epic Games to access the Library tab in that software. 
2. Click the three-dot menu button for Fortnite and select Options. 
3. Select the High-Resolution Textures box. 
   
4. Click Apply to save that Fortnite setting. 

Disable Full-Screen Optimizations for Fortnite

Epic recommends players disable full-screen optimizations to fix Fortnite FPS drops. You can disable full-screen optimizations for the Fortnite game as follows.

1. Start Epic Games Launcher to access the Library tab within that software.
2. Click on Fortnite’s three-dot menu button to select Manage.
3. Next, click the round folder icon installation button to bring up Fortnite’s game folder.
4. Open the FortniteGame > Win64 subfolders.
5. Right-click FortniteClient-Win64-Shipping EXE file to select Properties.
6. Select Disable full-screen optimizations within the Compatibility tab.
   
   

   The Disable full-screen optimization checkbox

7. Click the window’s Apply option and Save to set the setting.

Adjust In-Game Fortnite Settings

Fortnite FPS drops will more likely occur if that game’s graphical settings are set too high for your PC. So, try disabling or lowering graphical settings within Fortnite. Click the menu button in Fortnite to select Settings and Video tab to set in-game graphical settings as follows:

• Rendering Mode: Performance – Lower Graphical Fidelity
• Anti-Aliasing: Off
• 3D Resolution: 100%
• Shadows: Off
• Global Illuminations: Off
• Reflections: Off
• Motion blur: Off
• View Distance: Near
• GPU Crash Debugging: Off
• Latency Markers: Off
• NVIDIA Reflex Low Latency: On +Boost
• Quality Presets: Low (or set Textures, Effects, Post Processing, and Meshes to low)

Click Apply to set those options. Restart Fortnite and try playing a match to see if the FPS drops persist.

Repair System Files

A few players say repairing system files reduced Fortnite FPS drops on their PCs. You can apply such a potential resolution by running a System File Checker scan with the Command Prompt. This Microsoft SFC guide tells you how users can repair system files with that utility.

The sfc /scannow command

Disable the High Precision Event Timer

High Precision Event Timer is a Windows device known to cause FPS drops and stuttering in games, particularly for PCs with AMD GPUs. HPET is a precise timer for periodic interruptions not needed for Windows gaming. This is how you can disable the High Precision Event Timer.

• Press the Windows + X keyboard key combination and select Device Manager on the menu that appears.
• Double-click System devices.
• Right-click High Precision Event Timer to select Disable device.
  
  

  The Disable device option

• Click on the Yes confirmation button.
  
  

  The Yes confirmation option

Other Possible Ways to Fix Fortnite FPS Drops on a Windows PC

There are also numerous other ways you can feasibly remedy Fortnite FPS drops on Windows PCs. If there are still too many noticeable FPS drops when playing Fortnite, try doing the following:

• Update the GPU driver for your PC’s graphics card.
• Set a clean boot and restart Windows, as instructed within this Microsoft guide, to free up more system resources.
• Select to verify Fortnite’s files by following the guidelines on this Epic webpage.
• Turn off the Hardware-accelerated GPU scheduling option within graphics settings.

Applying the potential fixes above will likely at least reduce the regularity of Fortnite FPS drops on your PC for higher average frame rates. However, there isn’t necessarily a guaranteed way to eliminate noticeable FPS drops altogether on Windows PCs. Much depends on your PC hardware, and you can’t expect top-notch gaming performance on a gaming rig that barely meets Fortnite’s minimum system requirements.