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RTSS Without Afterburner: How to Turn Off the In-Game FPS Overlay With a Hotkey

Use RTSS’s HotkeyHandler plugin for a standalone setup, or assign the OSD toggle in Afterburner if it configured your overlay. The shortcut is user-set, not universal.
Length2 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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You can use a hotkey to hide the RTSS FPS overlay without MSI Afterburner. In a standalone RTSS setup, a community guide uses the HotkeyHandler.dll plugin; if Afterburner configured the overlay, MSI’s documented toggle is in Afterburner’s On-Screen Display settings. Follow the path that matches your setup—the shortcuts are assigned by the user, not universal defaults.

Choose the hotkey path that matches your setup

How your overlay is configured Where to assign the toggle What to know
RTSS used standalone RTSS Setup → Plugins → HotkeyHandler.dll A community guide documents this route; plugin availability and menu labels may vary by RTSS version. BreadPitch’s RTSS overlay guide.
Overlay configured through MSI Afterburner Afterburner Settings → On-Screen Display MSI documents the toggle field and notes that its global hotkey works only when the Settings window is closed. MSI Afterburner On Screen Display, Monitoring and Features.

Set a hotkey in standalone RTSS

The standalone procedure described in the community guide uses RTSS’s HotkeyHandler plugin, so Afterburner is not inherently required for this route.

  1. Open RTSS Setup and select Plugins.
  2. Enable HotkeyHandler.dll, if it is available in your installed version.
  3. Open the plugin’s hotkey settings and assign a shortcut to toggle the OSD.
  4. Test the shortcut while the game is running. The guide’s CTRL+M is an example chosen by its author, not a built-in universal RTSS default.

The standalone steps come from a community guide; current official documentation confirming the plugin’s availability and exact labels across RTSS versions was not verified. If the plugin is missing or the labels differ, consult the documentation for your installed release rather than assuming another shortcut will work.

Set a hotkey for an Afterburner-configured overlay

  1. Open MSI Afterburner and select Settings.
  2. Open the On-Screen Display tab.
  3. Click the Toggle On Screen Display hotkey field and press an unused shortcut.
  4. Select Apply, close Settings, then test the shortcut in-game. MSI says the global hotkey only functions while the Settings window is closed.

MSI’s guide describes Afterburner as the place to choose monitoring values and assign the OSD toggle, with RTSS providing OSD functionality. See MSI’s OSD and monitoring guide.

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If the hotkey does not hide the FPS counter

  • Check which route you configured. A shortcut set in Afterburner is not the same configuration as one assigned through RTSS’s HotkeyHandler plugin.
  • Close Afterburner Settings before testing. MSI specifies that its global OSD hotkey works only when Settings is closed.
  • Confirm the shortcut is assigned and unused. Try a different key combination if the game or another overlay may be capturing it. The available documentation does not establish that any shortcut is compatible with every game or overlay.
  • Confirm the plugin is available and enabled if you chose the standalone route; its availability and labels can depend on the installed RTSS version.
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Hiding the overlay is not the same as exiting RTSS

The requested hotkey action is to turn off the FPS text, not necessarily to stop RTSS. A legacy copy of the RTSS v6.0.0 manual describes disabling the OSD with a hotkey without unloading the server. That is historical documentation, not confirmation that every current release behaves identically: RTSS v6.0.0 manual.

A historical Guru3D forum discussion about RivaTuner v2.02 also reflects the goal of toggling the overlay with one key combination, but it does not establish current RTSS defaults or menu behavior.

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