What Causes & How to Fix it

One of the most frequent issues faced by users is the League of Legends random FPS drops and these may be caused by a League of Legends FPS bug, that’s true, but this isn’t always the case.

League of Legends is an epic multiplayer online battle arena game where two opposing teams try to destroy the other team’s Nexus.

As players progress through the game, their characters gain more experience and become more powerful. But the sudden drops or FPS spikes in League of Legends can certainly affect the gameplay.

The good news is that there are a series of quick workarounds that you can use to fix this problem. So, if you have been wondering how to fix FPS drops in League of Legends, follow the methods listed in the following sections.

Why is my League of Legends FPS dropping?

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There are various reasons as to why you are dropping frames in League of Legends. Here’s a list of the potential causes of the error:

• League of Legends FPS drop after update has been performed: This happens especially after you update to the latest version
• League of Legends FPS drop after patch has been released: Problems often show up when you install a new update for the game
• Misconfigured game settings: If you have set the game settings incorrectly, this could lead to instability
• Overclocking: Several users found it to be the reason behind the LoL FPS drop issue and removing it worked
• Overheating: It’s known to slow down the system performance, and in extreme cases, can also damage the internal components; here’s what to do if your laptop overheats when playing games
• LoL FPS drop on good PC: If your PC meets the LoL requirements or it’s a high-end machine but you still experience FPS drops, it’s most likely caused by wrong settings.

So, if you identify any of these, just head to the relevant method and follow the steps listed here to eliminate the FPS drop issue in League of Legends.

When do FPS drops occur in the LoL game?

From what our readers have been saying and from what we’ve seen, these are the situations when League of Legends FPS fluctuations are likely to occur:

• League of Legends FPS drop when moving mouse (that’s like all the time, right?)
• League of Legends FPS drop when moving camera: Many had this problem in CS:GO, Overwatch, and disocvered it happens in League of Legends as well
• League of Legends FPS drop after Alt+Tab: Using Alt + Tab to switch Windows can lead to lag and drop in LoL’s FPS
• League of Legends FPS drop while streaming: Several users claim that when they start streaming, their in game FPS drops down from 144 to 12-13, if not even lower; after all, League of Legends 1 FPS issues are quite common too
• LoL FPS drop in team fights: When the load on the PC increases, it could cause the error
• League of Legends fps drop after 20 min: If it’s overheating behind the issue, you will notice FPS drop after 15-20 minutes
• League of Legends FPS drop when minions spawn: As several users say, minions may be a reason for FPS drops as well
• League of Legends FPS drops to 0: That means that your game is actually stuck and it usually signals a problem with your graphics card or its driver

Also, this error can be encountered on both high-end and medium-range PCs since it’s got to do more with bugs and misconfigured settings than the system configuration, though the latter cannot be ignored.

So, you are as likely to encounter LoL low FPS issues on a good PC, as well as on average ones.

Our readers told us about LoL FPS drops even on high-end PCs. Therefore, it’s time to correct this common problem.

Though it says Windows 10/11 here, the methods listed below should fix LoL FPS drops on Windows 7 as well, though the interface might be a little different in some cases.

How can I fix LoL FPS drops on PC?

1. Close unused apps

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager.

2. In the Processes tab, you’ll see all the programs currently running on your computer.

3. Click on the CPU column to sort the active processes.

4. Select the processes that take up much CPU and right-click on them.

5. Click on End task.

A great way to fix FPS drops in LoL is to close the apps you don’t currently use. It is likely that your CPU is being used by them and that is why you are experiencing lag in your game.

Ending the unused apps can be easily done via Task Manager. All you need to do is sort the list of tasks by CPU usage and end those which use up a lot of it, for which you have no important use at the moment.

If Windows won’t end a task in Task Manager, learn how to solve the problem right away. Even more, if you want to know how to add or remove startup apps on Windows 10, check out this simple guide.

3. Optimize PC performance

Game performance can be significantly improved when you end unnecessary apps and then remove clutter files that take storage space and resources unnecessarily.

Dedicated PC repair tools are able to do these things and more in a quick and almost fully automatic way. They are reliable and remove the risks that may come when you try to do these tasks manually.

One of the top software in this category is Restoro. It is secure and light on your system and it can help with multiple PC performance issues, including game FPS.

4. Change the game’s settings

You can also play around with League of Legends settings to find a good balance between performance and quality. Use the configuration listed below to see if this reduces or solves the FPS drop issues:

• Settings: Custom
• Resolution: Match desktop resolution
• Character Quality: Very Low
• Environment Quality: Very Low
• Shadows: No Shadow
• Effects Quality: Very Low
• Frame Rate Cap: 60 FPS
• Wait for Vertical Sync: Unchecked
• Anti-Aliasing: Unchecked.

Also, adjust the interface options, using the following configuration:

• Uncheck Enable HUD animations
• Uncheck Show Target Frame on attack
• Uncheck Enable line missile display
• Uncheck Show Attack Range.

Also, to boost your PC performance so that it runs demanding processes, or games in this particular case, do not hesitate to try out a dedicated app such as Game Fire.

If the LoL FPS drop problem persists after making these changes, head to the next method.

5. Reset your graphics card software

Graphics cards come with their own software: NVIDIA comes with the NVIDIA Control Panel and AMD has the Catalyst Control Center.

Here’s how to reset the NVIDIA Control Panel:

1. Right-click on your desktop and then select NVIDIA Control Panel.
2. Select Manage 3D Settings.
3. Select Restore, and then choose the appropriate response in case a confirmation prompt pops up.

In order to reset the AMD Catalyst Control Center, right-click on your desktop, then select Catalyst Control Center (aka VISION center), go to Preferences and click on Restore Factory Defaults.

The two programs allow users to set up profiles that potentially interfere with League of Legends. By resetting them to default values, you allow LoL to take control over the graphics settings.

Once you are done resetting the graphics card, League of Legends FPS issues will be a thing of the past, and you shouldn’t come across this anymore.

Though the steps listed are for Nvidia and AMD, you can similarly fix the LoL FPS drop in Intel CPU. But, for LoL FPS drop on Mac, the steps will be completely different, and will have to check the official website for that.

6. Repair corrupt game files

1. Open League of Legends
2. Click on the question mark (?) icon in the top right-hand corner.
3. Click Repair and wait for the process to finish.

The repair process can take up to 30 minutes, depending on how bad the situation is, so be patient.

7. Make sure your computer is not overheating

If it works fine for an hour and then suddenly you see League of Legends 10 FPS, your computer is probably overheating. Check if there’s extremely hot air coming out of your computer, and try these methods to fix overheating.

Clean your PC’s vents or fans with compressed air. Computer fans often clog with dust, dirt, and hair. Cleaning your computer’s vents and fans regularly keep your machine cool. Also, buy a cooling pad. They’re really useful.

8. Disable all game sounds

This is a classic workaround that often works after you disable game sounds in League of Legends. You’ll experience a performance boost after disabling in-game sounds. Once done, check if the LoL FPS drop issue is fixed.

9. Clean your computer’s registry

All programs make modifications to the system registry. Over time, these changes can affect your computer’s performance.

There are various registry cleaners that you can choose from to repair your registry. Install one on your computer and you’ll notice the difference.

Read more about this topic

How can I fix League of Legends FPS drops on Windows 11?

1. Set LoL process priority to high

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to launch the Task Manager, and go to the Details tab from the top.
2. Locate the League of Legends process, right-click on it, hover the cursor over Set Priority, and select High from the list of options.
3. Click on Change priority in the confirmation prompt that pops up.

Once you have set the League of Legends priority to High, check if the FPS drop issue is fixed in Windows 11.

2. Set FPS cap in LoL

1. While playing League of Legends, hit the Esc key to launch the Options.
2. Now, go to the Video tab from the navigation pane.
3. Click on the Frame Rate Cap dropdown menu and select 60 FPS from the list of options. You may select any other desired rate here, but make sure you system can support it.
4. Finally, click on OK at the bottom to save the changes.

Apart from simply uncapping it, you now also know how to increase FPS in League of Legends Windows 10.

3. Undo overclocking

If none of the fixes listed above have worked and you have overclocked your PC, it’s time you remove it. Although overclocking is meant to enhance performance, oftentimes, the result is quite the opposite.

Certain components may not work effectively when overclocked and lead to issues with the system performance, which is often visible as LoL FPS drop. Once you have undone overclocking, the error should be fixed.

Also, apart from the methods listed to fix FPS drop in Windows 11, you can also try the ones for Windows 10, since those also work on the latest iteration.

What’s the best FPS for League of Legends?

That’s a question many users seem to ask. While there is no fixed FPS for an ideal gaming experience, it depends both on your expectations and your system configuration.

But anywhere between 30-60 FPS is good and will actually enjoy playing the games. If you can get it higher, say 75 FPS, it’s surely going to enhance the experience. It’s best if you try out various FPS settings, and choose the one where the game runs the best.

Also, remember that setting the FPS too low will drastically affect the gaming experience. And in the case of this issue, several users have reported that LoL FPS drops to 0.

In case you’re still stuck with these issues, here are some other useful FPS-related guides to take a look at:

Are there more games affected by FPS drops?

League of Legends is definitely not the only game affected by these annoying frame rate problems; here’s a couple of other games that we’ve covered and specific guides for them:

If you can’t find the issue that you are looking for in the list, for instance, Warzone FPS drops when moving the mouse.

Fortnite FPS drops when moving the mouse, Minecraft frame drops when moving the mouse, or Cold War FPS drops when moving the mouse, check this guide to fix FPS drops and stuttering in games.

Is 60 FPS good for LoL?

It depends on which graphics settings you’re getting to the 60 FPS with. If all the graphics settings are maxed, yes, 60 FPS is great and you should keep those settings.

You basically need to find the right balance between the game speed and graphics quality.

We’ve covered LoL FPS drop extensively, and we believe there are a couple of things you might be interested in:

If your gaming experience is buggy on Windows 10 or Windows 11, as you can see, rest assured that every single problem can be solved. Let us know how you’ve also managed to correct LoL FPS drops.