Few things are more annoying than setting up a benchmark, playing through your test scene, and finding an empty file or an error message waiting for you. The good news: when presentmon is not working, the cause is almost always one of a handful of known issues, and every one of them has a straightforward fix. Work through this guide in order and you will very likely find your problem in the first two or three items.
Keep this page bookmarked. These are the same fixes support threads land on again and again.
Fix 1: Run PresentMon as Administrator
This solves the majority of cases, including the classic “failed to start” error and captures that produce no data at all. PresentMon reads frame events through Windows ETW (Event Tracing for Windows), and Windows only allows that capture with administrator rights. Without them, the tool either refuses to start or quietly records nothing.
The quick fix is to right-click PresentMon.exe (or your terminal) and choose “Run as administrator”. The permanent fix is better: right-click the exe, open Properties, go to the Compatibility tab, tick “Run this program as an administrator” and apply. From then on, every launch has the rights the capture needs, and this entire class of failure disappears from your life.
Fix 2: Check the Process Name
If the tool runs but your CSV is empty or missing your game, the -process_name value is the prime suspect. The name must match the game’s exe exactly. Guessing is unreliable: launchers, anti-cheat wrappers and store versions often use names you would not expect.
Get it right like this:
- Start the game and load into actual gameplay.
- Open Task Manager, go to the Details tab, and find the game’s exe in the list.
- Copy that name exactly, including the .exe ending, into your command.
UWP and Microsoft Store games deserve special care here, since their process names can differ from the game’s title and can look generic. The Details tab never lies, so trust it over the game’s marketing name every time.
Fix 3: Use the Capture Controls Correctly
An empty CSV sometimes means the capture never actually recorded. If you rely on the capture hotkey (F11 by default in classic builds), make sure you pressed it once to start and once to stop, and that the game had focus when you pressed it. Some games swallow function keys or reserve them, in which case the hotkey never reaches the tool.
The bulletproof alternative is the -timed flag:
PresentMon.exe -process_name yourgame.exe -output_file test.csv -timed 30
Timed captures start and stop on their own, with a -delay giving you time to get into the game first. If a timed capture produces data while hotkey captures do not, you have found your culprit, and you can standardize on timed runs.
Fix 4: Resolve Overlay and Fullscreen Conflicts
Other on-screen tools can fight presentmon for the same presentation data. RTSS and similar overlays are the usual suspects, along with recording software hooks. If captures fail or data looks corrupted, close every other overlay and capture tool, then test again with a clean field. Add your tools back one at a time if you need them, and you will spot the conflict.
Fullscreen mode causes its share of trouble too. Some games in exclusive fullscreen with certain overlays simply do not present frames in a way the capture sees cleanly. Switching the game to borderless or windowed fullscreen often makes captures work immediately, and it is a quick test even if you switch back afterward.
Fix 5: Antivirus and Permissions Problems
ETW capture tools occasionally trip antivirus heuristics, which can block the exe, quarantine it, or silently prevent the capture from starting. If presentmon worked before and suddenly does not after a security update, check your antivirus history. As long as your copy came from the official GitHub releases or Intel’s page, allowing the file is the standard remedy. Downloading from unofficial mirrors is how people end up with files that deserve to be flagged, so verify your source first.
Also check the basics: the output folder must be writable. Running a capture that tries to save a CSV into a protected location can fail without a dramatic error. Saving into the same folder as the exe, somewhere in your user folders, avoids this entirely.
Fix 6: Leftover Sessions and Wrong Target
If a previous capture session is still running in the background, a new one can misbehave. Add the -stop_existing flag to your command; it ends any existing session before yours starts, and it belongs in every scripted run for exactly this reason. And if your file fills with frames from the wrong program, you captured without a target or with the desktop in focus: use -process_name, and make sure the game is the thing presenting frames during the capture window.
When the 2.x App or Overlay Shows No Data
If you use the PresentMon 2.x app rather than the console build, the same root causes wear different clothes. The app depends on its capture service, so if the overlay never appears or shows zeros, first confirm the service is actually running and that the app was launched with administrator rights. A restart of the app after launching your game (or before it, if your setup prefers that order) clears a surprising number of detection problems.
Also confirm the game itself is a supported target: a DirectX 9, 10, 11, 12, OpenGL or Vulkan title actually in gameplay, not sitting on a launcher screen. Launchers and menus present frames differently from gameplay, and an overlay waiting for real game frames can look broken when it is simply looking at the wrong window. Load into the game world, give it a few seconds, and check again.
Still Stuck? Run a Clean Re-Test
When individual fixes have not landed, reset the whole situation with a controlled test:
- Reboot the PC, so no leftover capture sessions or stuck services survive.
- Close every overlay, recorder and monitoring tool except presentmon.
- Launch one known game, load into gameplay, and note its exact exe name in Task Manager.
- Run presentmon as administrator with a basic timed command and a fresh output file name.
- Play for the full capture window without alt-tabbing, then check the CSV.
If that clean test produces data, your setup is healthy and one of the things you removed was the problem; add your usual tools back one at a time to find it. If even the clean test fails, redownload the tool from the official GitHub releases or Intel’s page to rule out a damaged or tampered file, and try a different game to separate a tool problem from a game-specific one.
If you end up asking for help in a forum or the project’s issue tracker, bring evidence and you will get answers fast. State your Windows version, the exact command you ran, the game’s process name as shown in Task Manager, confirm that you ran the tool as administrator, and include what it printed on screen. “It does not work” gets guesses; that short list gets solutions, because nine of the ten likely causes can be ruled in or out from those details alone.
Conclusion
When presentmon misbehaves, think in order: administrator rights first, exact process name second, capture controls third, then overlays, fullscreen mode, antivirus and leftover sessions. Nearly every “not working” report resolves at one of those steps. Fix the root cause once, especially the run-as-administrator setting, and the tool returns to what it should be: invisible, reliable, and ready whenever you want the truth about your frame times.
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