Transient absorption (TA) spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying ultrafast electronic dynamics. However, it has limitations due to artefacts during pulse overlap. They hinder the interpretation of the signal at very early delay times. Additionally, non-transmissive or highly scattering samples are difficult to handle in standard TA. We overcome these limitations by changing from transmission to fluorescence as the primary spectroscopic signal. This leads to fluorescence-detected pump–probe (F-PP) spectroscopy. F-PP provides background-free detection and eliminates artefacts. The duration of the laser pulses defines the time resolution of F-PP. We adapt this method to study energy transfer dynamics in molecules and mono- or few-layered low-dimensional materials.