Game keeps compiling shaders every time I open it

A lot of users reported that they are not able to play their game as their game keeps compiling shaders every time they open it. When a game is compiling shaders, it means that the new shader is replacing the old files so that you can play the game with fewer errors. However, for some users, this process has become problematic as it takes time and keeps compiling every time. In this article, we are going to see what we can do if the Game keeps compiling shaders every time we open it.

What is Shader? what are its uses?

The shader is a computer program that decides your rendered graphic. In generic words, a shader decides the graphical elements of the game such as lightning, textures, shadows, and so on. For instance, if your surface is looking sharper, or your 2D and 3D games are more realistic, it is due to shaders.

Fix Game keeps compiling shaders every time I open it

If the Game keeps compiling shaders every time we open it, follow the solutions mentioned below to fix the issue:

1. Let the shader compilation process finish
2. Update your graphics driver
3. Update your games
4. Enable shader cache in NVIDIA Control Panel
5. Steam Shader Pre-Caching

Let’s get started.

1] Let the shader compilation process finish

Before going to the strenuous troubleshooting guide, we will recommend that you make sure you don’t interrupt the shader compilation process and let the whole process finish. If there is no change in your Graphics Drivers or games, then your game will use the shader compiled earlier and not create a new one. However, depending on the power of our GPU, compiling time defers, but if after giving an ample amount of time, your issue persists, go to the next solution.

2] Update your Graphics driver

Almost most of the error related to games is due to users either running the outdated version of Graphics Drivers or the incorrect version. So to resolve the incompatibility issue regarding your Graphics Driver, update it, and boom the issue will resolve.

There are so many ways to update the Graphics Driver apart from it being updated with Windows. You can install a free driver update software or use the manufacturer’s website.

Well, this should stop the shader from compiling each time you start a game, however, if it continues to give you hard time, see the next step.

3] Update your games

There are some instances where game updates are stopped due to you playing it or glitches stopping auto-updates. Well, whatever causes this delay can take you 5-10 minutes for loading and compile shaders each time you play the game.

You can try fixing this up by manually updating the game, and if you are a Steam user, launch Steam and head toward its Library. Now, Right-click on the game and then select Update. Give it some time to update, and then launch the game. See if now you don’t have to wait before playing the game.

4] Enable shader cache in NVIDIA

Shaders, as we discussed earlier, are the ones that decide the graphical aspect of your games; however, here a question arises, where are these changes stored? These shaders are stored in the shader cache, and for NVIDIA users, it is Shader Cache. By default, the option is enabled, but some users tend to disable it, or it gets disabled automatically after an update; as a result, Shader keeps on compiling without storing its files. So, to resolve the issue, we need to enable it. We are going to do the same and see if the issue is resolved or not.

• Open NVIDIA Control Panel, and click on Manage 3D settings.
• In Global settings, select Shader Cache size and set it to the Driver Default mode.
• Now, click on the Apply button to save the changes.

Now, launch the game, and see if it is still compiling shaders.

Read: How to delete DirectX Shader Cache in Windows

5] Steam Shader Pre-Caching

Shader Pre-catching is Steam’s tool that allows the launcher to use previously complied shaders as per the GPU and your system configuration. This feature is known to improve frame rate; however, can sometimes cause problems like the error in question.  So if you are a Steam user and shaders are continuously loaded, then disable this feature.

To do the same, launch Steam and then go to Settings >  Shader Pre-Caching option. And now untick Enable Shader Pre-Caching. Launch the game after this process and see.

We hope that you can resolve the issue using the solutions mentioned in this post.

Read: Black Ops Cold War stuck on Compiling shaders to optimize performance.