Many Starfield players have encountered an issue with building shaders since the launch of the game. There are about 7,000 shaders that need to be loaded, but unfortunately, not all graphics cards can do this on the fly. That’s why some have problems compiling all the ones required for starting the game. Here’s how to fix the building shaders error in Starfield.
How to Fix Building Shaders Error in Starfield
Restart Your Game
The easiest and fastest way to eliminate this issue is to restart your game:
- Exit Starfield and turn off your PC.
- Disconnect your Internet and wait a few minutes before connecting it again.
- Start your PC and launch Starfield again.
Update Your Graphics Card Drivers
Follow these steps to update Nvidia graphics drivers:
- Download the latest Nvidia graphics drivers from the official page.
- Start the installation.
- Restart your PC when finished.
Follow these steps to update ATI Radeon graphics drivers:
- Download the latest ATI Radeon graphics drivers from the official page.
- Start the installation.
- Restart your PC when finished.
Verify the Integrity of Your Game Files
If you play Starfield via the Steam client, then you should also be able to verify the integrity of game files, which fixes all the possible issues with it:
- Launch the Steam app.
- Go to your game library.
- Right-click on Starfield.
- Select the “Properties” option.
- Go to the “Local Files” tab.
- Press the “Verify Integrity of Game Files” button.
If you’re playing the game via Xbox Game Pass, then you should follow these steps:
- Launch the Xbox Game Pass app.
- Select Starfield from the list of games.
- Click on the […] (three dots) next to the Play button.
- Select the “Manage” option.
- Go to the “Files” tab.
- Select the “Verify and Repair” feature.
Force Shaders Recompiling
Another solution has been presented on Reddit message boards, where players suggest forcing the system to recompile the shaders manually. You should be doing the steps listed below only if you’ve already encountered the building shaders error and none of the methods above have been of any help. If that’s the case, then here’s what you need to do:
- Exit Starfield.
- Go to “\%LOCALAPPDATA%\NVIDIA\DXCache\” directory on your PC and delete all files contained inside, if you play on nVidia graphics card.
- If you play on ATI graphics card, then do the same in the following directory: “\%LOCALAPPDATA%\AMD\DxCache\“
- All players should also delete all the files here: “\%LOCALAPPDATA%\Starfield\“
- Launch Starfield again.
Reinstall Your Game
If none of these steps helped fix the issues with the shaders, then you could also try fully reinstalling the game and trying the steps listed above once more. I highly recommend that you fully delete the game from the Control Panel before reinstalling it:
- Press “Start‘ button.
- Go to “Settings” menu.
- Select “Apps and Features” option.
- Right-click on Starfield.
- Select “Uninstall” option.
Also, it would be useful to delete the game folder itself and install Starfield from scratch after restarting your PC. If you did everything right, the system should start rebuilding shaders from scratch and creating new files, which may fix this issue.
That’s everything you need to know on how to fix the building shaders error in Starfield. Stay tuned for more Starfield tips and tricks articles right here.
