Many players have reported Hogwarts Legacy gets stuck on a preparing shaders screen when they try to play that game. A player’s Reddit post says this, “For some reason when I tried to launch Hogwarts Legacy today, it gets stuck on preparing shaders. The green bar moves a little bit at the start, then completely stops.” Consequently, players can’t play Hogwarts Legacy when it gets stuck on a preparing shaders screen. This is how you can fix the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error on Windows PCs.
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Clear the Shader Cache
The official WB game support resolution for the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error is to clear the shader cache. Doing this might clear corrupted shader cache data causing the issue to occur. These are the steps for clearing the shader cache.
- First, disable the shader cache by right-clicking the desktop and selecting NVIDIA Control Panel > Manage 3D Settings. Select Disabled for the Shader Cache Size option.
The Shader Cache Size option
- Next, press Windows logo + R, input cleanmgr, and click OK.
- Select C on the drop-down menu.
- Now select DirectX Shader Cache.
The DirectX Shader Cache checkbox
- Click OK > Delete Files to confirm.
- Return to the NVIDIA Control Panel and re-enable the Shader Cache Size setting.
Verify Game Files for Hogwarts Legacy
Verifying Hogwarts Legacy will scan the game’s files and repair any that are missing or corrupted. This is worth trying since corrupted game files could feasibly be a potential cause for the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders crashing. These Steam help and Epic support pages provide guidelines for verifying files with the different game clients.
The Verify integrity of game files button
Maximize the Pool Size
Some players have fixed the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error by maximizing the streaming pool size for Hogwarts Legacy. This involves editing a GameUserSettings file for Hogwarts Legacy. Try editing that file like this.
- Open File Explorer and go to C:\Users\<user folder>\AppData\Local\Hogwarts Legacy\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor.
- Right-click GameUserSettings to select Open with > Notepad.
The GameUserSettings file
- Next, input the following text into the bottom of the GameUserSettings file:
[SystemSettings]
r.TextureStreaming=1
r.Streaming.PoolSize=3096
- Press Ctrl + S to save the changes.
The streaming pool settings
Delete Hogwarts Legacy Data
Deleting data in the Hogwarts Legacy folder has fixed the preparing shaders error for some players. Those players deleted almost everything in a couple of the game’s data folders. You can apply this possible solution for the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders like this.
- Press the Windows logo + E keys and navigate to C:\Users\<user-folder>\AppData\Local\Hogwarts Legacy\Saved.
- Hold the Ctrl key to select everything in the Saved folder except SavesGame. Do not select the SavesGame folder.
- Right-click and select Delete to erase all selected items.
- Next, head to the C:\ProgramData\Hogwarts Legacy folder path.
- Select everything in the Hogwarts Legacy folder except the NotAllowedUnattendedBugReports file. Do not select the NotAllowedUnattendedBugReports file.
- Click Explorer’s Delete option on its command bar or Home tab.
Edit the GraphicsDriver Registry Key
Some players say they’ve fixed the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error by editing the GraphicsDriver registry key. What this registry tweak does is add a TdrDelay value of 10 to the GraphicsDriver key. This is how you can apply this potential fix with the Registry Editor.
- Press the Windows logo button + R, enter regedit into Run, and select OK.
- Go to the Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\GraphicsDrivers key in the Registry Editor.
- Right-click GraphicsDrivers to select New > DWORD.
- Type TdrDelay to be the title for the new DWORD.
- Double-click TdrDelay to access a Value data box for it.
- Select the Decimal radio button.
- Delete the 0 in the Value data box and input 10 to replace it.
- Click OK to set the value.
The GraphicsDrivers key
- Exit the Registry Editor, and select Restart on the Start menu.
Reinstall Hogwarts Legacy
If the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error persists after applying other potential resolutions, try reinstalling the game. Reinstalling might update the game version and will certainly refresh its files. You can reinstall Hogwarts Legacy via Steam and Epic Games like this.
Steam
- Start Steam and open the Library tab in that software.
- Right-click the Hogwarts Legacy game in the left sidebar to select Manage > Uninstall.
The Uninstall option in Steam
- Next, select Hogwarts Legacy and click Install for the game.
- Select Install again to reinstall.
Epic Games
- Run Epic and click Library to view your games.
- Click the … menu button for Hogwarts Legacy to select Uninstall twice.
The Uninstall option in Epic Games
- To reinstall, click the image for Hogwarts Legacy in your library and select Install.
The potential solutions in this guide have fixed the Hogwarts Legacy preparing shaders error for many players. So, maybe one might fix that gaming issue on your Windows PC as well. If not, you can send a support ticket about the Hogwarts Legacy shaders error to the Portkey help service from this contact page.
