Troubleshooting & FAQ

This page covers common issues and diagnostic steps when running HoYoShade.

1. Injector Stays on "Waiting for a process to start"

The console window remains stuck on Waiting for a '...' process to start ... after you launch the game from the launcher:

Check client selection: Verify that the selected client matches the executable running on your system. For example, the Mainland China Genshin client runs YuanShen.exe, while the Global client runs GenshinImpact.exe. If the wrong channel is selected in the injector, it will not detect the process. See Check your Client Type.
Check administrative privileges: If your game launcher runs with administrator rights but the injector runs as a standard user, the injector will fail to attach to the target process. Right-click the HoYoShade launcher and select "Run as administrator".
Silent antivirus blocking: Some security tools block process injection APIs without displaying an alert. Check Antivirus Exclusions to add the HoYoShade folder to your exclusion list.

The game closes immediately on startup or displays a device error:

Third-party overlay conflicts: ReShade hooks into DirectX presentation calls. Other software hooking the same pipeline can cause hook collisions:
- RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS): Set Application Detection Level to None for the game executable, or enable "Custom Direct3D Support".
- GeForce Experience / NVIDIA App: Disable "In-Game Overlay" in the settings.
- Discord / Steam Overlay / Game overlays: Turn off in-game overlays in their respective settings.
Outdated GPU drivers: Older drivers may lack necessary DirectX 11 or 12 instructions. Update to the latest stable driver release from your GPU vendor.
Corrupted shader files: If you added third-party shaders manually, syntax or compilation errors can cause crashes. Temporarily remove custom additions from the reshade-shaders/Shaders/ directory to isolate the problem.

The game runs normally, but the ReShade menu does not appear:

Key combination requirements: Many laptop keyboards and compact (60% or TKL) keyboards require a modifier key to trigger Home (such as Fn + Home or Fn + Left Arrow).
Verify ReShade.ini location: ReShade.ini must reside in the directory containing the game executable, not the outer launcher folder. If this file is missing, ReShade cannot read keybinding configurations.
Rebind the overlay hotkey: Open ReShade.ini in the game directory with a text editor, locate KeyOverlay=, and set it to a different virtual key code if the Home key conflicts with other software.

When miHoYo releases a regular game patch or major version update:

The HoYoShade injection mechanism is designed to remain compatible without requiring an update to the injector itself.
If the overlay stops appearing after an update, verify that ReShade.ini was not removed from the game executable directory. If missing, copy it from your HoYoShade folder again.

To prevent unfair advantages in online multiplayer environments (such as see-through wall hacks), standard ReShade disables high-precision depth buffer access when network traffic or multi-player scenes are detected.
Bundled HoYoShade presets focus on color grading, tonemapping, contrast adjustment, and sharpening. These effects do not depend on depth buffers and remain active across all scenes.