All about SHADER Files

The SHADER file type is primarily associated with Unity.

SHADER	File extension: SHADER
	File type:	shader

What is an SHADER file?

SHADER files mostly belong to Unity by Unity. A SHADER file contains shaders usually written in OpenGL Shading Language using game development tools like id Tech 3, Unity, and Godot. It contains a script which describes pixels, vertexes, their coordinates (x, y, z positions), and metadata that the graphical processing unit of a computer uses to render a piece of graphics, animation, texture, as well as brightness, contrast, and saturation in a game. While shaders used by games developed with the above listed tools have SHADER filename extension, these files are not necessarily saved in the format. VirtualDJ uses a different type of SHADER file to display visualizations.

How to open SHADER files

You need a suitable software like Unity to open an SHADER file. Without proper software you will receive a Windows message "How do you want to open this file?" or "Windows cannot open this file" or a similar Mac/iPhone/Android alert. If you cannot open your SHADER file correctly, try to right-click or long-press the file. Then click "Open with" and choose an application. You can also display a SHADER file directly in the browser:. Just drag the file onto this browser window and drop it.

Online SHADER Text Viewer

Choose your .shader file to view

or drag and drop it here

Online File Viewer

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How to extract texts from SHADER files or capture a screenshot to PDF, JPG, DOCX, TXT, ...

You can extract texts from SHADER file or capture a preview screenshot using our online SHADER file viewer:

To do so, click the "Choose your .shader file to view" button above.
After your file is opened in browser,
click "Save as..." in the menu.
Then choose the file format (e.g. JPG, PDF, DOCX, TXT, ...) you want.
Your file will be converted and downloaded.

Programs that open and convert SHADER files:

Unity by Unity
See the previous paragraphs to learn more about the main application. SHADER files are often referred to as Unity games because this type of file is primarily created or used by this software.
Godot (shader) by Godot Developers
Godot is an open source cross-platform engine for developing 2D and 3D video games. It uses a SHADER file to save shaders for rendering graphics in video games. This file format is classified as Game.
Homeworld (shader) by Sierra
Homeworld is a discontinued real-time strategy science fiction video game set in space. A shader used by Homeworld is saved in a SHADER file. This file format is classified as Game.
id Tech 3 (shader) by Bethesda
id Tech 3 (also called Quake III Arena Engine) is a cross-platform game engine originally used to develop and render Quake II Arena video game. id Tech 3 has also been used to develop Quake III Revolution and Call of Duty. It uses a shader saved in a SHADER file. This file format is classified as Game.
Minecraft (game textures script) by Mojang
Minecraft is a world construction and survival video game for computers and smartphones. It uses a shader saved in a SHADER file. This file format is classified as Game.
VirtualDJ (visualization) by Atomix
VirtualDJ is a desktop application for mixing multiple audio and video clips. This program is compatible with macOS and Windows. It uses music visualization saved in a SHADER file. This file format is classified as Data. Related links: Quake III Arena

SHADER file format:

A file format defines how the data in the file is structured. The first characters in a file identify the file format, for example, HTML files start with the bytes <html>. If the file extension or signature does not match the file format, errors will occur when opening or editing the file. If there are problems opening a file, you must first determine the file format used. Our analysis of the SHADER files produces the following result:

The SHADER extension is quite commonly used. The file itself is used by a few programs, each with its own file format. The two most common formats are as follows:

30% of all SHADER files start with the bytes 2F 2F crucial for this file format. These files are plain text, which means they can be viewed with any text editor such as Windows Editor, Nano for Linux, and TextEdit for macOS. Most of these files are 620 bytes to 470 KB in size. The file type is a fairly new file format. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as // NOTE: This is *not* a valid shader file, ////////////, Shader, Properties { and _MainTex. Files like these are about hidden, custom, text, blit, gles, standard, internal and texture.
15% of all SHADER files use the same file format, which can be identified by the letters "Shader "" at the beginning. These files are plain text, which means they can be viewed with any text editor such as Windows Editor, Nano for Linux, and TextEdit for macOS. The files are 610 bytes to 350 KB in size, with a median of 3 KB. Certain words are almost always found in the files, such as Shader, Properties {, white, _MainTex, Color and Range. Files like these are about poiyomi, surface, spine, toon, particle and skeleton.

All other SHADER files (55%) have different formats, the following 14 formats exist: Godot Shader, Source, UTF-8, Includes, VDJ, version, DDS, models and DXBC. These files sometimes refer to color, sprites, mobile, water, alpha or unlit. You can get all the details of your SHADER file by dragging it onto this page or by clicking the button "Choose your .shader file to view" above.

Technical Data for SHADER File Extension

File classification:

Game

Related files:

shaders, shader_bundle, frag, vs, 62, vert, ps, exe, effect, zip, ext, xml, txt, jpg, assets, bundle, ress, unity3d

Related links:

Minecraft

an shader shader is a special file format by Unity and should only be edited and saved with the appropriate software.

How to solve problems with SHADER files

Associate the SHADER file extension with the correct application.
Update your software that should actually open shaders. Because only the current version supports the latest SHADER file format. Search, therefore, e.g. on the Unity manufacturer website after an available Unity update.
To make sure that your SHADER file is not corrupted or virus-infected, get the file again and scan it with Google's virustotal.com.
Click here to open your .SHADER file online - secure, fast, and no downloads needed.