Guides
How to Install ReShade in Marvel Rivals: Setup and Fixes
This guide installs ReShade for Marvel Rivals through the Color Correction tab in the RIVALSFPS.GG desktop app, then covers what to do when it does not load: Smart App Control, the add-on build, and a ReShade you already use for another game.
If you want to see the look before installing anything, try the color previewer. It runs the tab's shader in your browser on a game frame, and it needs no ReShade at all.
What ReShade is
ReShade is a post-processing injector for PC games: it takes each frame after the game has drawn it and runs shader effects over the top. It is free, open source and crosire's work. reshade.me asks other sites to send people to it instead of sharing the files, so the app links reshade.me and ships no copy. What the app adds is one shader, one preset, and the setup steps below.
What you need
- RIVALSFPS.GG on Windows 10 or 11, with your Marvel Rivals folder found (Steam, Epic Games or Loading Bay).
- The standard ReShade installer from reshade.me. The tab's Download button fetches it for you.
- Smart App Control switched off, if your PC has it on. Windows blocks every ReShade build while it is on. Turning it off is permanent: Microsoft only lets you turn it back on by resetting or reinstalling Windows.
How to install ReShade in Marvel Rivals
Open Color Correction in the app's left rail, where it is labeled Colors. Under Install Steps the tab shows three steps, and each one checks itself off as the app detects it.
- Download ReShade. Press Download. It opens reshade.me and starts the download of crosire's standard installer, the signed build, and your browser saves it as usual. The app then looks in your Downloads folder and on your Desktop for the newest ReShade setup file, and checks the file's contents before it trusts it.
- Run the installer. Press Install it for me.
ReShade's own setup opens with
Marvel-Win64-Shipping.exeand the DirectX 12 proxy already chosen, which are the two screens that are easy to get wrong. Click through the rest of the setup. - Switch it on. Press Activate. The app writes one
file in the game folder,
ReShade.ini, which points ReShade at the app's shader and preset under%APPDATA%\RivalsFPS\reshade\. The game folder usually sits under Program Files, so Windows may ask for permission for that write. Slider changes after that go to the preset in your user profile, so moving them never asks again.
If the app does not spot the installer, for example because your browser saves downloads somewhere else, use Choose installer… beside the Install Steps heading to pick the file yourself, or Check again to look once more.
Color Correction is a tab in RIVALSFPS.GG, a free Windows app. It runs the ReShade installer you downloaded from reshade.me, already aimed at the game.
Free for Windows 10 and 11.
Download for WindowsHow to turn ReShade off in Marvel Rivals
There are three controls, and each does a different job.
End, during a match
Press End and ReShade switches the effect off instantly, without leaving the game. The app cannot write anything while Marvel Rivals is running, so this key is the one control that works mid-match. The app sets it up whether or not you ask.
The Color Correction switch
Switching it off renames ReShade's DLL with a
.rivalsfps-off suffix, so the game never loads it,
and restores your own ReShade.ini if you had one.
Switching it back on is a rename rather than a reinstall, so it
is instant and works offline.
Remove ReShade
Deletes ReShade from your game folder after you confirm. The game, your paks and your in-game settings are left untouched, and your Color Correction settings are kept for a reinstall.
ReShade not loading in Marvel Rivals
The Color Correction tab shows a notice when it can tell why ReShade is not loading. Check these in order.
Smart App Control is on
crosire signs ReShade himself rather than through a trusted certificate authority, so the signature chains to nothing Windows trusts and Smart App Control blocks every build, standard and add-on alike. The tab says so as soon as Smart App Control is on. Turning it off in Windows Security is the only way through. That change is permanent: Microsoft only lets you turn Smart App Control back on by resetting or reinstalling Windows. Microsoft Defender keeps protecting your PC either way. Smart App Control also stops Windows loading the Signature Bypass that mods and graphic packs need.
The add-on build is installed
ReShade's add-on build is unsigned, and its own setup warns it is meant for singleplayer games. The tab flags it and recommends the standard build. Reinstall ReShade, pick the standard build, and the effect works the same on it.
You already use ReShade for another game or preset
Switching Color Correction on first copies your existing
ReShade.ini to ReShade.ini.rivalsfps-bak, and
switching it off restores that file exactly. The app adds its own
shader folder to ReShade's effect search paths instead of replacing
them, so your own presets and shaders keep working alongside it.
ReShade still loads with the switch off
If the tab says Color Correction is off but ReShade is still loading, it names the DLL ReShade is running from. When that is a copy the app switched off earlier, Turn it off parks it again. When RIVALSFPS.GG did not install that ReShade, the app leaves it alone: switch Color Correction on to use it, or uninstall ReShade yourself.
Sliders and presets
The tab's Adjustments are four sliders, Vibrance, Contrast, Midtones and Black level, plus four presets, Default, Soft, Vivid and Bold. What each one does and the values each preset sets are on the color correction page, where you can try the color previewer on a real game frame and press and hold it to compare.
Color correction and FPS
A color grade adds a full-screen pass to every frame; it does not take any work away. To gain frames instead, the places to look are Graphic Pack Settings, the Quality tab with Lower Render Resolution on any graphics card, and Windows Optimizations.
Common questions
Is ReShade free?
Yes. It is free and open source, written by crosire, and you download it from reshade.me. RIVALSFPS.GG has never shipped a copy of it inside the app.
Where does ReShade install for Marvel Rivals?
Next to the game's executable, Marvel-Win64-Shipping.exe, in the MarvelGame\Marvel\Binaries\Win64 folder, as the DirectX 12 proxy dxgi.dll. Install it for me picks both for you. When Color Correction is on, the app writes ReShade.ini in that folder, and if you already had one it keeps your original beside it as ReShade.ini.rivalsfps-bak.
How do I turn the effect off during a match?
Press End. ReShade switches the effect off on the spot. The app cannot change anything while Marvel Rivals is running, so the key is how you undo it without leaving the match.
I already use ReShade for something else. Will this overwrite it?
No. Switching Color Correction on first copies your existing ReShade.ini to a backup, and switching it off puts that file back exactly as it was. Your own presets and shader library are left alone, and the app adds its shader folder to your effect search paths instead of replacing them.
I installed ReShade and nothing loads. What happened?
Check Smart App Control first. crosire signs ReShade himself rather than through a trusted authority, so Windows blocks every build while Smart App Control is on. The other case is the add-on build, which is unsigned and whose own setup warns it is meant for singleplayer games. The Color Correction tab detects both and names the one you hit.
Can a ReShade preset get me banned in Marvel Rivals?
Nobody outside NetEase can say. Its published rules forbid changes to the game client, and a color grade counts as one, just as a graphic pack does. To stop running it, press End in a match or switch Color Correction off in the app.
