How to properly uninstall GShade to remove malware

Final Fantasy XIV’s latest plugin controversy involves malware in the popular GShade add-on, something entirely separate from the game itself. This plugin is heavily used by the Final Fantasy XIV community as well as many other reputable PC games. The developer of GShade deliberately built a questionable feature into the program. It is there to deal with third parties trying to redistribute copyrighted content within GShade without permission. To counteract this, an anti-tampering feature has been added to the GShade installer to trigger reboots in case a third party, external software or library uses the GShade installer’s features without actually running it.

With the recent news that GShade is no longer updated, it’s not a bad decision if you want to safely remove it from your computer. How to completely uninstall GShade from your PC.

How to remove GShade from your PC

GShade includes an uninstall option from the start menu. However, if for some reason you cannot uninstall it normally or the program remains in your start menu after uninstallation, you can manually remove the following files, folders and registry entries from your PC:

Core folder:

• %ProgramFiles%\GShade
• %ProgramData%\GShade
• %Public%\GShade Backups
• %Public%\GShade custom shaders

Depending on the configuration, there are several folders and a handful of “possible” files for individual game installations:

• gshade addons
• gshade presets
• gshade shader
• d3d10.dll
• d3d10core.dll
• d3d11.dll
• d3d12.dll
• d3d9.dll
• dinput8.dll
• dxgi.dll
• GShade.ini
• GShade.log

Registration:

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\GShade

How to switch from GShade to ReShade

If you still want to use a graphical enhancement plugin in Final Fantasy XIV, many communities recommend going back to the original program that GShade was modified from – ReShade. The community has come together to provide this process of installing ReShade before uninstalling GShade and modifying content in specific folders. Following their instructions will ensure that the transition from GShade to Reshade is smooth and painless.

Related: The Final Fantasy XIV plugin debate has reached a grim reality

Many players have relied on GShade to improve Final Fantasy XIV’s visuals or help with disabilities, so switching back to ReShade will be a harrowing but important process. Final Fantasy XIV is set to receive a graphical update in the near future, which means GShade’s popularity would have been tarnished regardless of developer deception.