Introduction

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What is Shader Control?

Shader Control is a powerful editor tool for Unity that helps you manage shader keywords and variants, reducing build times and build sizes. It provides two complementary views for complete control over your project's shaders.

Pipeline support: Shader Control works with all render pipelines (Built-in, URP, HDRP). Unity 2022.3 or later required.

Key Features

Build View

Shader/Keyword Control — choose which shaders and keywords are compiled into your build.
Variant Specification — specify exactly which keyword combinations to include, avoiding unnecessary permutations.
Quick Build — perform a fast, non-functional build to collect shader data without full compilation.
Shader Variant Collections — create collections for prewarming shaders at runtime.

Project View

Shader Browser — list all shaders in your project with their keywords.
Keyword Toggle — enable/disable keywords per shader with automatic backup.
Variant Calculator — see the actual number of variants each shader produces.
Material Finder — locate which materials use a specific shader.

Build View vs Project View

Feature	Build View	Project View
Shows internal Unity shaders	Yes	No
Can skip shaders from build	Yes	No
Can modify shader source	No	Yes
Data source	Last build log	Project shader files
Primary use	Build optimization	Keyword management

Requirements

Requirement	Details
Unity version	2022.3 LTS or later
Render pipeline	Built-in, URP, or HDRP
Platform	Editor-only tool (works on all build targets)

Next Steps

Get started with the Quick Start guide, or learn about shader keywords to understand why variant management matters.

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