DLSS 5 Swapper Overlay Not Working: F8 Checks

Identify the panel you expect

The compact F8 Swapper overlay, ReShade’s Home panel, the Multipass tool panel, and OptiScaler’s interface are different control surfaces. A working Home panel with no F8 overlay does not mean all injection failed. Conversely, an application preview can look functional without any game connected.

The overlay documentation describes the bridge. Use the component guide to establish which panel belongs to your installed route.

Check the supported conditions first

1. Confirm that the actual game executable is 64-bit and currently uses DX11 or DX12 for this compact overlay.
2. Verify the native DLSS (RenoDX) or Feeder route, installed by the app with add-on-capable ReShade. Multipass and OptiScaler do not use this panel. Since v2.2.8 it works with both RenoDX builds the app has shipped, 6.5.3 and 4.7.
3. Keep Swapper running. Check the tray/process rather than assuming a closed window means the application is still connected.
4. Read the configured hotkey. F8 is the default, but the user can change it and another application may consume it.
5. Confirm the installed game folder and current renderer match the running process.

Multipass uses its Home panel and Pass Count. For Vulkan or 32-bit games, use the panel documented for that route; the compact F8 overlay requirements above do not apply.

If ReShade itself never starts in a DirectX 11 game, no panel can appear. Since v2.2.8 the game page has a ReShade file choice for that case; see games without native DLSS.

Interpret status before changing settings

Observation	What it tells you	Next check
Preview only in the app	You are editing or viewing the overlay’s appearance	Check a real running-game connection
Waiting or not running	The bridge has not established the expected live state	Process, executable, route, and loaded add-on
Connected, values read back	Configuration communication works	Whether the intended neural consumer evaluates successfully
Home works but F8 does not	At least one panel loads	Compact-overlay prerequisites and key conflicts

This v2.2.1 screen has a custom F10 shortcut. The default is F8; check your configured key rather than copying this example. Preview only means no game is connected to the preview.

Apply only the relevant version fix

Version 2.2.3 addressed a DPI-related transport problem discussed in issue 189, and on September 29 the maintainer confirmed that display scaling is no longer a condition: 200% is fine. The ordinary native-route consumer error in v2.2.5 was separately fixed in v2.2.6 and can require reinstalling that route into the game.

Since v2.2.8 the panel explains itself. Instead of a generic message it names the one reason that applies — a 32-bit game, the Multipass or OptiScaler route, or an API the overlay does not run on — and the bridge writes a line into the game’s own ReShade.log. Install once on v2.2.8 or later, press F8 in game, and search that log for NR_LAB; the maintainer asks for this file in reports (issue 354).

That does not fix every case: the same issue’s reporter wrote on September 29 that F8 still did nothing on v2.2.9 in Diablo IV and Cyberpunk 2077. Avoid repeatedly applying unrelated workarounds.

Save diagnostics or restore

Use Save diagnostics, preserving the connection state, API, bitness, driver, route, and component versions, and keep the game’s ReShade.log with its NR_LAB line. Note whether Home works and whether the configured key reaches the game. If the panel remains waiting, check the connection and component status rather than relying on a fixed delay.

If you cannot establish the required setup, follow the general diagnosis or restore the game. Normal appearance adjustment is covered by add-ons and controls.