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Each VMware Fusion virtual machine is one .vmwarevm bundle in a Virtual Machines folder. New installs of Fusion 11 and later put that folder in your home folder; older and upgraded installs keep it in Documents.
VMware Fusion's own guide lists the possible default folders for new virtual machines:
~/Virtual Machines
~/Documents/Virtual MachinesThe first, in your home folder, is the default for new installations of Fusion 11 or later. The second, in Documents, is the default for versions before Fusion 11 and for Fusion 11 or later installs that were upgraded from an older version. There is a third rule: once you save a machine somewhere other than the default, that place becomes the default for the next machine you create.
Finder shows the folder as "Virtual Machines", but on disk the name may end in .localized; Broadcom's knowledge base says the Documents one may be named Virtual Machines.localized depending on your Fusion version and macOS settings. Terminal needs the real name, so list whichever exist (this only reads names):
ls -d ~/Virtual\ Machines* ~/Documents/Virtual\ Machines* 2>/dev/nullFusion is not installed on the Mac used for this guide, so these paths come from VMware's guide and Broadcom's knowledge base.
From VMware's guide:
That works wherever the machine is stored. If it is not in the library, search in Finder for .vmwarevm, choose to search by file name rather than contents if unrelated hits appear, then Control-click the result and choose Show in Enclosing Folder.
A .vmwarevm is a macOS package: Finder shows one item. Control-click it and choose Show Package Contents to look inside. Broadcom's article on the bundle lists these files:
| File | What it is |
|---|---|
<name>.vmx | The main configuration file |
<name>.vmdk, or -s001.vmdk style pieces | The virtual disk, as one file or split into parts |
<name>-<number>.vmdk | A redo-log disk that records changes after a snapshot |
<name>.vmsd | Snapshot information and metadata |
<name>-Snapshot<number>.vmsn | The saved state of one snapshot |
<name>.vmem | The memory of a running machine, or of a snapshot |
<name>.vmss | The state of a suspended machine |
<name>.nvram | Firmware state |
<name>.vmxf | A supplemental configuration file |
vmware.log | A log of machine activity, the file support usually asks for |
The article covers several Fusion versions, so a current release, especially on Apple silicon, may not use every one. Broadcom recommends copying the bundle somewhere safe before you change anything inside it. Do not move or delete files inside by hand; use Fusion's own snapshot and delete commands.
The disk is the bulk of it. Snapshots add redo-log disks and state files, and a suspended machine keeps its memory state on disk, so a bundle with many snapshots can be far larger than the guest's own disk. To see sizes without opening anything:
du -sh ~/Virtual\ Machines*/*.vmwarevm ~/Documents/Virtual\ Machines*/*.vmwarevm 2>/dev/nullTo reclaim space, choose Virtual Machine > Snapshots, select the snapshots you no longer need and delete them. Fusion merges their changes into the parent disk, which can take a long time and needs free space while it works, so let it finish. Shutting the guest down instead of suspending it means no suspended state is kept.
VMware's guide gives the supported steps:
If you copied the bundle instead of moving it, answer that you copied it. Keep a backup until the machine has booted from its new place.
Broadcom's knowledge base adds that machines running from a Boot Camp partition keep only their settings files, under ~/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp, and use the Boot Camp partition itself as the disk. Boot Camp exists only on Intel Macs.
Copy the shut-down .vmwarevm bundle. A running or suspended machine can be copied in an inconsistent state, so power it off first. On the new Mac, install Fusion, put the bundle in a folder of your choice and double-click it.
Check the processor before moving between kinds of Mac. A guest built for an Intel Mac's x86 processor is not the same as an Arm guest on Apple silicon, so read Broadcom's notes for your Fusion version before you rely on a machine moving across.
Finder treats the bundle as one file and does not list what is inside it. The Boot Camp settings live in ~/Library, which Finder and Spotlight searches leave out. And the bundle carries whatever name you gave the machine years ago.
Typing .vmwarevm into Everywhere lists every bundle on the Mac, in your home folder, in Documents or on an external drive, and typing .vmdk lists the disk files inside them. The home-folder Virtual Machines folder is covered from the start; Documents and external drives are covered once Everywhere has Full Disk Access. It searches file names, not what a machine contains.
Each machine is a .vmwarevm bundle. New installs of Fusion 11 or later default to ~/Virtual Machines; older or upgraded installs use ~/Documents/Virtual Machines. On disk either folder may be named Virtual Machines.localized.
In Window > Virtual Machine Library, Control-click the machine and choose Show in Finder. If it is not in the library, search Finder for .vmwarevm.
A macOS package that holds the machine's configuration (.vmx), disks (.vmdk), snapshots and logs. Control-click it and choose Show Package Contents to see them.
Yes. Power it off, delete it from the library with Keep File, move the bundle in Finder, then double-click it and click I Moved It.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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