Delete Windows virtual machine from Parallels on Mac

If you need to run Windows on Mac, test Windows application on your Mac, you can install Parallels Desktop on your Mac, then install Windows OS and other operating systems on your Mac. A Windows virtual machine in Parallels Desktop is just like a full PC. Any application that will run on a standard Windows computer will run inside the Windows virtual machine in Parallels for Mac. Users can easily switch between the guest system(Windows) and the host system(Mac OS) without rebooting. With the latest Parallels for Mac, you can make use of the 30+ utilities to simply everyday tasks on Mac and Windows.

You can install several different Windows OS in a single Mac. For example, Windows developers can install Windows 10, Windows 8.X, Windows 7 to test their app compatibility with various OS. Follow these steps to install Windows 10 on Mac.

Sometimes we may want to delete an out-dated virtual machine in Parallels that we do not plan to use anymore so as to reclaim the valuable space taken by the Windows virtual machines. There are mainly two ways you can delete a virtual machine. You can choose to delete a virtual machine from the Parallels app or from Finder.

Delete a virtual machine from Parallels

If you still have Parallels Desktop on your Mac, you can delete the Windows virtual machine from the Parallels app. Run the app from the Launchpad, stop the virtual machine if it is currently running. Click Window from the top menu, choose Control Center. Then go to the File menu, choose Remove from the drop-down menu list. A pop-up dialog appears. You have the options to delete the virtual machine from the list in Parallels or delete it from the list as well as the actual virtual machine files.

remove windows virtual machine from parallels desktop for mac

Choose Keep files, if you wish to access the files in this virtual machine later. The virtual machine will be removed from the list, but the virtual machine files will remain in its original location on your Mac storage. This will not help you reclaim the storage space occupied by the virtual machines. Choose Move to Trash, if you do not need any data from this virtual machine and want to remove it completely.

Directly delete virtual machines from Mac

If you have uninstalled Parallels Desktop from your Mac but the virtual machines remain on your Mac, you can find them in Finder or Spotlight Search and delete them from there. Type .pvm in the Spotlight Search to find out all virtual machines and delete them. Alternatively, search for the .pvm file in /Users/username/Documents/Parallels/, /Users/Shared/Parallels/, or /Users/username/Library/Parallels, and move the virtual machines to trash.