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đź“Ą Import from Parallels

Bring a Windows, Linux or macOS virtual machine from Parallels Desktop into VirtualProg, with its apps, files and settings. VirtualProg copies the VM's disks into a new VM of the same kind; the Parallels VM is only read and stays as it is. Parallels Desktop doesn't need to be installed.

📸 Screenshot: Import from Parallels

Before you import

  • The import is tested with VMs made in Parallels Desktop 27. If a VM was made with an earlier version, open it in Parallels Desktop 27 first, so that it is updated, to avoid import problems.
  • In Parallels Desktop, shut the VM down. A VM that is running, paused or suspended can't be imported safely.
  • Windows: if BitLocker (device encryption) is on, have the recovery key ready, or turn BitLocker off in Windows first. You find the key at aka.ms/myrecoverykey. Make sure you know your Windows password: the PIN and fingerprint stop working after the import.
  • Linux: if Parallels Tools are installed, uninstall them first with sudo /usr/lib/parallels-tools/install -r.
  • macOS: don't run the Parallels copy and the imported VM at the same time. The imported VM keeps its identity, so macOS and your Apple ID see it as the same Mac.

Import

  1. Choose Tools → Import from Parallels… in the Control Center, or right-click a VM and choose Import From → Parallels….
  2. Select the VM, usually in the Parallels folder of your home folder: a .pvm for Windows and Linux, a .macvm for macOS. To import several, select them all, or select the folder that holds them.
  3. Check the name, and change the processors and memory if you like. With several VMs, each has a row; untick the ones to leave out. VMs that can't be imported are listed with the reason.
  4. Read the notes.

  5. Choose the Disk Type (macOS 26 or later; older macOS offers only Fixed):

    • Dynamic (recommended): an ASIF disk, like new VMs get. It takes only the space the VM uses; for Windows, Shrink on Trim gives the space Windows frees back to the Mac.
    • Fixed: a raw disk. It only grows, even when the VM frees space.

    Both work with Checkpoints and Linked Clones of the imported VM (macOS 27 or later). 6. Check the free space line below the disk types, then click Import.

The import takes about a minute for every 10–20 GB that the VM uses. Only the used part of the disk is copied, and the new disk takes about as much space as it did in Parallels. The window shows how much is needed and how much is free, and Import stays off until there is enough. If macOS can't tell how much is free, the window says how much space to make sure you have.

Importing several VMs

Several VMs are imported one after another, each row showing its progress. If one fails, the others still import. Cancel stops the VM being copied and skips the rest; the VMs already imported stay. When the import ends, each row shows its result, and Try Again imports the VMs that failed or were skipped.

If a disk can't be turned into a dynamic disk, it is imported as a fixed disk instead, and a message says so.

After the import

Windows

  1. Start the VM. If Windows asks for the BitLocker recovery key, enter it.
  2. Sign in with your password, then set up the PIN and fingerprint again in Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options.
  3. Install Guest Tools: click Attach Disks in the VM window's toolbar, choose Install Guest Tools, then run install.cmd on the VirtualProgTools drive. It adds the network, display and other drivers and the VirtualProg agent. Networking works only after this step.
  4. Uninstall Parallels Tools in Settings > Apps > Installed apps.
  5. If Windows says it isn't activated, follow Settings > System > Activation.

Linux

Start the VM. It gets the default (NAT) network with a new adapter, so the network interface has a new name; desktop distros connect on their own. If a server install uses a fixed interface name in /etc/netplan or similar, change it to the new one (ip link shows it).

macOS

Start the VM and sign in as before. It gets the default (NAT) network with a new adapter. If Parallels Tools are installed, uninstall them.

What is imported

Imported Not imported
The disks, as they are now Snapshots (VMs with snapshots can't be imported)
Processors (up to your Mac's), memory TPM contents (Windows sees a new TPM)
The distro, when Parallels knows it (Linux) Shared folders, USB and display settings
The network adapter's MAC address (Windows) The network adapter (Linux and macOS get a new one)
The machine identifier and startup data (macOS)

Limitations

  • Only VMs from Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon can be imported. VMs from an Intel Mac, and VMs that start with BIOS instead of UEFI, can't run on Apple silicon.
  • macOS VMs need the version of macOS they run, or an earlier one, on this Mac; a VM with a newer macOS than the Mac's is refused.
  • A Linux VM needs the fallback boot loader EFI/BOOT/BOOTAA64.EFI on its EFI partition. Ubuntu and Fedora install it; Debian doesn't by default. If it's missing, run sudo grub-install --removable in the VM in Parallels, shut it down, then import it again.
  • Encrypted Parallels VMs and disks, disks split into 2 GB files, and VMs that use a Mac disk or Boot Camp partition can't be imported. Remove the encryption or convert the disk in Parallels Desktop first.
  • VMs with snapshots can't be imported. Delete the snapshots in Parallels Desktop first (Actions > Manage Snapshots); your changes stay in the VM.
  • Linked clones can't be imported, because their disk depends on another VM. Import the VM they were cloned from, or make a full clone in Parallels Desktop first.
  • Disks must be inside the .pvm or .macvm.