Start up and shut down manually

Select this option if you want to always start and shut down the virtual machine manually.

Always ready in background

Select this option if you want to make the virtual machine start automatically when the Mac starts.

Custom

If you want to specify not only how the virtual machine starts or shuts down but also the view mode and what happens on closing the virtual machine window, select Custom and specify the following:

• Start Automatically. Use this menu to set whether the virtual machine starts automatically:

  • Never: The virtual machine never starts automatically.

  • When window opens: The virtual machine starts automatically when you open it from Control Center.

  • When Parallels Desktop starts: The virtual machine starts automatically when you start Parallels Desktop.

  • When Mac starts: The virtual machine starts automatically when you start the Mac. If you select this option, you can also configure the virtual machine to delay the startup.

  • When user logs in: Windows starts automatically when the macOS user logs in to macOS on the Mac startup.

• Startup view. Use this menu to choose in which mode the virtual machine starts when you start the virtual machine or guest OS application.

• On VM Shutdown. Use this menu to set what happens when you shut down your virtual machine:

  • Keep window open: If the virtual machine is set to appear in a separate window, the window stays open when you stop or shut down the virtual machine.

  • Close window: If the virtual machine is set to appear in a separate window, the window closes when you stop or shut down the virtual machine.

  • Quit Parallels Desktop: Parallels Desktop quits when you stop or shut down the virtual machine.

• On Mac Shutdown. Use this menu to specify what happens when you shut down your Mac (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only).

• On Window Close. Use this menu to set what happens when you close the Parallels Desktop window. These settings affect what happens only when the virtual machine is set to appear in a separate window.

Pause Windows after

If there are no active processes in Windows, it still consumes your Mac's CPU resources. Select this option and specify a period of inactivity after which Windows will be automatically paused. That way, less CPU resources are used by Windows services which allows you to save the battery and help the environment.

Safari plugin

Some webpages work best when viewed in Microsoft Edge. If you are browsing in macOS using Safari, you can quickly open the current page in Microsoft Edge by doing the following:

1. Click Enable Plugin to enable the "Open in Edge" plugin.

2. Once the plugin is enabled, click the Open in Edge button in the Safari toolbar.

If Windows isn't already open, it starts up, and the page opens in Microsoft Edge.

Share custom Mac folders with Windows

With folder sharing enabled, you can navigate to any shared macOS folder from within a Windows application. When you open a file (for example, by choosing File > Open in many applications), your shared macOS folders appear as network shared directories labeled "\\Mac".

To enable macOS folders for sharing with Windows applications, do one of the following:

• To share just the folders in your Home folder, enable Share custom Mac folders with Windows > click Manage Folders... > select the Home folder and click OK. To share all your macOS folders, select the folder with your Mac name and click OK.

• To share any folder you want, click Manage Folders and click the add (+) button, then choose the folder you want to share. You can add more folders by clicking the add (+) button again. Once you share a macOS folder with Windows you can:

  • Disable the folder sharing by deselecting On.

  • Change the folder name that will be displayed in Windows by double-clicking the folder name in the Name column and typing another name.

  • Restrict writing to this folder by clicking Read & Write in the Permissions folder and choosing Read only. You will not be able to add items to the folder.

Mirror Mac and Windows user folders

You can set macOS and Windows to use the same folders for things like music, documents, pictures, your desktop, and deleted files. So for example, if you save a file to the Documents folder, it will be in the Documents folder whether you're using a macOS application or a Windows application.

To enable this functionality, select Mirror Mac and Windows user folders.

Your macOS Desktop, Documents, Pictures, Music, Movies, and Downloads folders are merged with the corresponding Windows folders.

If you only want to map some of the folders, click Customize and select the folders you want.

Share cloud folders with Windows

(in macOS virtual machines, this option is called Share cloud folders with virtual machine)

If you're using iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive cloud storage in macOS, you can easily share their macOS folders with Windows. Once sharing is enabled, you can upload, download, and sync files from any of these services from within Windows without duplicating any of their files on your hard disk.

To share macOS iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive folders with Windows, do the following:

1. If you haven't already, set up iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive in macOS.

2. Select Share cloud folders with Windows.

3. Log in to Windows and open Computer. iCloud, Dropbox, or Google Drive folders are available in the Quick access (or Favorites) section. You can use them to upload and download files to and from the cloud.

Map Mac volumes to Windows

(in macOS virtual machines, this option is called Map Mac volumes to virtual machine)

When you connect an external storage device, such as a USB drive, to your Mac, you can access the contents from macOS applications.

You can set Parallels Desktop to automatically mount storage devices and volumes to Windows. That way, you can access the contents from both macOS and Windows.

The following items can be mounted to Windows:

• Removable drives: External storage devices, such as USB hard disks and USB flash drives.

• CD/DVD drives: CD and DVD drives or mounted CD/DVD images.

• Network folders: Folders shared over the network.

To make these items mount to Windows automatically, select Map Mac volumes to Windows.

When you connect a storage device or volume, it is mounted as a network drive. For example, a USB flash drive plugged in to your Mac will be accessible from both the /Volumes folder in macOS and My Computer in Windows.

Assign a drive letter to shared folders (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Select this option to assign a drive letter to all Mac folders shared with Windows. When a Mac shared folder has a letter, you can easily access it in Windows - such folders are displayed in the "This PC" section of "File Explorer".

Allow creating executables (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Select this option to create executable files in the Mac folders shared with Windows. When this option is selected, all newly created files become executable.

Enable DOS 8.3 filenames (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Files created in macOS don't have DOS 8.3 names, and some Windows applications may work incorrectly with such files. Select this option to create additional DOS 8.3 names for the files located in the Mac folders shared with Windows.

Access Windows folders from Mac

Select this option to allow access to Windows folders from Mac.

Share OneDrive with Mac

If you're using Microsoft OneDrive to store files in the cloud, you can easily share your OneDrive folders with macOS. Then you can upload or download OneDrive files in macOS without duplicating any of the files on your hard disk.

To share your Windows OneDrive folders with macOS, do the following:

1. If OneDrive isn't already set up in Windows, set it up.

2. Select Access Windows folders from Mac and Share OneDrive with Mac.

3. In the macOS Finder, choose Finder > Preferences and select Connected servers.

Once selected, Microsoft OneDrive folders appear as hard disks on the macOS desktop. You can use them to upload and download files to and from OneDrive.

Share Windows network drives with Mac (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Once selected, when you connect to a network drive in Windows, these drives become available in macOS. To access them, go to the Finder sidebar > Shared section and click the virtual machine name.

Share Windows-connected drives with Mac

Once selected, when you connect an external drive to Windows, these drives become available in macOS. To access them, go to the Finder sidebar > Shared section and click the virtual machine name.

CPU and memory allocation

If you're using Windows 10 or later, Parallels Desktop allocates the required number of CPUs and amount of memory to the virtual machine automatically so that you get the optimal performance and good experience. It is recommended that you use the default settings.

However, if you are not satisfied with the virtual machine's performance, you can manually specify how much CPU and memory can be consumed by your virtual machine. Select Manual and choose the desired values from the corresponding fields.

Virtual machines created and run in Parallels Desktop for Mac Standard Edition are limited to 4 vCPU cores and 8GB of vRAM. For the Pro and Business Editions, the limitations are as follows:

• Up to 32 vCPU cores for Intel Macs and up to 18 vCPU cores for Apple silicon Macs (maximum tested number);

• Up to 128GB of RAM for Intel Macs; for Apple Silicon Macs, it is:

• Up to 63GB if the host runs macOS 12 Monterey and/or doesn’t implement the 39-bit intermediate address space (base versions of M1 and M2 chips);

• Up to 128GB in all other cases.

Please note that more is not always better. First, try to work with your virtual machine using the default settings. If it is slow, try to add more memory and/or increase the number of CPUs. If the virtual machine becomes faster, it's ok. If not, try to change the CPU and memory allocation some other way. It is not easy to provide more straightforward instructions because the virtual machine performance depends on the Mac's hardware, which apps are running on your Mac, which apps are running in the virtual machine, etc.

If you have a virtual machine with Windows 8.1 or earlier, Linux or macOS operating system, you can choose how much CPU and memory can be consumed by the virtual machine using the Processors and Memory menus.

Extended memory limit This option is available only in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions installed on a Mac with an Intel processor

This option allows you to allocate more memory to a virtual machine than your Mac physically has. Use this option with care (or your system may significantly slow down) and only on rare occasions, e.g., when you're trying to set up a database on a virtual machine and the installer claims that you don't have enough memory.

Hypervisor

This menu is available only on Mac computers equipped with an Intel processor. Virtual machines created on Apple Silicon Macs always use the Apple hypervisor

In this menu, you can choose whether to use the hypervisor from Parallels or from Apple. It is recommended that you use the Parallels hypervisor.

Adaptive Hypervisor

Select this option to set Parallels Desktop to automatically optimize performance for the virtual machine or macOS depending on which application you're working with at the moment. When you're using a virtual machine app, more resources are given to the virtual machine, and when you're using a macOS application, more resources are given to macOS.

Enable nested virtualization

This menu is available only in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions installed on a Mac with an Intel processor provided that the virtual machine is configured to use the Parallels hypervisor.

Select this option to enable nested virtualization support. Parallels Desktop allows you to run:

• Hyper-V virtual machines inside Windows 8 or newer, and Windows Server 2012 or newer virtual machines;

• Parallels Desktop inside a macOS virtual machine;

• VMware ESXi virtual machines;

• Xen and kernel-based virtual machines in versions of Linux that support Xen and KVM.

If you use Parallels virtual machines to build, debug, and test applications, enable nested virtualization to install and work in:

• Android emulator for Visual Studio;

• iPhone emulator for Visual Studio;

• Xamarin.Android;

• Android Studio;

• Embarcadero RAD Studio;

• Docker for Windows;

• Microsoft Visual Studio + TwinCat 3 (support for TwinCat 3 is being tested, and there may be some bugs).

Enter automatically

In this section, select when your virtual machine automatically enters Travel Mode. Choose one of the following:

• Always when on battery power. Select this option if you want to switch the virtual machine to Travel Mode always when the Mac is unplugged and starts working on battery power.

• When battery power is. In this menu, select the battery charge level at which the virtual machine enters Travel Mode.

• Never. Select this option if you never want the virtual machine to switch to Travel Mode.

Quit automatically

In this section, select when your virtual machine automatically quits Travel Mode. Choose one of the following:

• When connected to power. Select this option if you want the virtual machine to quit Travel Mode when the Mac is connected to power.

• Never. Select this option if you never want the virtual machine to quit Travel Mode automatically. Only manual interaction is allowed.

Mouse

If you play games in a virtual machine, the Mouse menu allows you to set how to use a mouse:

• Auto-detect for games. This is a recommended default setting. If you're working with a guest OS application, the mouse moves freely between the guest operating system and macOS. However, when you start a game, the mouse input is automatically captured in the virtual machine so that you couldn't move the mouse to macOS by mistake and automatically released when you quit the game.

• Optimize for games. If your mouse accidentally moves to macOS when you're playing a game, select this option to make the mouse work in the virtual machine only. To release the mouse input and switch to macOS, press Ctrl + Alt.

• Don't optimize for games. In some rare cases, Parallels Desktop may detect an application as a game and the mouse starts working incorrectly with the application. If you have this problem, choose Don't optimize for games.

Mouse pointer sticks at window edges

When working with a virtual machine in Window view mode, you may often need to move the mouse pointer to the edges of the virtual machine window to display various guest OS items: for example, to display the Start menu in Windows 8, hidden taskbar in Windows XP, or macOS menu bar when any of the guest macOS applications is running in full screen.

The Mouse pointer sticks at window edges option makes the mouse pointer pause for a while at the edges of the virtual machine window and you won't move the mouse outside of the virtual machine window by mistake. To move past the edge, just move the mouse quickly.

Keyboard

Choose Optimize for games from the Keyboard menu if you actively use the modifier keys Option (Alt), Ctrl, and Shift in action games. When this option is selected, signals from these keys are processed immediately.

Opacity

In the Picture in Picture mode, the virtual machine window becomes transparent by default. You can specify the level of visibility in the Opacity field by dragging the slider between Transparent and Opaque.

Keep on top of other windows

Clear this option if you do not want the virtual machine window to appear on top of all other open windows when the virtual machine is in Picture in Picture mode.

Show window on all Spaces

Clear this option if you don't want the virtual machine window to be displayed on all Spaces.

Activate window by Dock icon only

Select this option if you want to make the virtual machine window inactive. When selected, you will click "through" the window. If you need to make the window active again and capture the mouse or keyboard input, click the virtual machine icon in the Dock.

Share Mac printers with Windows

Select this option to share the printer connected to your Mac with the virtual machine.

Synchronize default printer

By default, virtual machines are set to use the same default printer as your Mac.

To use a different default printer for your virtual machine, deselect Synchronize default printer. After that, you can set a new default printer in the guest OS the way you normally would.

Share Bluetooth devices with Windows

Use this option to enable or disable Bluetooth devices sharing.

Share smart card readers with Windows

When this option is selected, you can use your Mac's smart card readers in Windows.

Please note that you will be able to use only those smart card readers that function properly in macOS (i.e. have the necessary drivers installed).

Allow external devices (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition only)

Use this list to specify what devices can be connected to the virtual machine via USB.

Enable USB 3.1

On Apple Silicon Macs, USB 3.1 support is always enabled. Otherwise, the keyboard and mouse will not work in virtual machines.

Boot order

Use this list to edit the boot order settings. The currently supported boot devices are listed below:

• Hard Disk. Select this device if you want the virtual machine to boot up from its virtual hard disk drive.

• CD/DVD-ROM. Select this device if you want the virtual machine to boot up from the media connected to its virtual CD/DVD-ROM drive.

• External device. Select this device if you want the virtual machine to boot up from a bootable external device (USB, FireWire, Thunderbolt, etc.) connected to your Mac. Once selected, choose the device from the External boot device menu located below.

• Floppy Disk. Select this device if you want the virtual machine to boot up from a floppy disk image connected to its virtual floppy disk drive.

• Network. Select this device if you want your virtual machine to boot from a network adapter using PXE (Pre-Execution Environment).

Every time you start the virtual machine, it tries to boot from the device specified as the first one in the Boot order list. If the virtual machine cannot boot from the first device (for example, no media is connected to it), the virtual machine proceeds to the second device in the list and tries to boot from this device, and so on.

In this list, you can perform the following operations:

• Change the currently set boot sequence by selecting the name of the corresponding boot device and moving it up or down using the arrows to the right of the list.

• Remove a boot device from the sequence by clearing the check box next to its name.

External boot device

If you chose External device from the Boot order menu, use this menu to select the external boot device.

Select boot device on startup

If you choose this option, you will see the following message at the virtual machine startup: "Press ESC to select boot device". If you press ESC pending 5 seconds, you will be able to select a boot device. If you do not press ESC, the virtual machine will try to boot from the devices specified in the Boot order list.

Boot flags

The Boot flags field is intended to specify the flags that can change the virtual machine system's behavior. The Parallels customer support team can use the system flags when something goes wrong in your virtual machine. It is not recommended to type anything into this field without being instructed to do so by the customer support staff.

Source

In the Source field, select the source device that emulates this serial port:

• Physical Serial Port. To connect the virtual machine serial port to one of the existing serial ports on your Mac, choose the appropriate port.

• Socket. To connect two virtual machines through the sockets, choose the appropriate socket. If there are no sockets available, click New socket and specify its name in the Enter a socket name field. You should also configure the role the virtual machine will play in the connection by selecting the necessary role in the Mode list. Selecting Server enables you to use this virtual machine to direct the other one. Selecting Client enables you to direct this virtual machine from the other one.

• Output File. To connect the virtual machine serial port to an output file, choose the appropriate output file or click Choose an output file to locate the necessary file.

Source

In the Source field, specify the source device that emulates this printer port:

• Printers. You can use any of the printers connected to your Mac in your virtual machine. Select the appropriate printer from the list.

• Output File. You can emulate the virtual machine printer port by using an output file. Choose an output file from the list or click Choose an output file and specify the path to the desired output file.

Port

In the Port field, choose the port type. If available, it is recommended that you use USB. Connecting a printer to a virtual machine via USB ensures a faster data transfer rate than connecting it via LPT.

Encrypt with password

Use this setting to specify, change or turn off the password your virtual machine is encrypted with.

Expiration date (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition only)

If your virtual machine is encrypted, you can set an expiration date after which the virtual machine becomes expired.

Allow changing guest OS password in Terminal (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition only)

Select this option to be able to change the guest OS password in Terminal.

Always lock Windows on suspend (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Business Edition only)

Select this option if you want to lock Windows on suspend. Once the virtual machine is resumed, you’ll have to log in to Windows to unlock it.

Isolate Windows from Mac

Select this option to isolate the virtual machine from macOS, so that they no longer share folders, profiles, and applications, connected external devices are no longer automatically accessible by the guest OS, the virtual machine and Mac no longer synchronize volume, and you can no longer copy or move objects between the virtual machine and macOS. Isolating your virtual machine from macOS may provide a higher level of security by not allowing compromised items from one OS to come into contact with the other.

Rollback mode (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Use this menu to specify whether the virtual machine is started in Rollback mode. This mode allows you to save or discard the changes you made while working with the virtual machine:

• Disable. Select this option if you don’t want to work with the virtual machine in Rollback mode.

• Discard changes. Select this one if you don’t want to save the changes.

• Ask me what to do. Select this option if you want to decide whether to save the changes. When shutting down the virtual machine, you will be shown a message asking whether to save or discard the changes.

Require password to

For added security, you can select the actions for which Parallels Desktop will require an administrator password.

Custom password (available in Parallels Desktop for Mac Pro and Business Editions only)

Use this setting to provide a custom password that will be required to perform the actions from the Require password to section.