Optimizing Virtual Machines for Specific Tasks

When creating a virtual machine, you can optimize it according to your needs. You can choose to configure the virtual machine for:

Profile	Properties
Productivity	This profile is optimized for everyday tasks such as using Windows applications, web browsing, email, and other tasks. It provides a balanced allocation of CPU and memory resources to ensure smooth performance and multitasking capabilities. Priority is given to performance over battery life. Ideal for: Almost everyone. People primarily using their VM for standard office work and productivity tasks will benefit most from this profile.
Games only	Designed specifically for gaming, this profile maximizes graphics performance to deliver the best possible gaming experience. It tunes the keyboard, mouse, and display settings for a better experience when playing games. Virtual machine starts in full screen mode by default. Ideal for: People who want to play Windows games on a Mac.
Design (only available in Pro and Business Editions)	Optimized for graphic designers and users who work with graphics-intensive software. This profile provides high memory allocation and enhanced graphics performance to ensure the smooth operation of resource-intensive design applications and tools. Ideal for: Graphic designers, engineers, creative professionals and other people who need to run demanding graphics-intensive apps.
Software development (only available in Pro and Business Editions)	This profile is tailored for software developers who need a robust environment for coding, running development tools, and testing software. It features enhanced configuration settings to support code compilation, running virtual servers, and performing automated tests efficiently. The feature enables nested virtualization on Intel Macs by default. Ideal for: People who require a stable and high-performance environment for their software development workflows. VS Code extension for Parallels Desktop.
Software testing (only available in Pro and Business Editions)	The profile is configured to support rigorous software testing and quality assurance processes in a virtual machine isolated from your Mac. It offers robust CPU and memory allocations, along with network configurations optimized for running multiple testing environments, virtual machines, and automated testing tools concurrently. Ideal for: QA engineers and testers who need a reliable and high-performance environment for extensive software testing.

If you want to learn how Parallels Desktop assigns virtual CPU cores automatically depending on the profile, refer to this page of the guide.

How to Change the Performance Profile of a Virtual Machine

You can change the profile after the virtual machine is created:

1. Start Parallels Desktop.

2. In Control Center, right-click the virtual machine (it must be shut down) and choose Configure.

3. On the General tab, click Change.

4. Select the profile that best fits your needs.

Note: If you made any changes to the virtual machine configuration and then select a new profile, your changes may be reset to this profile's default values.