Before I installed Sonoma on my or client's Macs, I tested it in Parallels. I don't need that VM now and want to delete it, but right click on the macOS14 pane in the Control Panel does not provide a Remove option, only Resume, Configure and Show in Finder. How can I remove the vm?
One way is to go to the Parallels directory in ~/Users/<username>/Parallels and delete the .PVM file (the Show in Finder option). Crude but effective. Or you can delete Parallels completely if you no longer need it. That sounds like the more logical (and space saving) way to go.
I want to continue to use Parallels for Windows and other operating systems. I wasn't sure if deleting the .pvm file would not cause issues. I can certainly do that, I just don't want to create other problems for myself.
Nah, I do it all the time. You just have to delete it from the Control Center once the PVM is gone. (or you can right click he Parallels icon on the dock and delete it there).
Open Control Center, right click on the VM you want to remove and select "Remove <VM name>" or just delete the PVM. The right click I was referring to was removing Parallels.. It would probably save you a lot of time if you just deleted the PVM or if you'd like to use it to test other machines, just right click and select either Archive or Prepare for Moving. Once that process completes, you can save it with Time Machine or other back up program and then delete the PVM archive. Deleting the PVM doesn't create a problem unless you change your mind after it's deleted.
That would work for my Windows VM, but there is NO Remove option when right clicking on the Mac OS Sonoma VM in the control center. Which is why I posted this thread in the first place. Sorry, I don't know how to be more clear.
I deleted the PVM file. BUT the MacOS14 VM still shows in the Control Panel, and there is NO option to remove it. I'm attaching a screenshot of what I see when I right click on the VM.
(as an aside, 100% of the VMs I create are for mass installs on client Macs and are Windows 11which might explain some of my confusion. Now I'm going to have to install the Mac 14 Developer Beta just to see the steps required to remove it). Sorry for all the machinations i can see you're running 14 from the jpeg, but let's go all the way back to basics. What machine do you have Parallels installed on? What VM's do you have installed in Parallels? What version of MacOS are you running on the host machine, What version of Parallels? I have deleted (or moved) .PVM files often and generally, once the machine is rebooted, nothing shows up on the Control center. Just an aside, did you delete the .PVM to the trash and then empty the trash? Even though you may have deleted a file, if it's in the trash, Mac seems to have an uncanny knack of finding those files. If there is nothing in the trash and nothing in the Parallels folder under Users/<username>/Parallels nothing should show up in Control center. As an experiment, I've just archived a Win11 VM and am now going to move the .PVMz file to my NAS so it's completely off my machine. I got the prompt to remove the file. Let me experiment with loading MacOS 14 and I'll get back to you. This is a completely interesting conundrum.
Okay, I created a MacOS 14 Sonoma VM and when I click on it, I get the option to "Remove MacOS ...". I'm running the latest version of Parallels. That may be the difference. My right click menu is somewhat similar but with some subtle differences. My right click menu shows "Configure" not "View Configuration".
I'm running the latest version of Parallels Desktop on a Mac Studio M1 on MacOS 14.4. My wonky other virtual machine is Windows 11. I haven't rebooted the Mac, I'll try that in the morning. Thank you!
