My Parallels VM file is huge, can I move it to an external SSD ?

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop on a Mac with Apple silicon' started by carlosrodzbotet, Aug 30, 2025.

  1. carlosrodzbotet

    carlosrodzbotet Hunter

    Messages:
    141
    I only use ONE Windows program, Quicken 2015 which is only 165MB, but my VM uses up so much space : 81.86 GB !! I've deleted every app I could find that Windows would let me delete, but it's still using so much memory.

    Can I move my VM to an external SSD drive and then just plug it in when I need to use Quicken so i can free up and use those 82GB?

    What exact steps do I need to do so Parallels looks for the VM in the SSD drive and not in my laptop drive?

    VERY IMPORTANT: I can't mess up this VM and I can't make a new VM because my program Quicken 2015 can NOT be reinstalled ever again. It will continue to work forever but it just can't be reinstalled.


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    carlosrodzbotet, Aug 30, 2025
    #1
  2. Keshav Dosieah

    Keshav Dosieah Staff Member

    Messages:
    18
    Hello,
    Thank you for your post.
    It is possible to move the virtual machine to an external drive and run it from there. But please note that we recommend using an SSD and a proper USB cable when connecting the SSD and running the virtual machine from it to prevent any slowness related issues.
    Please note that before moving the virtual machine to an external hard drive, we recommend making proper backups of the virtual machine pvm file.
    You can find more information about moving the VM to an external hard drive in this article: https://kb.parallels.com/en/122874
    Please let us know if you experience any issues, or contact us via the Get Support Section of your Parallels Account.
    Regards,
    Parallels Team
     
    Keshav Dosieah, Sep 10, 2025 at 8:29 PM
    #2

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