Host: M4 Mac host running macOS 26.4 Tahoe (new install). Parallels Desktop: v26.3.0 Guest: macOS Tahoe 26.4 (created via Parallels macOS download) I have a newly installed Mac M4 Host, new install of Parallels 26.3, and created a new Guest VM of macOS 26.4 via the Parallels menu. The resulting VM was about 30 GB. A few days later, I did a software update to macOS 26.4.1 in the Guest VM, and the VM disk now takes up 137 GB on the Host's disk. Parallels Control Center shows the VM as only using 30 GB. and the macOS VM itself shows it is only using 20-30 GB. I have no snap shots, and, I have the option set to automatically reclaim space when quiting. I would like to reclaim the unused space on my Host Mac, but I can't find a way to do so.
Hello @Gimbal Please collect a technical report: To generate the report, right-click on the Parallels icon in the Dock > Help > Send technical data > check "Attach screenshots..." > press Send Report, and provide us with the report's 9-digit ID in reply. We will be waiting for your reply. Regards,
Hi! I have a similar issue with my Intel Mac running a macOS Sequoia virtual machine. After installing updates and applications, the disk expands, but after deleting files or completing updates and shutting down the VM, the space is not reclaimed. I discovered that something remains after disk expansion that prevents Parallels from recognising that it can recover space on the host. Inside the virtual machine (in my case, Sequoia), I installed Titanium Onyx, a freeware utility that performs maintenance tasks on macOS. I ran the default maintenance tasks in Onyx. After it completed and restarted the virtual machine, Parallels was able to detect the free space and reclaim it. My VM has the "Reclaim disk space on shutdown" option enabled in the General configuration settings. I'm not affiliated with Onyx--it just worked for me.
Hi, please advise whether there's a workaround or a planned fix for this. I did try Onyx - with no luck though, it seems the issue in my case is in how Parallels works with .macvm images rather than internal guest OS disk usage. Environment: Parallels 26.3.2 on macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 host running the same macOS Tahoe 26.4.1 guest OS VM. Issue: - Finder on host macOS reports 137GB for a .macvm, but the inside .hdd disk image is 31GB. - guest macOS reports 137GB disk (101GB approx available, no snapshots of any kind), I can easily shrink it to 64GB with diskutil of the guest macOS but it doesn't shrink the .macvm size (just creates an unused container in guest environment) - Parallels Desktop interface doesn't allow to resize below 128GB for macOS specifically, it seems. - Linux and Win 11 reclaim fine on shutdown. Expected behaviour: - ability to resize macOS maximum virtual disk size below 128GB - ability to reclaim unused space keeping macOS growable to maximum virtual disk size
