ROOKIE QUESTION. Does Time Machine BU on host account include my VM data?

Hello,

Please note that the Parallels virtual machine is stored as a .pvm file on your Mac and if this .pvm file is included in your Time Machine backup, this means the virtual machine is backed up to time machine.

a) So what you can check:

1. Right-click on the Parallels Desktop icon in the Mac dock > Control Center.
2. Right-click on the virtual machine's name > Show in Finder.
3. This will show you the virtual machine .pvm and the folder it is kept in, then you can check existing Time Machine backups if it is present in there.

b) Additionally, you can check:

1. Right-click on the Parallels Desktop icon in the Mac dock > Control Center.
2. Click on the Settings/Gear icon under your virtual machine name > Go to the Backup Section.
3. At the bottom of this window, check if it says "Virtual machine name" is backed up with Time machine or "Virtual machine name" is not backed up with Time machine.

If you cannot locate the .pvm in time machine backups and/or it says ""Virtual machine name" is not backed up with Time machine", we then recommend you to reach out to Apple Support so that they can guide you on how to include the Parallels Folder with the virtual machine pvm file to Time Machine.

Regards,
Parallels Team