Moving VMware Mac Fusion to PC Workstation is easy

VMware's shift to a free-for-personal-and-commercial-use model under Broadcom's ownership has settled into the new normal by 2026, and the practical benefits are now well understood. VMware Workstation Pro and VMware Fusion Pro are both available at no cost for individual use, meaning developers, IT professionals, and businesses can move virtual machines between macOS, Windows, and Linux without worrying about licensing fees. If anything, the bigger friction point today is navigating Broadcom's portal to actually download the software — but once you're past that, cross-platform VM migration is genuinely straightforward.

TL;DR — Moving virtual machines between Intel-based Mac computers, Windows PCs, and Linux desktops using VMware's free tools is easier than ever in 2026. Apple Silicon Macs are a different story — read on.

For professionals transitioning away from Intel-based Macs, or anyone consolidating their lab onto a single Windows or Linux workstation, the migration path from VMware Fusion to VMware Workstation Pro is well-trodden. This guide walks through the steps for a smooth move. If you're setting up the destination machine first, you may also want to read Installing VMware Workstation Pro for Ubuntu 24.04, which covers the Linux side of the install process.

The Apple Silicon caveat

Before diving in, one important boundary condition: this guide applies to Intel-based Macs. If your source machine is an Apple Silicon Mac (M1, M2, M3, or M4), the situation is more complicated. VMware Fusion on Apple Silicon runs ARM-based virtual machines, and those VMs are not directly portable to an x86-64 Windows or Linux workstation running VMware Workstation Pro. The CPU architectures are incompatible at the VM level, so a direct copy-and-import will not work. Your options in that scenario are to migrate the workload rather than the VM itself — reinstalling the guest OS on the destination and transferring data separately — or to use an intermediary tool to convert the disk image. For Intel-to-Intel or Intel-to-AMD migrations, however, the process described below works reliably.

It's also worth noting that Broadcom has continued to refine both products since the acquisition. VMware Workstation Pro 17.x and Fusion Pro 13.x are the current release lines as of 2026, and both support the latest guest operating systems including Windows 11 24H2 and recent Linux kernels. Hardware compatibility profiles have been extended accordingly, which matters when you're moving an older VM and want to take advantage of newer virtual hardware features on the destination host.

Preparing for the migration

A little preparation on the source machine saves a lot of troubleshooting on the destination. VMware maintains broad compatibility between Fusion and Workstation, but macOS-specific configuration in Fusion can occasionally cause confusion when the VM lands on Windows or Linux.

1. Check the virtual machine's hardware compatibility level — VMware Fusion lets you set a hardware compatibility profile per VM. Open the VM's settings and confirm it's set to a version that Workstation Pro on the destination also supports. Aligning both to the same hardware version avoids upgrade prompts and potential driver churn after import.
2. Update VMware Tools inside the guest — Do this before you export or copy anything. Current VMware Tools ensures the guest's drivers and services are in good shape, which reduces the chance of network, display, or storage issues appearing after the move.
3. Shut down cleanly, don't suspend — A suspended VM carries a memory snapshot that can cause problems on a different host. Power off the guest fully before exporting or copying.
4. Back up the VM — Migration issues are rare but not unheard of. A copy of the original .vmwarevm bundle on a separate drive means you can always start over without losing work.

Exporting the virtual machine from VMware Fusion

There are two practical routes: exporting as an Open Virtualisation Format (OVF or OVA) file, or manually copying the raw VM files. Each has trade-offs.

Using OVF/OVA export

• Open VMware Fusion and select the VM you want to migrate.
• Go to File > Export to OVF.
• Choose a destination folder and wait for the export to complete. Larger disks take time — plan accordingly.
• Copy the resulting OVF file and its accompanying .vmdk files (or the single .ova archive if Fusion produces one) to an external drive or a network share accessible from the destination PC.

OVF export is the cleanest method for cross-platform moves. The trade-off is that snapshots are not preserved — you get the current state of the VM only. If your snapshot tree matters, use the manual copy method instead, or flatten snapshots before exporting.

Manually copying VM files

For cases where you need to retain snapshots or want a more direct transfer:

• Locate the VM's .vmwarevm bundle in macOS — by default this lives in ~/Documents/Virtual Machines/.
• Right-click the bundle and select Show Package Contents.
• Copy the .vmdk (virtual disk) and .vmx (configuration) files — and any snapshot delta disks if present — to your external drive. If in doubt, copy everything inside the bundle.

This approach retains more of the VM's state but may require a small amount of manual reconfiguration once it's open in Workstation Pro on the other side.

Importing the virtual machine into VMware Workstation Pro

Once the files are on the destination PC, importing is quick.

Importing an OVF or OVA file

• Open VMware Workstation Pro and go to File > Open.
• Select the .ovf or .ova file.
• Work through the import wizard. You'll be asked to name the VM and choose a storage location — the defaults are fine for most cases.
• Review the VM's hardware settings before powering it on. Pay particular attention to the network adapter type and the number of virtual CPUs, which occasionally get reset to conservative defaults during import.

Manually opening copied VM files

If you used the manual copy method:

• Open VMware Workstation Pro and click Open a Virtual Machine.
• Navigate to the copied .vmx file and select it.
• When prompted, choose I Moved It rather than I Copied It. This preserves the VM's unique identifiers and avoids unnecessary MAC address regeneration.
• Review network and resource settings before first boot.

Post-migration steps

The VM will usually boot without drama, but a few things are worth checking before you declare the migration complete.

1. Networking — Fusion and Workstation Pro use different virtual network stacks. If the guest had a static IP or specific network adapter configuration, you may need to reconfigure the virtual NIC type (VMXNET3 is the right choice for most modern guests) and update the guest's network settings to match the new host environment.
2. VMware Tools update — Even if you updated Tools before export, Workstation Pro may prompt you to install a newer version. Accept it. The Tools package is host-specific and the version bundled with Workstation Pro on Windows or Linux will be better matched to that environment.
3. Operating system and application reactivation — Windows in particular ties activation to hardware fingerprint. A VM that has moved to a new host may trigger a reactivation prompt. Have your licence keys to hand. Some enterprise software with node-locked licensing will need attention from a licence administrator.
4. Performance tuning — Revisit CPU and RAM allocation based on what the new host machine actually has available. If the destination machine has NVMe storage, enabling SSD pass-through hints in the VM settings can noticeably improve disk performance inside the guest.
5. Snapshot cleanup — If you carried snapshots across, this is a good moment to review and delete any that are no longer needed. Snapshot chains slow down disk I/O and consume space; a clean baseline snapshot taken post-migration is more useful than a chain inherited from the old machine.

Conclusion

With VMware Workstation Pro free for individual use and the tooling mature after several years under Broadcom's stewardship, moving virtual machines between macOS and Windows or Linux is about as painless as this kind of task gets. The main things to get right are the hardware compatibility level, a clean shutdown before export, and a few minutes of post-import housekeeping on networking and VMware Tools. Everything else largely takes care of itself.

For developers and IT professionals who routinely work across platforms, the ability to carry a fully configured VM from a Mac workstation to a Linux or Windows machine — and have it running within the hour — is a genuine productivity asset. The barrier in 2026 is no longer cost or complexity; it's just knowing the steps.