Knowledge Base

Click the link to jump to the section pertaining to the device you want to use:

• Printers
• CDs / DVDs
• USB devices
• Bluetooth devices
• Network devices

Printers

There are four ways to connect a printer to a virtual machine:

1. Printer pass-through using the Printer(s) pane of the virtual machine's settings.
   
   
2. The USB pane of the virtual machine's settings. Install the printer as you would on a physical machine. If you connect a USB printer, you must connect a CD/DVD drive to install the software and drivers for your specific printer or download the required software. For more information, see the CD/DVD section of this article.
   
   
3. Share the printer from your Mac using Apple's Bonjour protocol.
   
   
4. For networked printers, set your network to bridged and install the printer as you would on a physical computer. You must connect the CD/DVD drive to install the software and drivers or download the required software. For more information, see the CD/DVD section.

For more information about these options, see Printing from within a virtual machine in VMware Fusion (1013997)

CD/DVD

To use CDs and DVDs in a virtual machine (for instance, to install software), you must connect the CD/DVD drive of the Mac to the virtual machine. This can be done with the virtual machine powered on or powered off. To do so:

In Fusion 4.x:

1. With the virtual machine selected in the Virtual Machine Library, or in use, go to Virtual Machine > Settings in the Fusion menu bar.
2. Click CD/DVD.
3. Ensure the switch beside Enable CD/DVD Drive is ON.
4. Choose SuperDrive from the drop-down, or specify the physical CD/DVD drive you are using.
   
   Note: If your Mac has multiple CD/DVD drives, you can click Add Device to add additional drives. If you connect multiple CD/DVD drives, make sure that each connected drive specifies a physical CD/DVD drive to use.
   
   
5. Power on the virtual machine and insert the CD or DVD. It is now accessible from the virtual machine.

In Fusion 3.x and earlier:

1. With the virtual machine selected in the Virtual Machine Library, or in use, go to Virtual Machine > Settings in the Fusion menu bar.
2. Click CDs & DVDs .
   
3. Select Connected.
   
4. Select Automatically Detect, or specify the physical CD/DVD drive you are using.
   
   Note: If your Mac has multiple CD/DVD drives, you can click the plus button (+) at the bottom-left corner to add additional drives. If you connect multiple CD/DVD drives, make sure that each connected drive specifies a physical CD/DVD drive to use.
   
   
5. Power on the virtual machine and insert the CD or DVD. It is now accessible from the virtual machine.

Note: The CD/DVD drive can be connected to only one operating system at a time, and only one virtual machine can use the drive at a time. If it is in use by the virtual machine, then disks are not detected by the Mac until you disconnect the CD/DVD drive in the settings or power off the virtual machine.

If your CD/DVD drive is connected to the virtual machine, the Eject key on the Mac may not work. In this case, you can send an eject signal from within the virtual machine or manually push the drive to close.

If your CD/DVD drive still does not appear, in a Windows virtual machine, see Troubleshooting a missing CD/DVD-ROM drive in a Windows virtual machine (1014268).

USB devices

To connect USB devices (including flash drives, but not including USB hubs) to a virtual machine:

Note: You can only connect USB devices to a virtual machine if both the device and the machine are powered on.

1. With the virtual machine either selected in the virtual machine library or in use, click Virtual Machine > Settings from the Apple menu bar.
   
   
2. Click USB & Bluetooth (Fusion 4.x) or USB Devices (Fusion 3.x and earlier), then select Enable USB 2.0 support.
   For Fusion 5.x, Click USB & Bluetooth, then select USB 2.0 or USB 1.1 or USB 3.0 (based on the hardware you have) under Advanced USB Options.
   Note: This option does not exist in Fusion 1.0.x. It was added in Fusion 2.0.
   
   
3. Look in the Connect USB devices section for your USB device.
   
   Note: Devices are often listed by the manufacturer name, which may be unfamiliar to you.
   
   If the device is listed, you can use it as you would on a physical machine. Depending on the device, you may have to install the software or drivers that came with it to use it properly. This is the case for devices such as printers. However, most USB hard drives work without installing any software or drivers.

If the USB device connects, but does not appear in Windows, install the Windows drivers. For more information, see A connected USB storage device is not displayed in a Windows virtual machine (1004584).

• Choose Where to Connect a USB Device When You Plug It In
• Set the Default Plug-In Action for a USB Device

To disconnect a device, pick one of these options:

• Eject the device in (My) Computer
• Click once on the connected hardware system tray icon.
• Power off the virtual machine.
  
  Note: When you power off the virtual machine, the USB device is automatically disconnected. However, the device reconnects if you power back on the virtual machine.

If you are working with an audio device, see Connecting USB audio devices in a virtual machine (1004973).

If you encounter further issues, see Troubleshooting USB device connection and functionality in a Fusion virtual machine (1027964).

Bluetooth devices

In Fusion 4.x:

Some Bluetooth devices can be shared with the guest in Fusion 4.x. For more information on Bluetooth sharing, see Sharing Bluetooth devices with a virtual machine (2005315).

In Fusion 3.x and earlier:

To use Bluetooth devices in a virtual machine in Fusion 3.x and earlier, you must connect the Mac's Bluetooth receiver to the virtual machine.

Warning: Wireless mice and keyboards use Bluetooth. If you are using a wireless mouse and keyboard, connecting the Bluetooth receiver to the virtual machine disconnects the wireless mouse and keyboard from the Mac.

To connect the Mac's Bluetooth receiver to the virtual machine:

1. When the virtual machine is powered on, go to Virtual Machine > USB > Connect Apple Bluetooth USB Host Controller.
2. Install the Apple Boot Camp drivers. For more information, see Installing Apple hardware drivers (Boot Camp drivers) in a Windows virtual machine (1012885).
   

Network devices

1. Start Fusion and in the menu bar click on Virtual Machine > Settings.
2. Select Network Adaptor.
3. Select Connect directly to the physical network (Bridged). For Fusion 5.x, select Autodetect under Bridged Networking.
4. Click on Close.
5. Star the virtual machine. 

For more information on networking types in Fusion, see Understanding networking types in VMware Fusion (1022264)