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Manually uninstalling VMware Fusion (1017838)

Purpose

This article provides information on how to manually uninstall VMware Fusion.

Resolution



Manually uninstalling VMware Fusion 4.x and 5.x

In VMware Fusion 4.x and 5.x, there is no uninstaller. Most VMware Fusion files are contained within the application bundle (that is, the VMware Fusion application in /Applications). To uninstall VMware Fusion 4.x or 5.x, drag the application bundle from the Applications folder to the Trash.

Also, ensure that you delete these additional files and folders, if they are present:

Note: Depending on the environment, some of these files may not be present. Some files may exist only if VMware Fusion 3 was originally installed on a machine that was later upgraded to VMware Fusion 4 or 5.
  • /Library/Application Support/VMware
  • /Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion
  • /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion
  • ~/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion
  • ~/Library/Caches/com.vmware.fusion
  • ~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.LSSharedFileList.plist
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.LSSharedFileList.plist.lockfile
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist.lockfile
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionDaemon.plist
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionDaemon.plist.lockfile
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist
  • ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist.lockfile
Note: In Lion and Mountain Lion, the Library folder inside your user directory is hidden by default. To access your Library folder:
  1. Click the Finder icon.
  2. While holding the Option key, click the Go menu. This reveals your Library folder.

Manually uninstalling VMware Fusion 3.x and earlier

  1. Run the uninstall script named Uninstall VMware Fusion, which is located in [Macintosh HD]/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/.

    Note: In Lion and Mountain Lion, the Library folder inside your user directory is hidden by default. To access your Library folder:
    1. Click the Finder icon.
    2. While holding the Option key, click the Go menu. This reveals your Library folder.

  2. Click Uninstall.
  3. Enter your password.
  4. Click OK when the uninstaller finishes.
  5. Delete these folders or files:

    • [Macintosh HD]/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion
    • [Macintosh HD]/Users/<your username>/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist
    • [Macintosh HD]/Users/<your username>/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionDaemon.plist
    • [Macintosh HD]/Users/<your username>/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion
    • [Macintosh HD]/Users/<your username>/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion

  6. Restart your Mac. This ensures all VMware Fusion kernel extensions are unloaded from memory.

Notes:
  • Hard Disk Space: The virtual machines consume disk space on your Mac. Uninstalling Fusion does not affect/delete any of the existing virtual machines. If you want to remove your virtual machines, you must locate them using Finder and either drag them to the trash, or right-click each file and click Move to trash. The default save location for your virtual machines is in your Documents/Virtual Machines folder. For more information on locating your virtual machines, see Locating the virtual machine bundle in VMware Fusion (1007599).
  • Memory: The memory used by Fusion or virtual machines might not be freed up immediately. For more information, see Understanding memory allocation for VMware Fusion (1038864).

Additional Information

With VMware Fusion 3.x, if any of the steps in the Resolution section do not work, it is possible to execute them from the Terminal. For instructions on opening the Terminal, see Opening a command or shell prompt (1003892).

To use the Terminal to manually uninstall VMware Fusion 3.x:

  1. In the Terminal, run this command:

    sudo /Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Fusion/Uninstall\ VMware\ Fusion.app/Contents/MacOS/uninstaller

    Enter the administrator password when prompted, then press Enter.

    Note: For security reasons, the typed password is not displayed. You do not need to enter your password again for the next five minutes.

    This command runs Fusion's uninstall script, with full superuser rights. When the script launches:

    1. Click Uninstall.
    2. Enter your password.
    3. Click OK when the uninstaller finishes.

  2. Run these commands to remove the folders or files:

    • sudo rm -fdr /Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Fusion/
    • sudo rm -f /Library/Receipts/VMware\ Fusion.pkg
    • sudo rm -f ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist
    • sudo rm -fdr ~/Library/Preferences/VMware\ Fusion/
    • sudo rm -fdr ~/Library/Application\ Support/VMware\ Fusion/

  3. Restart your Mac when finished.

After manually uninstalling VMware Fusion, there might be some traces of VMware Fusion left on the Mac. For example, after right clicking an application and selecting open with, you might be able to see Fusion applications in the list.

To remove the traces, refer to the steps below:
  1. Open a terminal window
  2. Run the command below:
    • /System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/\ LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local\ -domain system -domain user
  3. Restart Mac.

Tags

uninstall-application

See Also

Update History

03/30/2010 - Added Terminal method to Additional Information section; added sub-list (both methods) for the actual uninstaller actions; added user's own "Application Support" folder to list of to-be-deleted files/folders. 05/13/2010 - Clarified file and folder paths, to disambiguate the main Library from the user's Library. Also, added Note re: existing virtual machines. 09/13/2011 - Added Fusion 4.x information. 10/11/2011 - Added additional folders for Fusion 4. 08/23/2012 - Added Fusion 5.x information.

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