How to increase disk space in VMware virtual machine

If you need more hard drive space in the virtual machine, here is a simple way to expand or increase the disk space in the VMware virtual machine on Windows.

Changeable capacity for VMware!

For most users, VMware is one of the best options when it comes to virtual machines, mainly due to the neat user interface and pretty good performance compared to VirtualBox.

When you are creating a virtual machine in VMware, it automatically allocates some space for installation. In fact, you can change how much space you want to allocate right in the VM creation wizard.

For example, for Windows operating systems, VMware recommends using about 60GB. For most people, installing a VM with 60GB is recommended with no problems. But if you are a daily VM user as part of your workflow, then 60GB is not enough.

If this is the case, you can change the space allocated before installing the VM. However, if the VM is already installed, the process of expanding the disk space will be slightly different. You cannot access the Windows Disk Management tool and simply extend the hard drive.

Thankfully, though not immediately obvious, it's easier than you think.

How to increase disk space in VMware virtual machine

Follow the steps below to expand the drive space in the VMware virtual machine.

Note : The steps below are performed in VMware Workstation but the steps are quite similar to VMware Player.

1. First, open the VMware application by searching for it in the Start menu.

2. After opening VMware, on the left panel, select the virtual machine and then click the Edit virtual machine settings option on the right.

3. In the VM setup window, select Hard Disk on the left panel. On the right, click the Expand button next to Expand disk capacity .

How to increase disk space in VMware virtual machine Picture 1 Click the Expand button next to Expand disk capacity

4. In this window, enter the total amount of new disk space you select. Click the Expand button .

How to increase disk space in VMware virtual machine Picture 2 Click the Expand button

5. The above action will expand the drive according to your settings. Once done, you will see a confirmation message. Click OK to close it.

6. You can see the new VM drive capacity in the main settings window.

How to increase disk space in VMware virtual machine Picture 3 You can see the new VM drive capacity in the main settings window

It's done! You have successfully increased the capacity of the VMware virtual machine drive.