Sounds like the problem was something not getting set properly with the macOS Launch Services database that controls what application the Finder chooses to open a document when you double click on it or choose Open in the Finder when right clicking on a document. What you did seems to have fixed that.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 05, 2025 04:03 PM
From: Tony___
Subject: Bypass Virtual Machine Library?
Response: Initially right clicking on the "Windows 11 64-bit Arm.vmwarevm" file in my external drive ("other2") did nothing. I restarted and tried several things and then began making a screen recording, shown below. In that animated .gif you'll see I followed your instructions to reestablish the link to the VMWare Fusion application by right click>Other..> and navigating to VMWare Fusion. The first time I did this notice that the lower right button says "Open" -- then I did it again because I could not "change all" in the Get Info and this time the lower right button says "Add". I did record one instance of the VM not launching when I clicked the document section icon (notice how it bounces in the dock as the application opens and then quits right away). But then as I kept trying things it finally started working. Notice that it also gives notices as if the application is being installed for the first time and the external drive is being connected for the first time (neither true). So, I can't say I understand what's going on, but now that it's working I don't want to touch it.
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 05, 2025 02:01 PM
From: Paul Rockwell
Subject: Bypass Virtual Machine Library?
I just tried this on my M1 Mac mini running Sequoia 15.5 and Fusion 13.6.3. I added a virtual machine to the Dock by dragging it from the Finder to the "documents" portion of the Dock. Clicking on it opened Fusion (without the Virtual Machine Library showing) and the VM powered on.
So there's something different between your setup and mine.
Quick tests:
- If you have the Fusion GUI shut down, can you locate the VM's bundle in the Finder, right click on it, and select Open. Does Fusion start and the VM power on?
- if you select "Get Info" on the VM's bundle in the Finder, check the "Open with" setting. That's the default application that will be used to open the VM if you double-click on the VM or right-click > "Open" it. It should be set to VMware Fusion. Might not hurt to manually reset it from the Get Info dialog by clicking on the Open with drop-down, select "Other" and locate the currently installed VMware Fusion application in your Applications folder.
- Also in "Get Info" for the VM, can you check its permissions?
The overlay of the question mark in the Dock when the disk containing the VM is not mounted is normal behavior. The Dock remembers the file path (volume, folder, and file name) of items you placed in it . When a file can't be found (such as when you dismounted the disk that contains it) the Dock overlays the item with a question mark to tell you "hey, I can't find this file:". Mounting the external disk will allow the dock to find the file and remove the question mark overlay.
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- Paul (technogeezer)
vExpert 2025
Original Message:
Sent: Jul 04, 2025 12:02 PM
From: Tony___
Subject: Bypass Virtual Machine Library?
Starting a Windows VM using an icon in the "Documents" portion of the Dock only works for me if the VMWare application is already running.
Details: I'm running VMWare Professional Version 13.6.3 on an M3 MacAir with a Windows 11 virtual machine on an external SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD using Mac OS 15.5. I dragged the "Windows 11 64-bit Arm.vmwarevm" file into the lower documents portion of the Dock, but clicking that icon does nothing if the VMWare application is not running.
On the other hand, if the VMWare application is running clicking on that same icon works and my Windows VM starts up as desired. So, to get the behavior described in the original post, here's what I do: 1) Start VMWare app, 2) minimize the Virtual Machine Library, 3) click the icon in the documents section, 4) never close the VMWare app
One other note: if I try to click that icon without having my external drive connected, it gives a ? mark on the icon as shown in the attached dock.jpg. I then connect the drive and the icon works again.
Original Message:
Sent: Sep 28, 2007 01:29 AM
From: rcardona2k
Subject: Bypass Virtual Machine Library?
I'm also a "hit and run" user like limbreeze and would find it very useful to be able to resume a Windows VM snapshot with a single click on the Fusion icon in the dock, instead of having to select a Library entry first. It would be great to have this available as a Preferences option.
What you're asking for is exactly how it works for me when I put the VM I want in the Documents section of the Dock.