Fusion 13 - Where is the setting for Shared Folders?

[carlfino]

Running Window 11 64-bit Arm on MBP M1.  All runs fine but no shared folder with the Mac.  The Virtual Machines settings panel does not have a Sharing setting.

How can I establish a shared folder from my Mac to Windows under Fusion 13?

Thanks! 

[Technogeezer]

Fusion folder sharing is not yet supported for Windows 11 ARM virtual machines. We hope that VMware will fix this sooner rather than later by releasing a full VMware Tools implementation for Windows 11 ARM. 

Workarounds are to configure Windows file sharing on the macOS host and access it like you  would any other SMB file share,  use a cloud file sync app in both host and guest such as OneDrive or DropBox, or use an SCP clinent such as WinSCP to transfer files back and forth between host and guest. 

[CK KC]

Problem still seems to exist in VMware Fusion Pro 13.6.0.

Does anybody have a ticket number or link for monitoring progress on this issue?

[Technogeezer]

You might want to search the forum instead of responding to a post that's over a year and a half old.

This isn't a "bug" so you won't find a problem ticket on it. It's a missing feature (compared to what's available for Windows 11 x86_64 under Fusion on Intel Macs).

VMware does not typically publcly comment on when features will appear in their products (execpt perhaps under NDA and tlike most companies, don't do that for other than corporate customers).
They have hinted that they are working on it, but it wasn't complete for Fusion 13.6.

Most long-time VMware users (both Fusion and Workstation) will tell you that Shared Folders are flaky and don't perform well. VMware has hinted that they're aware that the existing VMware Tools for Windows shared folders driver code has issues. I'm assuming that the reason that we haven't seen the feature for Windows 11 ARM yet is that they're finally taking the time to rewrite the code and "do it right".

The advice you'll find in the forum and the Unofficial Fusion for Apple SIlicon Companion guide (also found on the Fusion forums) contain the current recommendations for working around the lack of Fusion shared folders on Windows 11 ARM

* Configure macOS to share a folder, and enable Windows file sharing in macOS. Access the shared folder as a standard SMB share from Windows.
* Use drag/drop between host and guest
* Use a cloud file sync service such as MS One Drive, Google Drive, or DropBox
* Use a file transfer utility such as WinSCP.

[CK KC]

Thank you very much for your comprehensive answer, @Technogeezer!

Looks like I need to be patient for a bit longer. - For my use-case the work-arounds either add (avoidable) attack surface or have reduced usability - all of course compared to when I was using Fusion on my Intel-Mac.

Keeping fingers crossed for the feature to make it for 13.7

[Technogeezer]

Keeping fingers crossed for the feature to make it for 13.7

I hope as well that shared folders makes it in sooner rather than later -- it's already way, way late. However if shared folders behave like they do for Linux VMs on Apple Silicon, I'm expecting the performance gain to be very, very noticeable (better, not worse). 

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- Paul (technogeezer)
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[samirahmt]

For folder sharing for now you can use windows network folder sharing by setting you networking to Bridged network and finding the guest IP 

[Technogeezer]

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 wrote:

For folder sharing for now you can use windows network folder sharing by setting you networking to Bridged network and finding the guest IP 

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Actually both Bridged and NAT networking works using macOS file sharing.

The only difference is the IP address that you use - browsing for the Mac won't work.

if you have a bridged network, use the Mac's IP address.

If using NAT networking, the Mac has an IP address on the NAT network's segment, Just use the .1 IP address of the same subnet that the Windows VM is on.  

[ColoradoMarmot]

Strongly recommend reading both the official release notes and the unofficial guide posted in the documents section.  There's a lot of nuances to running win 11 ARM (and the unofficial guidance on how to build it is much better than the official VHDX conversion ones).

[RuthGracia]

Hi, I think you already got the solution. Nevertheless, I want to share some simple steps to establish a shared folder on Mac that can help other people who are searching for it.

If anyone wants to create a shared folder on their Mac and give others access to it, they need to turn on file sharing first. Here is how to turn on file sharing on Mac:

• In the Apple menu, click System Settings
• Then, in the left sidebar, click General
• Next, click Sharing
• Here, you can turn on File Sharing. Type in your password if prompted
• Then click the “i” icon next to the File Sharing toggle, and you’ll see that a folder named [your user name]’s Public Folder has been created. To share another folder, click the “+” below the folder window, browse to the folder, and click Add.

 

 

After enabling file sharing on their computer, they can allow other users to access files by creating a shared folder (see step 5 in the above section). They can also create and share a new folder by following these steps:

• Open Finder, right-click and select “New Folder” to create the folder. It’s generally recommended to avoid using spaces or punctuation symbols in the folder’s name to ensure compatibility with different operating systems and file transfer protocols
• Right-click on the folder and select “Get Info”
• Under General, check the Shared folder checkbox
• Next, click the “Sharing & Permissions” section
• Then, click the “+” icon and add the users you want to share the folder with, then set their access permissions
• Click the lock icon to make changes.

 

Remember that they can add or remove files from the shared folder at any time. This is the content source: https://setapp.com/how-to/create-shared-folder-on-mac where you get complete guidelines.

I hope this helps! Best wishes to all

[GarySchiltz]

, I'm not much of a Windows user, so could you or someone else give me a clue as to how to access the shared folders that you just created with a Windows 11 ARM VM? That is, once I'm in the Windows 11 VM, how do I access/mount this folder?

[RDPetruska]

In Windows, in Explorer, type in the address bar \\ip address or name of computer\share name to access a shared resource.

[ColoradoMarmot]

Another option (and the one I'm using) is to upgrade to the tech preview, and then use drag/drop to move files back and forth.