(This script has been updated on 2024-12-27 to discover additional temporary files created by Fusion that are not mentioned in the referenced Broadcom tech note).
The documented method of removing Fusion from a Mac only removes the Fusion application. There are other files that will remain on the system that sometimes can cause issues when upgrading or re-installing Fusion.
There is a VMware KB article that discusses how to manually remove these Fusion files from your Mac: https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/307074/how-to-uninstall-vmware-fusion-manually.html
But what if you want to run a quick check to see if any of these files are still there?
The script is_fusion_installed.sh (zipped and attached to this article) is based on the above KB article and provides a quick way to tell if any of the Fusion files are still remaining on your Mac.
The script:
- does not require admin privileges
- does not locate any virtual machines you have installed
- does not touch any of your virtual machines
- does not delete any files (sorry, you'll need to do that yourself)
Instructions:
- Download the attached zip file
- Extract the file (either using the command line unzip utility or the macOS Archive Utility). The script (is_fusion_installed.sh) should be extracted.
- In a Finder window, find the script.
- Open a Terminal window, and drag the script from the Finder window into the Terminal window,
- Type return in the Terminal window and the script will execute.
Example run (when Fusion is still installed):
This is is_fusion_installed.sh version 1.1
This script checks to see if files belonging to VMware Fusion are installed
using information from Broadcom KB article
https://knowledge.broadcom.com/external/article/307074/how-to-uninstall-vmware-fusion-manually.html
Your hard drive (including any virtual machines) will not be modified.
Checking for VMware Fusion application
[NOTE] Fusion application /Applications/VMware Fusion.app still exists
Checking for files in /Library (system-wide Library folder)...
[NOTE] Folder /Library/Application Support/VMware/VMware Fusion still exists
[NOTE] File /Library/Application Support/VMware/Usbarb.rules still exists
[NOTE] Folder /Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion still exists
Checking for files in ~/Library (user Library folder)...
[NOTE] Folder ~/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion (full path /Users/me/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion) still exists
[NOTE] Folder ~/Library/Caches/com.vmware.fusion (full path /Users/me/Library/Caches/com.vmware.fusion) still exists
[NOTE] Folder ~/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion (full path /Users/me/Library/Preferences/VMware Fusion) still exists
[NOTE] File ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist (full path /Users/me/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusion.plist) still exists
[NOTE] File ~/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist (full path /Users/me/Library/Preferences/com.vmware.fusionStartMenu.plist) still exists
Checking for miscellaneous temp files...
[NOTE] Folder /var/folders/v2/rd_f62qn7v7bf0xrztkkn1dh0000gn/T//vmware-me still exists
[NOTE] Folder /var/run/vmware still exists
[NOTE] Folder /private/tmp/vmware-me still exists
[NOTE] Your Mac appears to have Fusion application related files from a prior Fusion installation.
Please delete them manually to clean your Mac of all traces of Fusion.