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How to Increase Storage on macOS VMware | 4 Easy Steps

Vaibhav Gupta
Increase Storage on macOS VMware

Is your macOS virtual machine constantly flashing low-storage warnings? Whether you are running macOS Tahoe, Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, or even an older version like Big Sur on VMware Workstation or Fusion, running out of disk space can cause sluggish performance and prevent you from installing essential applications. Fortunately, you don’t need to create a new VM from scratch. In this comprehensive guide, I will show you exactly how to increase storage on macOS VMware without losing a single file.

This method is incredibly straightforward and works consistently across various VMware builds. In this tutorial, I am using VMware version 26H1 with macOS Ventura, but the steps remain identical for lower versions as well. By the end of this post, you will be able to seamlessly expand your hard disk from 80 GB to 120 GB (or any size you prefer). So, if you are ready to increase storage on macOS VMware, let’s dive straight into the process.

Prerequisites (Before You Begin)

Before we start the technical steps, there is one golden rule you must follow: Always shut down your virtual machine completely.

You cannot modify or expand the virtual hard disk while the VM is running. To safely power off your VM, go to the VM menu and select Power Off. Once your macOS VM is fully shut down, we can proceed with the expansion.

Step 1: Expand the Virtual Disk in VMware Settings

Now that your VM is powered off, let’s initiate the disk expansion from the host side.

  1. Navigate to your VM Summary page within VMware.
  2. Locate the Hard Disk entry. You will see the currently allocated space—in our case, 80 GB.
  3. Click the Hard Disk to open the Virtual Machine Settings menu.
  4. Under the Disk Utilities section, you will find the option to Expand your disk storage. Click on the Expand button.
  1. A new window will pop up asking for the New Maximum Disk Size. Enter your desired limit. For this demonstration, I am setting it to 120 GB.
  2. Click the Expand button again to confirm.
Note: The expansion process will take a few moments. Once completed, VMware will show a confirmation message stating that your hard disk space has been successfully expanded.

At this point, the backend storage has increased. However, to actually increase storage on macOS VMware effectively, you still need to allocate this new free space within the guest operating system itself.

Step 2: Boot the VM and Check Current Storage

Start your macOS virtual machine as you normally would. Once the desktop loads, let us first verify the current available space:

At this moment, you will notice that the system still reports the old limit (e.g., 80 GB). The 40 GB of “free space” we added via VMware is sitting unallocated. To fix this, we need to repartition the drive using macOS’s native tool.

Step 3: Repartition and Merge Free Space Using Disk Utility

To finally increase storage on macOS VMware and make that free space usable, we must merge it with our main partition. Here is how:

  1. Open Launchpad and search for Disk Utility. Launch the application.
  2. In the Disk Utility window, click on the View dropdown menu at the top and select Show All Devices.
  1. From the left sidebar, select your main VMware hard disk (the parent disk, not just the volume below it).
  2. Click on the Partition button located at the top of the window.

You will now see a visual pie chart representing your storage. Here, you should observe two distinct blocks:

To merge these:

  1. Click directly on the Free Space block to highlight it.
  2. Click on the minus ( – ) sign located just below the pie chart.
  1. As soon as you click the minus sign, the free space will instantly merge into your primary partition.
  2. Finally, click the Apply button to save these changes.

Disk Utility will process the request, and within a few seconds, the free space will be removed from the pie chart and added to your main container.

Step 4: Verify the Expanded Storage

Once the partitioning is complete, you can now confirm that you have successfully managed to increase storage on macOS VMware.

Revisit System Settings > General > Storage. You will now see the updated total capacity. For instance, our 80 GB drive has now grown to a healthy 120 GB, giving us an additional 40 GB for installing applications, storing files, or running intensive workloads.

Complete Video Tutorial:

Conclusion

And that is all there is to it! By following these four straightforward steps, you can quickly and safely increase storage on macOS VMware, regardless of whether you are using VMware 26H1, an older build, or running macOS Ventura, Sonoma, Monterey, or even Catalina.

The process is completely non-destructive, meaning you won’t lose any existing data. The trick is always to remember two things: power off the VM before expanding in VMware, and use the “Show All Devices” view in Disk Utility to properly merge the unallocated space with your primary volume.

If you followed this guide, your macOS virtual machine should now have all the breathing room it needs to run smoothly. Did you face any issues while trying to expand your hard disk? Do you have questions about specific VMware configurations? Feel free to drop a comment below—I’d be happy to help! If you found this tutorial useful, consider sharing it with fellow developers or IT enthusiasts who might be struggling with a full macOS VM.

✍️ FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: Does this method work for VMware Fusion on Mac?
Yes, the underlying principle is the same for VMware Fusion and VMware Workstation.

Q: Can I reduce the disk size instead of increasing it?
VMware does not readily support shrinking virtual disks once they are expanded. Always set a comfortable upper limit during creation.

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