{"id":87276,"date":"2020-12-08T03:16:06","date_gmt":"2020-12-08T03:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/?p=87276"},"modified":"2020-12-08T08:41:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-08T08:41:23","slug":"how-to-shrink-virtual-machine-disk-vmdk-size-in-vmware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/how-to-shrink-virtual-machine-disk-vmdk-size-in-vmware\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Shrink Virtual Machine Disk (.vmdk) Size in VMware"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you use VMware Workstation or VirtualBox to create a virtual machine, you may find that there is a .vmdk file in hard drive occupying plenty of space, even as high as tens of gigabytes. A virtual machine disk (.vmdk) file is used to store all the data of a virtual machine\u2019s hard drive. As the data is added to a virtual disk over time, the size of .vmdk file will grow larger and larger. So, it is necessary for us to reduce the size of virtual machine disk. In this post, we will introduce <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/?p=87276&amp;preview=true\">three effective methods to shrink virtual machine disk size in VMware Workstation<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"#method1\">Method 1: Shrink virtual machine disk size by Compacting disk<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#method2\">Method 2: Shrink virtual machine disk size with Disk Cleanup<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#method3\">Method 3: Shrink virtual machine disk size by third-party tool<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"680\" height=\"437\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87289 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/how-to-shrink-virtual-machine-disk-vmdk-size-in-vmware.jpg\" alt=\"how to shrink virtual machine disk vmdk size in vmware\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/how-to-shrink-virtual-machine-disk-vmdk-size-in-vmware.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/how-to-shrink-virtual-machine-disk-vmdk-size-in-vmware-300x193.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"method1\">Method 1: Shrink virtual machine disk size by Compacting disk<\/h2>\n<p>VMware Workstation provides us with a feature that allows us to compress disks to reclaim the unused space. So, you can use it to shrink the size of virtual machine disk and here is what to do.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>: Open VMware Workstation application and open a virtual machine (Shortcut: <strong>Ctrl + O<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Click <strong>VM<\/strong> tab and select <strong>Settings<\/strong> option to open <strong>Virtual Machine Settings<\/strong> window (Shortcut: <strong>Ctrl + D<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"421\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87283 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/open-settings-window.png\" alt=\"open settings window\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/open-settings-window.png 704w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/open-settings-window-300x179.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: On <strong>Hardware<\/strong> tab, click <strong>Hard Disk<\/strong> option in the left pane and the click <strong>Compact<\/strong> button in the right pane.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"475\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87281 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-disk.png\" alt=\"compact disk\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-disk.png 704w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-disk-300x202.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Then wait for a while until a popup window prompts that the disk was successfully compacted. Click <strong>OK<\/strong> button to close the window. Finally, you can find out that the size of .vmdk file has been reduced dramatically.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"318\" height=\"125\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87286 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-completed.png\" alt=\"compact completed\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-completed.png 318w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/compact-completed-300x118.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 318px) 100vw, 318px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"method2\">Method 2: Shrink virtual machine disk size with Disk Cleanup<\/h2>\n<p>In addition, VMware Workstation also offers us Disk Cleanup feature that can reclaim disk space that is allocated to virtual disk files but that the guest OS no longer uses. It is also very helpful to shrink the size of virtual machine disk in VMware Workstation. The following steps will guide you through this operation.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>: Open VMware Workstation application and open a virtual machine (Shortcut: <strong>Ctrl + O<\/strong>).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Click <strong>VM<\/strong> tab and move the mouse cursor over <strong>Manage<\/strong> option and then select <strong>Clean Up Disks<\/strong> option.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"704\" height=\"488\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87278 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-disk.png\" alt=\"clean up disk\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-disk.png 704w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-disk-300x208.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 704px) 100vw, 704px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: On the popup window, click <strong>Clean up<\/strong> now button to start cleaning up.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"393\" height=\"197\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87279 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-files.png\" alt=\"clean up files\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-files.png 393w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-files-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-files-256x128.png 256w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Wait for a while until a popup window prompts that Disk cleanup is finished. Then click<strong> OK<\/strong> button to close the window. After this operation, the size of .vmdk file in VMware Workstation can be reduced to some extent.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"393\" height=\"197\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87280 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-finished.png\" alt=\"clean up finished\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-finished.png 393w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-finished-300x150.png 300w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/clean-up-finished-256x128.png 256w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 393px) 100vw, 393px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2 id=\"method3\">Method 3: Shrink virtual machine disk size by third-party tool<\/h2>\n<p>In the end, you can also shrink virtual machine disk size by third-party tool. Actually, the more files in virtual machine, the more space the virtual machine disk occupies. So, cleaning up the junk files in the virtual machine can effectively reduce the space occupied by the virtual hard disk. For more convenience, you can install a cleanup tool in the virtual machine and use it to remove the useless files from virtual machine. Here I recommend a cleanup tool named <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/system-genius\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>iSunshare System Genius<\/strong><\/a> that designed to clean up the junk files and the registry to free up disk space with one click. Here are detailed steps to use it to free up virtual machine disk.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>: Open the virtual machine in VMware Workstation and download and install this tool on your virtual machine. Then launch it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: Click <strong>Scan<\/strong> button to scan and the virtual machine thoroughly.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"432\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-87284 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/scan-junk-files.png\" alt=\"scan junk files in virtual machine\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/scan-junk-files.png 700w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/scan-junk-files-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>: Wait for a while until scanning is completed and the scan results will be shown on the screen, listing all kinds of useless files on your computer. Then click Clean button to clean up all the selected files in one go.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"432\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87285 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-cleaning.png\" alt=\"start cleaning\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-cleaning.png 700w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/start-cleaning-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Once completed, click OK button to exit. Ultimately, the virtual machine has freed up a lot of space and the size of virtual disk has been shrunken successfully.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"432\" class=\"size-full wp-image-87282 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/completed.png\" alt=\"completed\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/completed.png 700w, https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/completed-300x185.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Tips<\/strong>: In addition, iSunshare System Genius is a multi-functional Windows optimization utility that can help you\u00a0 free up system disk space with one click, disable the auto-run programs and manage Windows system services, etc.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/downloads-v2016\/isunshare-system-genius.exe\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2856 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/0freetrial.png\" alt=\"free download\" width=\"180\" height=\"50\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Related Articles:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/how-to-expand-a-virtual-disk-in-vmware-or-virtualbox\/\">How to Expand a Virtual Disk in VMware or VirtualBox<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/how-to-set-vmware-boot-from-iso-image-file\/\">How to Set VMware to Boot from ISO Image File<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/boot-virtual-machine-from-usb-cd-on-vmware\/\">Boot a Virtual Machine from USB\/CD\/DVD on VMware Workstation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/windows-8\/how-to-install-windows-8-on-vmware-workstation.html\">How to Install Windows 8 on VMware Workstation<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you use VMware Workstation or VirtualBox to create a virtual machine, you may find that there is&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":87289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214,50],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computer","category-vmware"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87276"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87291,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87276\/revisions\/87291"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.isunshare.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}