Creating a Windows 11 Virtual Machine with VMware Fusion on Intel-Based Mac

• Introduction
• Prerequisites
• Creating the Virtual Machine
  • Step 1. Create a custom Windows 10 Virtual Machine
  • Step 2. Increase CPU Cores and Memory
  • Step 3. Increase the Virtual Disk Capacity
  • Step 4. Mount the ISO Image
  • Step 5. Encrypt the Virtual Machine
  • Step 6. Add a Virtual TPM Module to the Virtual Machine
  • Step 7. Power on the Virtual MAchine and Install Windows 11
  • Step 8. Install VMware Tools
• Conclusion

Introduction

I recently had a need to install Windows on a virtual machine to test out some software and rather than use Windows 10, I thought I would see what Windows 11 was like as well. Should be pretty simple I thought. Well, not as simple as I would have expected.

As it turns out, as of version 12.2.4 of VMware Fusion, there isn't an option to create a Windows 11 virtual machine.

However though, you can use the Windows 10 virtual machine option and then make a few changes to the virtual machine settings to allow it to run Windows 11.

The following steps will go through the process to create a Windows 11 virtual machine.

Prerequisites

Prior to starting, please ensure that you have sufficient resources available on your Mac to provide the virtual machine with:

• 4 CPU cores
• 8GB (or more) of memory
• 60 - 100GB of storage

You will then need to have VMware Fusion installed on your Mac. You can buy it from VMware here or use the personal edition (which was available at the time of writing this article) if you are using this for personal (not business) use.

Lastly, you will need to have an ISO (disc) image downloaded from Microsoft for Windows 11. You can download it from Microsoft here and use the Download Windows 11 Disk Image (ISO) option. This does not include a license for Windows 11 so you will need to buy one.

Once the prerequisites are met, you can create a Windows 11 virtual machine.

Creating the Virtual Machine

Step 1. Create a custom Windows 10 Virtual Machine

The first step is to create a custom Windows 10 virtual machine.

• Click on the + in the top left and click new.

• Click on Create a custom virtual machine and then click Continue.

• Click on Microsoft Windows and then Windows 10 and later x64. Click Continue.

• Select UEFI and tick UEFI Secure Boot. Click Continue.

• Select Create a new virtual disk and click Continue.

• On the Finish screen, click Customize Settings and save the virtual machine to wherever you like.

• Once the virtual machine has been saved, you will then be presented with the settings options for the virtual machine.

Now, the virtual machine needs to have some settings changed. First, the CPU and memory allocation.

Step 2. Increase CPU Cores and Memory

Now that the virtual machine has been created, the CPU cores and memory need to be increased as they are set too low. I usually go with a minimum of four cores and eight gigabytes of memory but you can adjust it to whatever you need.

• Click on Processors and Memory.

• Change the Processors to 4 processor cores and the Memory to 8192. You can change these to more if you would prefer.

• Click on Show All in the top left to go back to the main settings page.

Step 3. Increase the Virtual Disk Capacity

Next, I usually increase the amount of storage to around one hundred gigabytes minimum but you can adjust it to more if you need to.

• Click on Hard Disk (xyz) (xyz will vary depending upon what your Mac's hardware has for storage).

• Change the 60 to 100 for the Disk size and then click Apply.

• Click on Show All in the top left to go back to the main settings page.

Step 4. Mount the ISO Image

The next thing to do is to mount the Windows 11 installation disc image that you downloaded previously.

• Click on CD/DVD (SATA).

• Tick Connect CD/DVD Drive.
• From the drop down, change Autodetect to Choose a disk or disc image.
• You will then be asked to choose the ISO image for Windows 11. Locate it and click Open.

• Click on Show All in the top left to go back to the main settings page.

Step 5. Encrypt the Virtual Machine

One of the differences with creating a Windows 11 virtual machine over Windows 10 is that it must be encrypted as a TPM module must be added to the virtual machine to allow for Windows 11 to be installed.

• Click on Encryption.

• Tick Enable Encryption.
• Enter a password of your choice twice and click Ok. Optionally, you can save the password by ticking Remember Password in the bottom left.
• Click Ok on the encryption completed notification.
• Click on Show All in the top left to go back to the main settings page.

Step 6. Add a Virtual TPM Module to the Virtual Machine

The final setting that need to be completed before installing Windows 11 on the virtual machine is to add a trusted platform module (TPM).

• Click Add Device in the top right.

• Click Trusted Platform Module and click Add...

• Click on Show All in the top left to go back to the main settings page.

You can now close the virtual machines settings window.

Step 7. Power on the Virtual MAchine and Install Windows 11

At this point, you can now turn on the virtual machine by clicking the play button and install Windows 11. The setup process at this point will be very similar to Windows 10 and no different for Windows 11 if it were to be installed on a physical system.

Step 8. Install VMware Tools

Once you have installed Windows 11, The first thing I would highly recommend doing is installing VMware Tools.

This will install the required drivers for the display and other virtual hardware.

You can do this by clicking on the Virtual Machine menu on the menu bar and then clicking Install VMware Tools. After a few seconds you will be asked what to do with the CD in windows. Select the top option (Run Setup64.exe) to install VMware tools and proceed through the installer.

Restart the virtual machine when the setup has completed.

Conclusion

Once you have VMware tools installed, you can then start using the virtual machine for whatever purpose you intended it for. I would recommend installing all the Windows 11 updates first and then taking a snapshot of the virtual machine before installing any other software.

I hope you found this guide useful.

Thank you for reading and have a nice day!