Using an alternate keyboard layout for a virtual machine in VMware Fusion

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Fusion 3.x and higher versions offers support for French and German keyboards, in addition to the expected US English keyboard.

If you have any other keyboard, or any other version of Fusion, this article provides steps for setting up your keyboard for use in a Fusion virtual machine.

Environment

VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion 6.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion 11.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion 3.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 4.x
VMware Fusion Pro 11.x
VMware Fusion 5.x
VMware Fusion 2.x

Resolution

To use an alternate keyboard layout:

1. Start the virtual machine and log in as an Administrator.
2. Install the Boot Camp Windows device drivers in the virtual machine. For Mac OS X 10.7 and later, you can use Boot Camp Assistant located in /Applications/Utilities on your Mac to download the Boot Camp drivers. For Mac OS X 10.6 and earlier, use the Mac OS installation disc or Boot Camp drivers disc.
3. Restart the virtual machine.
4. Log in as an Administrator.
5. Perform these steps:
   
   In Windows XP
   1. Go to Start > Control Panel > Regional and Language Options > Languages > Details
   2. Click Add.
   3. Under Input language, select the language by which you want to refer to your keyboard.
   4. Under Keyboard layout/IME, select your Apple keyboard layout. The word (Apple)appears at the end of these layouts.
       
   In Windows Vista, 7, 8 and 10
   1. Click the Start globe and go to Control Panel > Change keyboards or other input methods (Under Clock, Language and Region) > Keyboards and Languages.
   2. Click Change keyboards.
   3. Click Add.
   4. Find the language you want, and expand the language and keyboard set.
   5. Select your Apple keyboard layout. The word (Apple)appears at the end of these layouts.
       
6. Click OK twice, and restart Windows if prompted.
7. When Windows restarts to its desktop, you see the Language bar in the Taskbar below. By default, it show as EN, which stands for English. Click on it and select the alternate keyboard layout that you have added. The keyboard shortcut to switch between keyboard layouts is, by default, Left Alt+Shift.

Note: For language specific key mapping to work (example, < , > ^ @ etc), it should be enabled under preferences. Make the changes as given below before using an alternate keyboard layout.

1. Click VMware Fusion menu.
2. Click Preferences.
3. Select Keyboard & Mouse tab.
4. Select Key Mappings sub-tab.
5. Select Profile - Default from the drop down at the top.
   
   Note: For Windows 8 select Windows 8 Profile.
    
6. Check Enabled Language Specific Key Mappings.
7. Close Preferences.
8. Restart Fusion.

Additional Information

For more information about Macintosh keyboards and shortcuts, see Tips on using a Macintosh keyboard (1001675).

 

To create and customize your own keyboard layout in Windows, download the Microsoft Keyboard Layout Creator.

 

Installing BootCamp 5 driver on Windows 8 virtual machine might return the error: "BootCamp x64 is unsupported on this computer model"

To solve the issue, install bootcamp.msi from the bundle at Boot Camp > Driver > Apple.

If you get a message that states "This installation require elevated privileges. Launch the installer through setup.exe", try the following:

1. Open command prompt as Admin. For more information, see Start a Command Prompt as Administrator
2. Change directory to the driver locations and run the msi installer using the command below:
   
   bootcamp.msi
    
3. Restart the virtual machine once the installation is complete.

Note: The above links were correct as of October 2, 2024. If you find that any link is broken, please provide feedback and a VMware by Broadcom employee will update the link.