Launching VMware Fusion fails with the error: File Not Found

Products

• VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

• Unable to launch VMware Fusion
• Launching VMware fusion fails
• You see the error:
  
  File Not Found

Environment

VMware Fusion Pro 10.x
VMware Fusion 8.x
VMware Fusion 7.x
VMware Fusion Pro 8.x
VMware Fusion 10.x
VMware Fusion 11.x
VMware Fusion Pro 11.x

Cause

This issue occurs if:

• The virtual machine files are deleted manually from the Finder utility in Mac OS X and not from the VMware Fusion UI.
• Migration assistant was used to transfer files from old Mac to a New Mac under different username.
• Folder containing the Virtual Machine files is either renamed or removed.

VMware Fusion displays a File Not Found error message, as it is unable to find the virtual machine registered in the Virtual Machine Library.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, remove the missing virtual machine entry from the Virtual Machine Library and re-open the virtual machine from the saved virtual machine directory.


To remove the missing virtual machine entry from the Virtual Machine Library:

1. Click OK to dismiss the File Not Found error.
2. Click the Window from Fusion menu.
3. Select Virtual Machine Library.
4. Right-click the missing virtual machine entry and click Delete.

To re-open the virtual machine from the saved virtual machine directory:

• In Fusion 8.x and 10.x, the default location of the virtual machine is Documents/VirtualMachines.
• In Fusion 11.x and later, the default location of the virtual machine is Macintosh HD⁩/Users⁩/User name/VirtualMachines⁩

Additional Information

To re-add the virtual machine to the virtual machine library:

1. From the Fusion menu bar, go to File > Open.
2. Navigate to the virtual machine folder and select the virtual machine.
3. Click Open.