Troubleshooting missing .vmsn or .vmdk files in VMware Fusion

Products

VMware Desktop Hypervisor

Issue/Introduction

Symptoms:

Your virtual machine does not start
You see one of these errors:
- File not found: virtual machine name-Snapshot*.vmsn. This file is required to power on this virtual machine. If this file was moved, please provide its new location.
- File not found: virtual machine name[-*].vmdk. This file is required to power on this virtual machine. If this file was moved, please provide its new location.
  
  Note: In the above error messages, the virtual machine name is typically the name of the operating system the virtual machine is running (such as Windows XP). The asterisk (*) can represent any number, and the part within square brackets ([]) may or may not appear.

Environment

VMware Fusion 13.5x Pro

Resolution

Each step below provides instructions and a link to a document, for performing the step and taking corrective action as necessary. The steps are ordered in the most appropriate sequence to isolate the issue and to identify the proper resolution. They are also ordered in the most appropriate sequence to minimize data loss. After completing each step, try powering on your virtual machine again. Work through each troubleshooting step in order, and do not skip a step.

To troubleshoot this error:

Confirm that the files are missing. The most likely location for these files is within your virtual machine bundle, but they may have been moved. For information on finding and opening your virtual machine bundle, see Locating the virtual machine bundle in VMware Fusion (1007599). If the files are not in the bundle, search for them with Spotlight, replacing .vmwarevm with .vmsn or .vmdk, as appropriate.

If Spotlight finds the files, return the files to the virtual machine bundle. When next powering on the virtual machine, if prompted, browse to those files within the virtual machine bundle.

If the files cannot be found, they must be restored from a backup.
If the files are present within the virtual machine bundle, and can be selected, but Fusion continues to ask for them, ensure that the permissions on the virtual machine bundle (and its contents) are set correctly. For more information, see Investigating permissions for Fusion virtual machines (1020786).
Check whether the virtual machine has all files required for its operation, and that the .vmx file references all of those files correctly. For more information, see Verifying Fusion virtual machine file integrity (1024809).

If the issue continues to exist after performing the steps in this article:

Collect the VMware Support information. For more information, see Collecting diagnostic information for VMware Fusion (1003894).
File a support request with VMware Support and quote this Knowledge Base article ID (1027416) in the problem description. For more information, see Filing a Support Request in Customer Connect (2006985).

Additional Information

Locating the virtual machine bundle in VMware Fusion
Investigating permissions for Fusion virtual machines
Verifying Fusion virtual machine file integrity
How to file a Support Request in Customer Connect
VMware Fusion で .vmsn ファイルまたは .vmdk ファイルが見つからない場合のトラブルシューティング
对 VMware Fusion 中缺少 .vmsn 或 .vmdk 文件进行故障排除