What's New in Parallels Desktop 17

What's new in

Parallels® Desktop 17

Packed with must-have performance updates, ready for macOS Monterey and optimized for Intel and Apple M1 chip.

  • Lightning fast – Up to 38% faster Windows resume time so you can get to your apps quickly.
  • Better Graphics Performance - Up to 25% faster 2D graphics and up to 28% faster DirectX 11.
  • Smooth Windows UI and video playback, higher frame rate in games, and much more.

Next Generation

Optimized for Windows 11 and macOS Monterey, Parallels Desktop continues to stay up to date so you can keep working without interruption—even when a new macOS, Windows or Linux release pops up.

macOS in a Virtual Machine

In collaboration with Apple, Parallels engineers created the world's first prototype of a macOS Monterey virtual machine running on a Mac with Apple M1 chip.2

Parallels Desktop 17

Do More Than Ever

Improved Drag-and-Drop enables you to easily drop text and images into macOS Monterey Quick Note from Windows applications. Easily install macOS Monterey onto a virtual machine via Parallels Desktop 17 Installation Assistant.2

Parallels Desktop 17

Support for macOS Monterey

Parallels Desktop 17 supports macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur 11, macOS Catalina 10.15, macOS Mojave 10.14 and macOS High Sierra 10.13.

New! Parallels Desktop 17 Features

Windows 10 resumes faster. Smooth Windows UI and video playback. Integration perfected. Powerful new features for Apple M1 chip Mac.

m1-chip

Reinvented for Apple M1 and Intel-based Mac Devices

Parallels Desktop for Mac has been rebuilt and optimized to natively run on Apple M1 and Intel based Mac devices, improving speed and performance.

Up to
38%
faster

Windows 10 resume

Up to
33%
faster

Windows start up on M1

Up to
28%
faster

DirectX 111

Up to
20%
better

disk performance on M1

Enhanced Desktop, Video and Gaming Experience

Improved display driver in Parallels Desktop 17 delivers much smoother Windows UI responsiveness and synchronized video playback. In addition to performance improvements, the new driver boosts frame rate in many Windows games for a greater gaming experience and provides better synchronization with the Mac display.

Seamlessly Drag and Drop Content Between Apps and OSs

Drag and drop text or graphics between Mac and Windows applications, quickly and easily. On macOS Monterey, drag and drop any content from Windows apps to Quick Note as easily as from macOS apps.

Better Disk Space Control

Remain better informed of your Mac resources and memory. Disk space used by Snapshots is now calculated in the updated Free Up Disk Space assistant.

Enable Mac Option key to work as AltGr in Windows 10

With Parallels Desktop 17, you can now re-map AltGr to the Mac Option key to use the left Option key for entering accented language characters and special symbols.

Automatically Optimize Virtual Machines for Peak Performance

Parallels Desktop 17 evaluates your hardware and automatically allocates the optimal number of resources for your virtual machines so that you get the best performance and experience possible.

Enhanced Experience in Coherence Mode

Seamless end-to-end user experience with fewer distracting changes in appearance during Windows sign in, shut down, and software updates.

Enhanced USB Support

Support for USB 3.1 devices facilitates the connection of more super-speed storages, including Samsung T7 Touch, Pro Elite portable SSDs, and others. User-friendly USB device names in Parallels Desktop menu makes it easier to identify and select the desired USB device to connect to Windows.

Copy and Paste Unformatted Text

Enjoy using the macOS shortcut “Shift+Option+Command+V” to paste unformatted text into your virtual machines, eliminating the extra steps it normally takes.

Multimonitor support for Linux

You can now use Linux virtual machine in full screen mode on multiple displays.

New Pro and Business Edition Features

Easily Convert a Linked Clone to an Independent Virtual Machine

You asked and we delivered! With Parallels Desktop 17 for Mac Pro Edition, it is now possible to create an independent virtual machine from a linked clone, in two clicks. Use either a new UI option or Parallels Desktop CLI to accomplish this per your preference.

Improved Visual Studio plugin

Parallels Desktop plugin for Visual Studio to debug code in a standalone VM was updated to support Mac computers with Apple M1 chip. Moreover, the new plugin is much easier to install in Visual Studio 2019.

Corporate virtual machine provisioning to any Mac

Business administrators can now provision pre-configured Windows virtual machines to Mac computers with Apple M1 chip. Install all the necessary applications, prepare a package, upload to cloud storage, and specify a download link and description in Parallels My Account.

Deploy Parallels Desktop on a multi-architecture Mac fleet with a single package

Parallels Desktop 17 is a universal binary that enables creating just one package for Intel and M1-based Mac computers and leverage corporate virtual machine provisioning to deliver a Windows 10 VM image after deployment.

Standard Edition

Installation

  • Use Sign in with Apple for Parallels account registration and sign-in.
  • Download and install Windows 10 automatically in one click.*
  • Activate Windows automatically by specifying a license key before installation.
  • Use Express Installation to fully automate Windows installation and user account setup.
  • Install virtual machines from an ISO image, app, USB, CD, or DVD.
  • Select automatically detected operating system installers from Downloads and Desktop folders.
  • Use automatic Parallels Tools installation for many operating systems.
  • Easily configure Windows for Productivity or Gaming.
  • Use Windows from Boot Camp in a virtual machine.
  • Import Boot Camp into a standalone virtual machine.
  • Migrate Windows from PC to a virtual machine.*
  • Download Ubuntu Linux, Fedora Linux, CentOS* Linux, Debian GNU/Linux, Mint Linux*, and Android* virtual machines.
  • Download a ready-to-go Windows 10 virtual machine with Legacy Edge app.*
  • Install macOS into a virtual machine from Recovery Partition.*
  • Import VMware, VirtualBox, and Hyper-V virtual machines.

Onboarding

  • Download a full-featured free 14-day trial of Parallels Desktop Pro Edition
  • Purchase Windows 10 directly from Parallels Desktop.
  • Learn about basic Parallels Desktop features upon completing Windows installation.
  • Learn about Coherence™ view mode upon first entering.
  • Learn about working with Shared Profile folders when deleting Mac files from Windows.
  • Use Parallels Desktop Help to learn more about application features.

General

  • Run Windows and other virtual machines using native macOS virtualization on macOS Big Sur and later (with no additional kernel extensions).
  • Use up to 4 CPUs and 8 GB of RAM for a virtual machine and even more in Pro and Business Edition.
  • Boot a virtual machine from USB, network, or external disk.
  • Manage virtual machine's boot order and devices.
  • Suspend and resume virtual machines for better productivity.
  • Create snapshots to save OS and disk states and revert to it later.
  • Save the current virtual machine state before reverting to a snapshot.
  • Automatically pause a virtual machine when it's idle to save Mac resources.
  • Configure the time when a virtual machine gets paused.
  • Configure a virtual machine to always run in the background.
  • Configure a virtual machine to start when Parallels Desktop starts.

Appearance

  • Use a virtual machine in a window, full screen, or picture-in-picture modes.
  • Use all Mac displays when in full screen.
  • Show and hide Windows spaces on all displays simultaneously.
  • Optimize full screen for games.
  • Use Windows gamma settings when in full screen.
  • Configure opacity and always-on-top for the picture-in-picture mode.
  • Use Windows applications in Coherence view mode side-by-side with macOS apps.
  • Use Parallels Desktop in a dark theme.
  • Configure the virtual machine's startup and shutdown behavior.
  • Monitor CPU, network, and disk activity on the virtual machine status bar.
  • Use Resource Monitor to track CPU and RAM usage for several virtual machines.
  • Use Free Up Disk Space wizard to manage disk space.
  • See what Mac folders are shared with Windows in File Explorer.
  • Show Windows applications in the Dock.
  • Show Dock icons in Coherence only.
  • Make Dock icons bounce to alert.

Graphics

  • Use a virtual machine with Retina-optimized high-DPI resolution.
  • Run DirectX 11 applications in Windows (powered by Apple Metal).
  • Run OpenGL 3 applications in Windows and Linux.
  • Run macOS Big Sur virtual machine with Apple Metal support (on macOS Big Sur host).*
  • Use up to half of Windows RAM for video memory.
  • Toggle high-performance graphics usage (discrete graphics card).

Integration

  • Use Windows in Travel Mode to extend MacBook battery life.
  • Schedule Windows maintenance for installing Windows updates.
  • Control Windows applications with special Touch Bar options.
  • Open Mac files using Windows applications.
  • Make Windows applications default for opening macOS files.
  • Use native Windows icons in macOS for executable files.
  • Open Windows applications from macOS.
  • Open macOS applications from Windows.
  • Drag and drop files and images between macOS and a virtual machine (Windows, Linux, macOS).
  • Drag and drop macOS screenshot preview to Windows apps.
  • Copy and Paste formatted text and files between macOS and a virtual machine (Windows, Linux, macOS).
  • Open web links from Windows in macOS browsers.
  • Use Windows email client as default on Mac.
  • Share macOS folders and disks with Windows.
  • Share Windows folders and disks with macOS.
  • Use macOS user profile folders as Windows user profile folders (Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc.).
  • Share macOS network locations and volumes with Windows.
  • Use Windows apps on iPad with Sidecar using Apple Pencil.
  • Use synchronized time and time zones between Mac and Windows.
  • Use synchronized macOS location with Windows.
  • Use notification badge for the Outlook Dock icon to track unread emails.
  • Use Outlook notifications in macOS.
  • Attach recently- created Mac files to Outlook emails.
  • Open Microsoft Office files from the macOS browser in Windows Desktop apps.
  • Show Windows notification area on the Mac menu bar.
  • Allow Windows applications to enter the full screen automatically when running in the Coherence mode.
  • Share iCloud, Dropbox, and Google Drive macOS folders with Windows.
  • Use macOS Dictionary in Windows.
  • Use macOS Dictation in Windows.
  • Use macOS Quick Look in Windows.
  • Use macOS Special Characters in Windows.
  • Pin your contacts from Windows People Bar to macOS Dock.
  • Share Windows files using the macOS Share menu embedded in the Windows context menu.
  • Insert photos and documents from iPhone to Windows.
  • Send files from Finder to Windows email client.
  • Use synchronized macOS Do Not Disturb with Windows 10 Focus Assist.

Devices

  • Use all your Mac keyboard layouts in Windows automatically.
  • Use synchronized keyboard layout selection between macOS and Windows.
  • Customize keyboard shortcuts for virtual machines.
  • Use the mouse with seamless switching between macOS and Windows.
  • Optimize mouse and keyboard for games.
  • Use the smooth scrolling with Trackpad.
  • Use the smooth zoom and rotate gestures with TrackPad.
  • Use Trackpad with Force Touch and Pressure Sensitivity in Windows.
  • Use drawing tablets in Windows with full pen support (pressure, tilt, twist, erase).
  • Print from Windows using Mac printers with duplex printing and up to A0 paper size.
  • Synchronize the default printer between Mac and Windows.
  • Show macOS printing settings before printing from Windows.
  • Connect USB devices directly to a virtual machine.
  • Manage USB devices' automatic connection to a running virtual machine.
  • Use a Mac web camera in Windows up to 4K resolution.
  • Use VoIP phones in Windows.
  • Use high-definition audio input/output in virtual machines.
  • Synchronize sound volume between macOS and Windows.
  • Share Bluetooth devices with Windows.
  • Connect Bluetooth devices to Windows using Simple Pairing.
  • Use expanding virtual disks to occupy as much disk space as the virtual machine uses.
  • Use real-time disk space optimization for Windows to optimize Mac disk space usage.
  • Automatically reclaim disk space on a virtual machine shutdown.
  • Resize virtual hard disks up to 2TB.
  • Add a virtual floppy device to a virtual machine.
  • Add a serial port device to a virtual machine.

Network

  • Use Shared network mode to share the Internet with a virtual machine.
  • Use Bridged network mode to connect any network adapter to a virtual machine.
  • Use Host-Only network mode to interconnect virtual machines in isolated networks.
  • Generate MAC address for Windows.

Security

  • Use the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 device in Windows 10.
  • Isolate a virtual machine from macOS.
  • Encrypt a virtual machine.
  • Restrict changing virtual machine state with the macOS admin password.
  • Restrict changing virtual machine configuration with the macOS admin password.
  • Restrict changing view mode with the macOS admin password.
  • Restrict managing snapshots with the macOS admin password.
  • Use Touch ID instead of manual passwords.

Support

  • Use a large variety of Knowledge Base articles to get quick help.
  • Use Facebook Messenger or Twitter to get quick help.
  • Use Parallels Forums to connect with other users.
  • Get 24/7/365 chat, phone, and email support.
  • Authorize in Support Center automatically when using the in-product Help option.

Bonus Software

  • Includes a three-month complimentary subscription for Parallels Access™, the easiest way to access your computer from anywhere remotely.
  • Includes a three-month complimentary subscription for Parallels® Toolbox with over 30 one-touch tools. Clean your drive, take screenshots, and more.

Pro Edition

Note: Parallels Desktop Pro Edition includes all features of the Standard Edition.

General

  • Use up to 32 CPUs and 128GB of RAM for a virtual machine (VM).
  • Enable Nested Virtualization to install and work in WSL 2, Docker for Windows, Android emulator for Visual Studio, iPhone emulator for Visual Studio, Xamarin.Android, Android Studio, Embarcadero RAD Studio, and more.*
  • Configure a startup delay for a VM.
  • Optimize VM settings and performance with Software Development, Software Testing, and Design profiles.
  • Download a ready-to-go Windows 10 virtual machine with Visual Studio.*
  • Switch a virtual machine to a pre-defined resolution.
  • Use Linked Clones for convenient testing and development.
  • Start Windows in Rollback Mode if you don't want Windows to store the changes you made to it during the working session.
  • Use NetBoot for macOS VMs.
  • Archive/unarchive VMs in Control Center to save disk space.
  • Limit VM resource usage.
  • Use 8.3 filenames for Shared Folders.
  • Support for mmap() in Linux Shared Folders.
  • Use EFI Secure Boot.
  • Create and use VM templates.
  • Share smart card readers with Windows.
  • Prepare VM for transfer to another Mac or cloud storage.

Appearance

  • Run VMs as background processes without the GUI displayed on the Mac desktop (Headless mode).
  • Color code VMs from the Context menu to distinguish them from one another.
  • Set a custom icon for every VM.
  • Sort VMs in the Control Center.
  • Use Linked Clone indication in the Control Center.

Network

  • Test different connectivity issues with an enhanced network editor; simulate 3G, Edge, or an unstable network connection or limit network bandwidth in a VM.
  • Check and copy the virtual machine's IP address using the Network icon on the VM status bar.
  • Quickly start the SSH session with your VM.
  • Open your website hosted in a VM in one click for testing with the "Open in Browser" menu.
  • Resolve DNS requests from VM using the info in /etc/resolver from the host macOS.
  • Use port forwarding to pass traffic from a Mac port to a VM or IP address and desired port.
  • Use VM names as their DNS names.
  • Use tcpdump with virtual networks.
  • Create custom host-only networks.
  • Specify names for custom host-only networks.
  • Use DNS requests over TCP in Shared Network.

Develop

  • Use Microsoft Visual Studio plugin to debug in a separate virtual machine.
  • Use the Parallels Vagrant plugin to work with reproducible and portable work environments.
  • Use linked clones in the Vagrant plugin to create new boxes fast and use disk space efficiently.
  • Use Jenkins to run a build server on Mac.
  • Run Docker VMs using Docker Machine Provider for Parallels Desktop.
  • Generate a VM memory dump using Parallels Desktop UI controls.
  • Start a debugging session in Terminal using Parallels Desktop UI controls.
  • Access Pro tools from the menu: SSH, WEB, DBG, DUMP.
  • Use the Parallels SDK with Python 3.0 support.

Command Line Interface

  • Use Command Line Interface tools to control Parallels Desktop and manage VMs, including their settings and configuration.
  • Use bash (zsh) autocompletion for the Parallels CLI tools.
  • Pass arguments to virtual machine applications.

Bonus Software

  • Includes a complimentary subscription for Parallels Access™, the easiest way to access your computer from anywhere remotely.
  • Includes a complimentary subscription for Parallels® Toolbox with over 30 one-touch tools. Clean your drive, take screenshots, and more.

Support

  • Get Premium 24/7/365 phone, email, and chat support.

Business Edition

Note: Parallels Desktop Business Edition includes all features of the Standard and Pro Edition.

Licensing and Support

  • Use Parallels My Account web app for administration and support.
  • Manage corporate users: download a CSV list of users, promote admins, block users.
  • Use a single license key on a selected number of computers.
  • Monitor license usage (seats left, how many in use).
  • Find information about Macs where Parallels Desktop was installed, generate reports, and manage information columns.
  • Deactivate a license on selected Macs remotely to free seats for being used on other computers.
  • Blacklist selected computers, so a user won't be able to activate Parallels Desktop on it again.
  • Send a custom message to users who will be deactivated/blacklisted.
  • Create sub-licenses from the master license to protect master license, limit usage between several offices or departments, easily control license deactivation for classes and graduates.
  • Assign administrators to one license or sub-license.
  • Get extended 30-day grace period to have more time for license renewal.
  • Rename computers and leave notes in their description.

Deployment

  • Use deployment package to configure and deploy Parallels Desktop and virtual machines to Macs using ARD, Jamf, Parallels Mac Management, Munki, and other Mac Management tools.
  • Send invitation emails to users, with a build, a license key, and other instructions.
  • Prepare, upload, and enable Business users to download the VM on their Macs in one click.
  • Select Windows applications to automatically add to the Mac Dock after deployment.
  • Enable Single Application Mode to hide Parallels Desktop UI and notifications and to show specified Windows application only.
  • Deploy archived VMs.

Administration

  • Use the Business Edition Administrator's Guide with instructions describing how to use product functionalities.
  • Use advanced options in Command Line Tools to manage Parallels Desktop installations after deployment.
  • Customize Control Center appearance to include Business logo and Helpdesk references.
  • Customize the in-product "Request Support" option to route users to Helpdesk.
  • Use a local update server to manage Parallels Desktop updates and upgrades.
  • Change Windows user account password using Command Line Tools (if a user lost a password).
  • Set custom Asset ID for Windows virtual machines to mark virtual machines in management tools or to pass some information from Mac to Windows.
  • Control Parallels Desktop upgrades using the Parallels My Account web app.

Security

  • Set a custom (non-Mac-admin) password to protect VM settings.
  • Restrict Parallels Desktop users from changing VM settings, and view modes.
  • Restrict Parallels Desktop users from creating, removing, cloning, and other operations over virtual machines.
  • Create expiring virtual machines with a specified lifetime.
  • Enforce USB device policies, so the users won't be able to connect specific types of devices to Windows or another VM.
  • Lock Windows before suspending a virtual machine to protect information.

Support

  • Get Premium 24/7/365 phone and email support.
  • Share support tickets with other Business account members.
  • Escalate tickets to the Parallels Support Management team.

Compare Editions

Standard Edition
Optimized for macOS Monterey (when released)
Download and Install Windows
Seamless Mac integration
Use a virtual TPM chip
Disk Space Optimization
Auto Video Memory
Free upgrade to the latest version Subscription only
Disk Space Optimization
Advanced virtual networking tools
Virtual RAM for each VM 8GB vRAM
Virtual CPUs for each VM 4 vCPUs
Premium 24/7 phone and email support Subscription only

1 with Subscription

Buy From £69.99Upgrade £39.99
Upgrade £39.99
Most Popular
Pro Edition
All the Standard Edition features PLUS:
New! Unlink a linked clone to a new VM
New! Improved Microsoft Visual Studio plug-In
Advanced networking tools
Free upgrades to newer versions
Automate with CLI tools
Integrations With Vagrant/Docker/Packer/Minikube
Debug, dump VM or start an SSH session from menu
Manage more VMs: templates, colors, sorting
Convert VM bundles to a single file for transfer or deployment
Rename custom networks
Virtual RAM for each VM 128GB vRAM
Virtual CPUs for each VM 32 vCPUs
Microsoft Visual Studio Plug-In
Support for business cloud services
Premium 24/7 phone and email support
Buy £79.99/yrUpgrade £39.99
Upgrade £39.99/yr
Business Edition
All the Standard and Pro Edition features PLUS:
New! Enable employees to download a preconfigured Windows 10 to their Mac (including Apple M1 chip)
New! Universal binary for single mass deployment to all Mac computers (including Apple M1 chip)
Centralized administration and management
Unified Volume License Key for mass deployment
Buy £79.99/yr
Are you a student? Save with Student Edition (Valid student verification required)
1 Applicable to Mac computers with Apple M1 chip only.
2 Requires a Mac running macOS 12 Monterey or newer.
Features that are only available on Mac computers with Intel processors are marked with an asterisk (*).

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