I have Windows 11; can I safely delete Windows 10.pvm?

Last year, I got a new MacBook Pro 14-inch (2023). My old MacBook Pro ran Parallels with Windows 10; now I have Windows 11. Even so, my machine still has a file labeled Windows 10.PVM, and it occupies 60.87 GB on my SSD. There's also a file named Windows 10-0.hdd.0... .hds, and it occupies 59.35 GB. I sure would like to recover some of that space. Can I safely delete those files?

 

You should be able to delete those files. If you're really concerned, rename the Windows 10 files something else and confirm for yourself that there is no change in your Windows 11 VM. Once you're convinced that Win 11 is working as it should, delete the Win10 files. If there's a problem (there won't be), you can always rename the Win10 files.

 

Well ... I chatted this afternoon with someone at the Parallels Help Desk. That gentleman advised me to do what I probably should have figured out for myself. He advised that I first backup my Parallels files (great idea) and THEN move these two whopper files to an external drive. And then I can restart my MacBook Pro, launch Parallels VM and see what happens. That sounds like a logical approach.

I don't know much about this kind of thing. I use Parallels quite happily, and I hesitate to monkey around with the software for fear of running the train off the rails.