Setup: Parallels Desktop 27.1.0 (58756), macOS 27.2 on Apple silicon, Windows 11 on Arm (build 26300.9818) in Coherence mode. I open Windows apps from the MacBook Dock and control them with Keyboard Maestro and scripts.
What changed:
For each shared Windows app, Parallels puts a small app file on the Mac located at '/Users/username/Applications (Parallels)/{2a244915-6a2b-43b5-bfc9-9721469f79b0} Applications.localized'. My older ones are named after the app, for example "Excel.app" for Excel under Windows. Each also has an ID inside it, which tools like Keyboard Maestro use to recognize the app.
Recently created Windows app look different. When I reinstalled Adobe Acrobat, Parallels deleted "Adobe Acrobat.app" and created a file named "b8bc7f166aec61b2f97f81463d4dfa8d.app" instead (i.e., in its place). Finder still shows it as "Adobe Acrobat", but the file name and the ID inside are new. As a result, every Keyboard Maestro macro and script that used "Adobe Acrobat.app" stopped working until I changed each one by hand.
What I tried:
- Following KB 121008, I moved the Parallels app folders aside and restarted Windows. Parallels rebuilt all 73 app files, every one with a coded name and a new ID, which broke everything else too. I put the original folders back from a backup, and all worked again.
- Renaming a coded file back to the app's name, for example to "Adobe Acrobat.app", keeps it working: the ID inside stays the same and the Dock icon follows the rename. It has survived several Windows restarts.
- One exception: after a Windows restart, Parallels rewrote one renamed file (Credential Manager UI Host) and gave it its old ID back.
Questions:
1. When did Parallels start giving these files coded names, was it intentional and why?
2. Is there a setting, visible or hidden, to have Parallels name the files after the app, as before?
3. Is it safe to rename a coded file to the app's name, or may Parallels replace or rewrite it later?
What changed:
For each shared Windows app, Parallels puts a small app file on the Mac located at '/Users/username/Applications (Parallels)/{2a244915-6a2b-43b5-bfc9-9721469f79b0} Applications.localized'. My older ones are named after the app, for example "Excel.app" for Excel under Windows. Each also has an ID inside it, which tools like Keyboard Maestro use to recognize the app.
Recently created Windows app look different. When I reinstalled Adobe Acrobat, Parallels deleted "Adobe Acrobat.app" and created a file named "b8bc7f166aec61b2f97f81463d4dfa8d.app" instead (i.e., in its place). Finder still shows it as "Adobe Acrobat", but the file name and the ID inside are new. As a result, every Keyboard Maestro macro and script that used "Adobe Acrobat.app" stopped working until I changed each one by hand.
What I tried:
- Following KB 121008, I moved the Parallels app folders aside and restarted Windows. Parallels rebuilt all 73 app files, every one with a coded name and a new ID, which broke everything else too. I put the original folders back from a backup, and all worked again.
- Renaming a coded file back to the app's name, for example to "Adobe Acrobat.app", keeps it working: the ID inside stays the same and the Dock icon follows the rename. It has survived several Windows restarts.
- One exception: after a Windows restart, Parallels rewrote one renamed file (Credential Manager UI Host) and gave it its old ID back.
Questions:
1. When did Parallels start giving these files coded names, was it intentional and why?
2. Is there a setting, visible or hidden, to have Parallels name the files after the app, as before?
3. Is it safe to rename a coded file to the app's name, or may Parallels replace or rewrite it later?