Download VMware Tools for Windows, Linux, and macOS VM

Quick Insight

You can manually download VMware Tools for Windows, Linux, and macOS guests. This driver pack fixes choppy graphics and unlocks full-screen view. It also syncs the clock and lets you drag files between host and guest. For Windows, grab the ISO or EXE from the official portal. For macOS, use the latest Darwin.iso file to enable smooth mouse moves. As a result, your whole virtual setup runs faster and feels like native hardware.

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Category:VMware Workstation
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In this article, we have shared the manual VMware Tools download links for Windows, Linux, or macOS guest operating systems that you have installed on your host computer using one of the VMware Workstations, VMware Fusion, or ESXi virtualization software.

Downloading VMware Tools

How to Manually Download VMware Tools ISO/EXE for Windows, Linux, and macOS Virtual Machines

To increase the performance of the virtual machines you have installed on your host computer or to transfer files between the host and the VM, you need to install VMware Tools. Installing the drivers for the guest operating systems you have established with VMware Workstation, VMware Fusion, or vSphere ESXi enables features such as better mouse experience or fitting screen resolution to full screen.

To install the drivers for a Windows, Linux, or macOS guest operating system installed on the virtual machine, click VM / Install VMware Tools from the tool menu. You do not need to download this package because it is integrated into Workstation and Fusion programs.

What’s the Benefit of Installing Virtual Machine Tools?

  • It fixes the low video resolution issues.
  • It improves insufficient color depth.
  • It fixes the issue where the network speed is displayed incorrectly.
  • It improves restricted mouse movement.
  • It enables copy-paste and drag-and-drop for files.
  • It fixes the missing sound issue.
  • It enables snapshots of the guest operating system to be taken.
  • It synchronizes the clock on the guest operating system with the host.
  • It installs the hardware drivers of the virtual machine.
  • It allows you to use the virtual machine in full-screen mode.

Download for Windows Guest Operating Systems

It is possible to manually download VMware Tools to update or install the drivers of all Windows guest machines you have installed on your host computer using one of the virtualization software.

After visiting the web page containing the latest version of VM Tools tools by clicking the button below, you can manually download the 32-bit or 64-bit or ISO file to your computer according to the architectural platform of the system you have installed.

Download

Download for Linux Guest Operating Systems

The VMware company allowed the downloading of virtual machine drivers for Linux guest machines as tar.gz file extensions on its official website. However, the company has changed the decision to download this file for Linux systems, suggesting that it be followed on its GitHub page.

To install the drivers for Linux guest operating systems more efficiently, click Install VMware Tools from the tool menu of the virtualization software.

Unlike Windows, setup can be hard in Linux. So, you can update your drivers right away by checking our guide on installing Ubuntu VM Tools.

You can manually download the tar.gz extension package to your computer after visiting the Open VMware Tools for Linux webpage, which is constantly updated on GitHub, by clicking the button below.

Download

VMware Tools (Darwin.iso) for macOS Guest Operating Systems

What is Darwin.iso?

Due to situations arising from Apple’s agreements with VMware, installing macOS systems using Workstation software on Windows platforms is not officially supported. However, installing the macOS operating system using VMware Fusion on a Mac computer is formally endorsed.

Therefore, the Darwin.iso file from Fusion software is needed to install drivers for macOS guest machines on Windows or other platforms.

After installing your macOS guest machine, you can install the integrated VMware tools in the virtualization software on your guest system. You don’t need to download VMware tools externally. Still, it is recommended that newer versions be installed as the Darwin.iso file is updated when newer Fusion software versions are released.

In addition, you can install the drivers of macOS guest machines on ESXi server virtualization platforms with the VMware Tools inside using the Darwin.iso file.

Download the Latest Darwin.iso for macOS

You can download the latest Darwin.iso 13.0.0 file published by Fusion in the folder we shared on Google Drive by clicking the button below.

Download

6 FAQ About Virtual Machine Drivers

I click the ‘Install VMware Tools’ option from the menu but nothing happens. Did I miss something?

I always tell users this: This situation shows that the virtual drive cannot connect to the guest system. Most of the time, an old virtual CD-ROM connection stuck in the background causes this error.
So as a first step, go into the virtual machine’s settings and check the CD/DVD drive. If it points to a physical drive, immediately replace it with an empty virtual drive.
Luckily, after this small fix, when you click the menu again, the setup wizard will appear on the screen right away. Because the system needs this small nudge to refresh itself.

Why is installing these tools on Linux like Ubuntu or Debian more complex than on Windows?

Honestly, Windows systems have an EXE installer that runs automatically. The Linux side usually comes as a compressed archive or asks for manual setup via the terminal.
Especially the need to compile kernel modules can scare beginners. Yet today, it is enough to install the ‘open-vm-tools’ package from the repo with a single command for most distributions.
So in most scenarios, you do not need to download an archive from GitHub and compile it. Typing ‘sudo apt install open-vm-tools’ from the command line usually solves all problems with a magic touch.

I run macOS on VMware on Windows. The mouse cursor is very slow and the screen is blurry. What do you suggest?

Essentially, this is a classic driver shortage that comes up because of Apple’s license limits. Hosting macOS on a Windows host is not officially supported. Also, the automatic setup option in the menu does not offer the right file.
At this point, a special package we call Darwin.iso comes to our rescue. You must mount this image to the virtual machine’s CD-ROM and manually run the installer inside.
After doing this, the screen instantly gets close to retina quality. You will even see the mouse cursor flow like oil between the host and the guest. Sadly, since there is no official support, showing this little hand skill is a must.

I cannot drag and drop files between the VM and my host computer. Is network sharing the only cure for this?

Definitely no. You do not have to mess with network sharing for file transfer. The source of the functionality is exactly that the virtual machine helper tools are not properly installed.
This feature is directly tied to the integration service inside this package. If you did the setup incomplete or damaged, the drag-and-drop feature just does not become active.
Yet everything changes the moment you successfully complete the tools setup. You can take a Word file from the host and drop it on the guest desktop or do the opposite instantly. What is more, you also move text from the clipboard between the two systems without effort.

Even though I installed the drivers, the VM’s clock constantly loses sync with the host. Is this a chronic VMware problem?

Despite this, the situation is not a chronic fault of the software. It usually comes from a wrongly configured time sync setting. The operating system’s own time server and the virtualization layer’s clock clash.
To prevent this clash, you must disable the Windows Time Service or the Linux NTP client inside the guest OS. This way you fully hand over time control to VMware.
In the end, your virtual machine copies the host computer’s clock exactly on every boot. In other words, the annoying errors you experience in banking apps or security certificates due to time difference disappear forever.

Is it really a must to install VMware Tools software for performance?

To be honest, if you are just typing commands on a terminal screen, you can manage. But if you use a graphical interface, not installing this package costs you dearly.
Because without these tools, you cannot access the power of your graphics card. As a result, the mouse cursor moves in slow motion and watching videos turns into pure torture.
In short, this small piece of software is the soul of the virtual computer. Every moment you spend without it means you throw away half of your computer’s potential. Come on, do the setup and get rid of those annoying delays forever.

Conclusion

To summarize, you can increase the performance of your virtual machines thanks to VMware Tools. Therefore, you both improve the user experience and increase the functionality. Under normal circumstances, when you install a guest system, the video resolution will be problematic. But by downloading this tool, you can adjust display settings and enable things like file transfer as well.

In some cases, you fix the network experience of virtual machines. In short, you should get VMware Tools to maximize the capabilities of your virtual environment. As a result, keep in mind that you should always install the latest version of guest software.

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Tolga Bagci

PRO

Computer Expert System Networking Virtualization

Hi, I'm Tolga, a computer expert with 20 years of experience. I help fix computer issues with things like hardware, systems, networks, virtualization, servers, and operating systems. Check out my website for helpful info, and feel free to ask me anything. Keep yourself in the loop about the newest technologies!

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13 People Shared Their Experience

  1. The iso file is corrupted. could you please have a look

    1. No, the iso file is not corrupted. Just add Darwin.iso to the virtual machine and install VMware Tools.

      1. Yes it is corrupted, I can’t extract the .rar file

        “Error: Can not open file as archive”

        1. Try again with a newer version of Winrar.

  2. use “Extract now” app to open the rar file without eror

  3. ayo cant download the iso it dont let me is says this: The page isn’t redirecting properly

    An error occurred during a connection to docs.google.com.

    This problem can sometimes be caused by disabling or refusing to accept cookies.
    and i am using firefox

    1. Hello. I have checked the download link and there is no problem. Try downloading with another web browser or open a new page in incognito and give it a try.

  4. hi, so I download all fife for windows and unzip but when press to install, the program is asking me (yes or no) fourscore i klick yes but nothing is happened…installation is not going…is there some special way to install this tools or?

    1. When you add the ISO file to the virtual machine, the installation normally starts automatically. However, if it still doesn’t work, go to My Computer and run it from there.

  5. Thank you very much man you saved my life by sharing the tools.
    Ciao!

  6. Hello, I need vmware-tools to install Mac 14 in Windows, what version and where should I download it, thank you for your help

  7. There’s no vm-tools for Mac OS 14 but there’s Vm-tools for Mac OS 13

  8. Please provide…..Darwin for MacOS Ventura…..I already have darwin 13.0 and it’s not work with ventura…..
    Big Regards..

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