How to Open VMDK File in Windows 10

To open a VMDK file in Windows 10, use a program that understands VMware’s disk format, because Windows can’t open one on its own. The quickest way to copy files out is 7-Zip: right-click the VMDK, choose 7-Zip > Open archive, open the largest partition inside, and drag out the files you need. To run the operating system stored on the disk, attach the VMDK to a new virtual machine in VMware Workstation Pro or VirtualBox.

Applies to: Windows 10 version 22H2, with 7-Zip, VMware Workstation Pro and Oracle VirtualBox 7.2. The same methods work on Windows 11. Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, and consumer Extended Security Updates run through October 12, 2027.

What a VMDK file is

VMDK stands for Virtual Machine Disk. It’s the file VMware products use as a virtual machine’s hard drive, so it holds the guest’s whole drive: the operating system, installed apps, user folders and everything else. VirtualBox can use the same format.

Double-clicking a VMDK in File Explorer doesn’t help. Windows 10 has a built-in Mount option and a Disk Management Attach VHD command, but both work only with Microsoft’s VHD and VHDX disk formats, not VMDK.

One virtual disk can be made of several files, and opening the wrong one is the most common reason a method fails:

• A single large file (for example, Windows10.vmdk at many gigabytes) usually contains both the disk description and the data. Open that file.
• A small descriptor plus a data file: a VMDK of only a few kilobytes is generally a text descriptor that points to the real data, which often sits in a file ending in -flat.vmdk. Keep both in the same folder.
• Split disks: files such as Windows10-s001.vmdk, Windows10-s002.vmdk and so on are pieces of one disk. Keep every piece together and open the file without the -s number.
• Snapshot files: names such as Windows10-000001.vmdk generally hold the changes made after a snapshot was taken. The base disk may not contain your newest files, so the newest snapshot file (with its parent files beside it) is often the one to open in VMware or VirtualBox.

Which method should you use?

What you want	Best method	Changes the disk?
Copy some files out of a VM, including one that won’t boot	7-Zip	No, it only reads
Start the old system and use its apps	VMware Workstation Pro or VirtualBox	Yes, while the VM runs
Browse the disk with Windows tools as a drive letter	Convert to VHD and attach it	No, it makes a new file

If you’re rescuing files, start with 7-Zip. It never writes to the VMDK, so if it can’t read the disk you can still try the other methods on an untouched file.

Before you start

• Shut down the virtual machine that uses the disk, then close VMware or VirtualBox. A running VM keeps the disk locked, and reading it from two places at once can damage it.
• Copy the disk first. Copy the whole VM folder (every .vmdk file in it) to another folder or an external drive and work on the copy. Booting a VM or converting a disk writes data, and mistakes on the only copy can’t be undone.
• Check free space. A copy, or a VHD made by converting, needs about as much room as the disk’s contents and sometimes the full size of the virtual disk.
• Know what’s inside. A Windows VM uses NTFS, which every method here can read. A Linux VM usually uses ext4, which Windows can’t read without help (7-Zip can, see below).

Method 1: Copy files out with 7-Zip

7-Zip is a free file archiver, and its official site lists VMDK, along with NTFS and EXT file systems, among the formats it can unpack. It treats the virtual disk like a ZIP file: you can browse and copy, but you can’t change anything inside.

1. Download 7-Zip from 7-zip.org (the 64-bit Windows x64 version suits most PCs) and run the installer.
2. In File Explorer, right-click the VMDK file and choose 7-Zip > Open archive. A 7-Zip window opens. (On Windows 11 the 7-Zip entry may sit under Show more options.)
3. Look at the list. You’ll usually see one or more entries with names such as 0.ntfs, 1.ntfs or 2.img. Each one is a partition on the virtual disk. A Windows VM often has a small system partition and a much larger main partition.

4. Double-click the largest partition. If you see folders like Windows, Users and Program Files, you’re on the main drive. Personal files are normally under Users\account name, for example Users\Alex\Documents.
5. Select the files or folders you need and click Extract, then pick a destination folder. You can also drag them straight into a File Explorer window.
6. Close the 7-Zip window when you’re done. Nothing needs to be unmounted.

You’ll know it worked when the copied files open normally from their new folder. If 7-Zip says it can’t open the file as an archive, see Troubleshooting.

Method 2: Attach the VMDK to a VM in VMware Workstation Pro

To start the operating system on the disk, build a new virtual machine around it. VMware Workstation Pro is free for personal, educational and commercial use as of November 2024, according to VMware’s announcement. You download it from Broadcom, which requires a free account. Check Broadcom’s list of supported host systems for your version before installing on Windows 10.

These steps follow Broadcom’s article on creating a Workstation VM from existing VMDK disks:

1. Open Workstation Pro and select File > New Virtual Machine.
2. Choose Custom and click Next, then accept the suggested hardware compatibility.
3. When asked how to install the operating system, choose I will install the operating system later. You aren’t installing anything; the system is already on the disk.
4. Pick the guest operating system and version that’s on the VMDK (for example, Windows 10 x64), give the VM a name and a folder, and accept the processor, memory and network defaults or adjust them.
5. On the disk page, choose Use an existing virtual disk, click Browse, and select the VMDK. For a snapshot chain or split disk, every related .vmdk file must be in the same folder as the one you select.

6. Review the summary and click Finish, then click Power on this virtual machine.

Success looks like the old system’s boot screen and then its sign-in screen. Broadcom notes that the selected disk is locked to this VM, which is another reason to use a copy if the original VM still needs it.

Only want the files? If you already have a working Windows VM, you can add the VMDK to it as a second hard disk from that VM’s Settings > Add > Hard Disk and choose Use an existing virtual disk. Start the VM, and the extra disk shows up in its File Explorer with its own drive letter. If it appears without a letter, assign one in the VM’s Disk Management.

For a walkthrough of the Workstation screens themselves, see how to install Windows 11 on VMware; the wizard is the same apart from the disk step.

What happened to Map Virtual Disks?

Many guides tell you to right-click a VMDK and choose Map Virtual Disk, or to use File > Map Virtual Disks in Workstation, to give the disk a drive letter in Windows. VMware’s release notes for Workstation Pro 17.0 state that the option to map or mount a virtual disk to a drive on the host “is no longer available in Workstation Pro.” If you install a current version, you won’t find that command. Use 7-Zip, the second-disk approach above, or the VHD conversion below instead.

Method 3: Use the VMDK in VirtualBox

Oracle VirtualBox is free, and the VirtualBox manual’s storage chapter says it fully supports the VMDK container format, so there’s no need to convert the disk first. If VirtualBox isn’t installed yet, here’s how to install VirtualBox on Windows 11 (the installer is the same on Windows 10).

1. Open VirtualBox and click New.
2. Enter a name, leave the ISO image empty, and set the OS type and version to match the system on the VMDK. Turn off unattended installation if it’s offered.
3. Set the memory and processors. Don’t let the wizard create a new virtual hard disk: where it offers disk choices, pick the option to use an existing virtual hard disk file, or skip adding a disk.
4. If you chose an existing file, browse to the VMDK and select it. If you skipped the disk, finish the wizard, then open the VM’s Settings > Storage, select the controller, add a hard disk, and pick your VMDK.
5. Click Start.

The exact button names in the New Virtual Machine wizard have changed between VirtualBox releases, so follow the meaning of each step rather than an exact label. If the VM boots to a black screen or a “no bootable medium” message, see Troubleshooting.

Method 4: Convert the VMDK to VHD and attach it in Windows

Windows 10’s Disk Management can attach VHD and VHDX files as if they were real drives, according to Microsoft’s page on managing virtual hard disks. It can’t attach a VMDK, but VirtualBox’s command-line tool can make a VHD copy of one. The original VMDK isn’t changed.

1. Install VirtualBox if it isn’t already installed.
2. Open Command Prompt from the Start menu.
3. Run this command, changing the two paths to your own files (the second path is the new VHD that will be created):

   "C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxManage.exe" clonemedium disk "D:\VMs\Windows10.vmdk" "D:\VMs\Windows10.vhd" --format VHD

4. Wait for the progress counter to reach 100%. Large disks can take a long time.
5. Open Disk Management as an administrator (right-click Start and choose Disk Management), then select Action > Attach VHD.
6. Click Browse, choose the new .vhd file, and click OK. To be safe, check Read-only before you click OK.

The attached disk appears in Disk Management and File Explorer with a new drive letter. You can also right-click a .vhd in File Explorer and choose Mount. The clonemedium command and its --format option are described in the VBoxManage reference; VHD (not VHDX) is the Microsoft format it can write. The same command with --format VDI makes a VirtualBox-native copy instead.

Warning: if Windows asks you to format the newly attached drive, click Cancel. That message means Windows can’t read the file system (often a Linux disk), and formatting would erase the copy.

Troubleshooting

7-Zip says “Cannot open the file as archive”

You probably opened a descriptor whose data files are missing or in another folder, a single piece of a split disk, or a snapshot file. Put all the VM’s .vmdk files in one folder and open the main file again. If there’s a -flat.vmdk file, try opening that one directly. Snapshot files only hold changes, so 7-Zip may not show useful content from them; attach the newest snapshot file in VMware or VirtualBox instead.

“File is in use” or “Failed to lock the file”

Shut down the VM completely (not suspend) and close VMware and VirtualBox. If a folder ending in .lck still sits beside the VMDK after everything is closed, it’s a lock left behind by a crash. Move it to another folder and try again.

VirtualBox reports a UUID that already exists

VirtualBox gives every disk image a unique ID and refuses to register a second copy with the same ID, the manual explains. This happens when you copied a VMDK that VirtualBox already knows about. Remove the old entry in Tools > Media (the Virtual Media Manager), or make the copy with VBoxManage clonemedium, which gives the new disk its own ID.

The VM starts but won’t boot

Check that you selected the right guest OS and the newest file in a snapshot chain. If the original VM used UEFI firmware, turn on EFI in the new VM’s settings (in VirtualBox, Settings > System > Enable EFI), and if it used BIOS, turn it off. A Windows guest may also show its own repair screen on first start because the virtual hardware changed.

The disk is from a Linux VM

Windows can’t read ext4, so a converted VHD won’t open in File Explorer. 7-Zip can read EXT partitions, so try Method 1, or boot the Linux system with Method 2 or 3.

You’re asked for a password or recovery key

If the VM was encrypted in VMware, you need its password. If the guest drive uses BitLocker, you’ll need the BitLocker recovery key to read files from it. None of the methods here can bypass either.

How to confirm it worked and clean up

• 7-Zip: open a few extracted files to make sure they’re complete, then close 7-Zip. Nothing else to undo.
• VMware or VirtualBox: shut the VM down when finished. To remove it without deleting your disk, use Remove in Workstation’s library, or in VirtualBox choose Remove and then Remove only (not “Delete all files”).
• Attached VHD: in Disk Management, right-click the disk label (for example, Disk 2) and choose Detach VHD. Microsoft notes this doesn’t delete the VHD or its data. Delete the .vhd file afterward if you no longer need it.

Frequently asked questions

Can Hyper-V on Windows 10 use a VMDK?

Not directly. Hyper-V works with VHD and VHDX disks, so convert the VMDK to VHD first (Method 4) and then point a new Hyper-V VM at the converted file. Expect to adjust settings, since a VM built for VMware may need driver changes to boot under different virtual hardware.

Can I change files inside a VMDK?

7-Zip can only read. To edit, delete or replace files on the disk, boot the VM or attach the VMDK as a second disk to a working VM in Workstation Pro or VirtualBox. Changes on a converted VHD are saved to the VHD only, not back to the VMDK.

Why is my VMDK only 1 KB?

That’s a descriptor file, a short text file that lists where the disk’s data lives. The data is in the larger -flat.vmdk or -s00x.vmdk files beside it. Copying only the small file gives you an empty-looking disk, so always move the whole set.

Can I open a VMDK from a VMware ESXi server?

Yes, once it’s on your PC. Download both the descriptor .vmdk and its -flat.vmdk from the datastore, keep them in the same folder, and then use any method above. A disk set up with thin provisioning may grow to its full size when downloaded, so check free space first.

Is there a free way to repair a damaged VMDK?

First try the steps here on a copy: 7-Zip can often still pull files from a disk that won’t boot. If the VM had snapshots or a backup, restoring from those is usually faster than repair. Commercial recovery tools exist, but run any of them on a copy, never on the only one.

Once you’ve copied out what you need, you might want a fresh virtual machine for future work; here’s how to install Windows 10 on VMware. Working with other disk image formats? See how to open BIN files in Windows 10.