How to Move Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Windows 10
Hyper-V enables running virtualized computer systems on top of a physical host. These virtualized systems (aka: guests) can be used and managed just as if they were physical computer systems, however they exist in a virtualized and isolated environment.
If you like, you can move a Hyper-V virtual machine and all files associated with it to a new storage location of your choice.
This tutorial will show you how to completely move a Hyper-V virtual machine to a new location in Windows 10.
CONTENTS:
- Option One: Move Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Hyper-V Manager
- Option Two: Move Hyper-V Virtual Machine in PowerShell
OPTION ONE
Move Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Hyper-V Manager
1. Turn off the Hyper-V virtual machine you want to move if currently running.
2. Open
Hyper-V Manager (virtmgmt.msc).
3. Select the Hyper-V virtual machine (ex: "Windows 7 Ultimate") you want to move, and perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)
- Click/tap on Move in the Actions pane on the far right.
- Right click or press and hold on the virtual machine, and click/tap on Move.
4. Click/tap on
Next. (see screenshot below)
5. Select (dot)
Move the virtual machine's storage, and click/tap on
Next. (see screenshot below)
6. Select (dot)
Move all of the virtual machine's data to a single location, and click/tap on
Next. (see screenshot below)
7. Perform the following actions to specify a new location for the virtual machine's items: (see screenshots below)
1) Click/tap on the
Browse button.
2) Navigate to and select the folder at the location you want to move the virtual machine to.
3) Click/tap on
Select Folder.
4) Click/tap on
Next.
8. Verify everything is correct, and click/tap on
Finish when ready to move the virtual machine. (see screenshot below)
9. The virtual machine will now start moving to the new location. (see screenshot below)
It can take a while to finish moving the virtual machine.
10. When finished, you can close Hyper-V Manager if you like.
OPTION TWO
Move Hyper-V Virtual Machine in PowerShell
To see more usage options for the Move-VMStorage command, see: Move-VMStorage | Microsoft Dics
1. Turn off the Hyper-V virtual machine you want to move if currently running.
2. Open an
elevated PowerShell.
3. Type
Get-VM
into the elevated command prompt, and press
Enter. Make note of the Hyper-V virtual machine
name (ex: "Windows 7 Ultimate") you want to move. (see screenshot below)
4. Type the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press
Enter. (see screenshot below)
Move-VMStorage "<VM name>" -DestinationStoragePath "<Full Path of New Location>"
Substitute <VM name> in the command above with the actual virtual machine name (ex: "Windows 7 Ultimate") from step 3 you want to move.
Substitute <Full Path of New Location> in the command above with the full path of the folder (ex: "E:\Virtual Machines\Windows 7 Ultimate") at the new location you want to move the virtual machine to.
For example: Move-VMStorage "Windows 7 Ultimate" -DestinationStoragePath "E:\Virtual Machines\Windows 7 Ultimate"
5. When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like. (see screenshot below)
It can take a while to finish moving the virtual machine.
That's it,
Shawn