Uninstall Parallels Desktop on Mac without deleting virtual machines
Shut down each guest operating system normally rather than pausing or suspending it, then quit Parallels Desktop. Copy the PVM files you need to an independent backup and verify that they open in a working Parallels environment before deciding to delete originals. Parallels says removing the app does not delete PVM files. These steps cover the Parallels Desktop download from parallels.com and the Homebrew cask.
Before you remove the app
Uninstalling Parallels Desktop does not cancel a subscription or remove the license from your Parallels account. If you plan to use the license on another Mac, check your Parallels account first; this test did not cover license transfer.
Parallels can store virtual machines in a chosen folder or on an external disk, and older versions saved them in ~/Documents/Parallels. An empty ~/Parallels does not prove there are no virtual machines. From the Parallels virtual machine list, find each machine's actual file, shut it down, and copy the PVMs you need.
Quit Parallels and remove the app
- Shut down every virtual machine and quit Parallels Desktop.
- Turn off Parallels Desktop under System Settings › General › Login Items & Extensions if it is listed there.
- Move Parallels Desktop from Applications to the Trash. Uninstall Parallels Desktop
Deleting a virtual machine is a separate choice: Remove a virtual machine. The longer article is Uninstall Parallels Desktop on Mac Without Deleting VMs.
Where the virtual machines and app data live
| Location | What it holds | Keep or remove |
|---|---|---|
~/Parallels |
Virtual machines (.pvm) in the default location |
Keep or migrate each VM before touching it. |
~/Documents/Parallels |
Virtual machines from older versions | Check it yourself; Mole does not look here. |
~/Library/Parallels |
App data beside the VMs, not a cache | Remove only when you are not coming back. |
~/Applications (Parallels) |
Shortcuts to apps inside your virtual machines | Safe to remove after the VMs are gone. |
Check the result
pgrep -il 'parallels|prl_'
mdfind -name .pvm
ls -d ~/Parallels ~/Documents/Parallels ~/Library/Parallels
ls /Library/LaunchDaemons | grep -i parallels
No output from pgrep means Parallels and its background processes have stopped. mdfind lists PVM files Spotlight knows about, including custom and external locations; each one is a virtual machine still on disk, and a VM on an unindexed disk will not appear. For ls -d, a listed path is still there. Lines from the last command mean Parallels' system components are still installed, which this test did not check; follow Parallels' uninstall instructions for them rather than deleting files by hand.
If you installed it with Homebrew
Mole skips --zap when its list reaches unchecked or shared data, or cannot be fully checked, and still cleans the leftovers you selected.
Ordinary Homebrew uninstall requests Parallels' console and prl_client_app to stop and removes its eight command links in /usr/local/bin: prl_convert, prl_disk_tool, prl_perf_ctl, prlcopy, prlcore2dmp, prlctl, prlexec and prlsrvctl. To use that route without zap:
brew uninstall --cask parallels
Running brew uninstall --cask --zap parallels yourself runs the zap list whatever you checked in Mole. It does not trash your virtual machines: it removes ~/Parallels and ~/Library/Parallels only when they are already empty. It does trash ~/Applications (Parallels), ~/Library/Parallels/Downloads, Parallels containers, caches, logs, and preferences, and it deletes /Library/Preferences/Parallels. Copy anything you need from ~/Library/Parallels/Downloads first.
What Mole lists
With Remove data and settings with apps off, these rows are unchecked. With it on, eligible rows can be preselected, including ~/Parallels and ~/Library/Parallels; these can hold virtual machines and downloads, so uncheck them to keep that data and verify your PVM backups before proceeding.
| Location | In the plan |
|---|---|
~/Parallels |
Unchecked with the data-removal setting off. |
~/Library/Parallels |
Unchecked with the data-removal setting off. |
If you left its data row unchecked, a PVM file remaining after the app is gone is expected. Mole does not list ~/Documents/Parallels or any other folder under Documents, Desktop, or Movies, and it does not list the shared ~/Library/Preferences/Parallels folder.
What this test covered
Parallels Desktop 27.0.2 from the official download was copied into Applications and uninstalled through Mole on September 19, 2026. The installer was not run and the Mac was not restarted, so Parallels' system extension, components under /Library, and launch daemons were not installed or checked, and no virtual machines were tested. The two review rows came from a user report on September 21 that PVM files remained after uninstalling.