Mirrored folders work in a similar way to shared folders. Mirrored folders allow you to select an entire folder such as Documents or Downloads and VMware Fusion will automatically mirror the entire folder between your Mac and your Windows VM. Again, because these files are stored on the Mac, this makes it easy for you to always have a backup of your commonly used files as Time Machine will backup your Documents and Downloads folders automatically. This is great because it simplifies the opening of files while already inside your Windows VM. Its important to note that VMware Fusion does not create duplicates of the files in the mirroring process, but simply creates one folder that’s accessible from Mac OS X and your Virtual Machine.
To configure a mirrored folder in a virtual machine:
WARNING: Any data currently occupying a folder in the virtual machine prior to mirroring becomes unavailable after following these steps. Be sure to move this data to another location in the virtual machine or to the Mac before proceeding.
- Launch VMware Fusion and run the desired VM
- From Fusion’s menu bar, click Virtual Machine > Settings.
- Click Sharing.
- Enable each folder you would like to mirror (Desktop, Documents, and Downloads)
- Close the Settings window.
- Restart your virtual machine for these changes to take effect.