Pause and Unpause a Virtual Machine

You can pause a virtual machine multiple times for a few seconds, or up to several minutes. The pause feature is useful when a virtual machine is engaged in an lengthy, processor-intensive activity that prevents you from using the host system to do a more immediate task.

Note: You cannot pause a remote virtual machine.

Prerequisites

Familiarize yourself with the restrictions and limitations of the pause feature. See Pause Feature Restrictions and Limitations.

Procedure

• To pause a virtual machine, select the virtual machine and select VM > Pause.
  The virtual machine display dims and a play button appears over the display. Paused virtual machines that are configured to display on more than one monitor have a play button on each monitor.
• To pause all of the powered-on virtual machines without interacting with the Workstation Pro user interface, right-click the virtual machine status icon located in the notification area on the task bar of the host computer and select Pause All Virtual Machines.
• To unpause a virtual machine, click the play button on the virtual machine display or deselect VM > Pause.