This feature is only available for Workstation Pro on a Windows host. If the USB Connections setting is set to Ask me what to do, when you plug a new USB device into the Windows host, the New USB Device Detected dialog box appears. You can connect the USB device to the host or one of the powered-on virtual machines.

A USB device is treated as new when Workstation Pro does not have a remembered connection rule for the USB device. A connection rule is remembered when you select Remember my choice and do not ask again, and stays remembered until you configure Workstation Pro to forget the rule.

Prerequisites

  1. Set the USB Connections setting to Ask me what to do. See Configure USB Device Connection Behavior.
  2. Plug a new USB device into the Windows host machine.

Procedure

  1. Select the machine to connect the USB device to.
    Option Description
    Connect to host The device connects to the Windows host machine.
    Connect to a virtual machine The device connects to the powered-on virtual machine of your choice.

    Select a virtual machine in the list.

  2. (Optional) If you want Workstation Pro to remember your machine selection, select Remember my choice and do not ask again.
    This option creates a connection rule between the specific USB device and the specific machine.
  3. Click OK.

Results

Workstation Pro connects the USB device to the machine you selected. If you selected Remember my choice and do not ask again, in the future, when you connect the USB device to the Windows host machine, Workstation Pro implements the connection rule and connects the device to the machine you configured without prompting. However, if the target virtual machine of the connection rule is powered off or deleted at the time the device is plugged into the host, the USB device automatically connects to the host. Anytime in the future, you can delete the connection rule. After which, Workstation Pro treats the USB device as new again. See Delete the Connection Rule for a Specific USB Device.

What to do next

Access the USB device from the machine you configured.