To use the enhanced virtual keyboard feature in a virtual machine, you must install the enhanced keyboard driver on the Windows host system. If you did not install the enhanced keyboard driver when you initially installed or upgraded Workstation Pro, you can install it by running the Workstation Pro installer in program maintenance mode.

Note: The enhanced keyboard driver has been removed from VMware Workstation 17.6 and later.

Prerequisites

Verify that you have administrative privileges on the host system.

Procedure

  1. Log in to the Windows host system as the Administrator user or as a user who is a member of the local Administrators group.
    If you log in to a domain, the domain account must also be a local administrator.
  2. Double-click the VMware-workstation-xxxx-xxxxxxx.exe file, where xxxx-xxxxxxx is the version and build numbers.
  3. Select Modify/Change.
  4. Select Enhanced Keyboard Utility.
  5. Follow the prompts to finish the installation.

What to do next

Enable the enhanced virtual keyboard feature for the virtual machine. See Use the Enhanced Virtual Keyboard Feature in a Virtual Machine.