Status Bar

When using Parallels Desktop in Window mode, the status bar at the bottom of the window shows clickable icons. The icons are shortcuts that let you control various functions. Most of the icons let you connect and disconnect hardware devices to and from Windows.

Note: If you don't see the status bar, click the triangle next to the gear icon.

The following devices have the icons on the status bar:

• Keyboard
• Floppy disk drive
• CD/DVD drive
• Hard disk
• Network adapter
• Sound card
• USB controller
• Shared folders
• Serial port
• Parallel port

If the icon appears in the status bar, Parallels Tools are installed.

To connect or disconnect a device, such as the DVD drive, from Windows, click the device icon to display its shortcut menu and select the command.

You can also connect images of discs to Windows as if they were physical DVDs, CDs, or floppy disks. To do so, drag the image file over the CD/DVD-ROM drive or floppy disk icon on the status bar.

Hide/Show Status Bar

If you don't need the status bar while working with Windows, you can hide it (click View > Hide Status Bar ) and make visible again when necessary (click View > Show Status Bar ).