Parallels Desktop | User's Guide

Use macOS as a Guest OS

You can install a copy of macOS in a virtual machine and use it as a guest operating system. This can be useful, for example, if you want to test software in a fresh version of macOS without having to log in and out of your main account.

By default, an installation of macOS is stored in a recovery partition on your Mac You can easily install macOS into a virtual machine from that partition without having to purchase or download another copy of macOS.

To install macOS in a virtual machine:

1. Open Parallels Desktop and choose File > New.
2. Select Install macOS Using the Recovery Partition, click Continue, and follow the onscreen instructions.

When using OS X Lion or later as a guest OS, you can use it in Coherence mode, so that guest OS application windows appear on the host OS desktop alongside host OS applications.

You can also copy and paste text and drag and drop files between host and guest macOS, just as you can when using Windows as a guest OS.

You can set whether function keys and other system shortcuts trigger actions in the host or guest version of macOS.