macOS

Where Does UTM Store Virtual Machines?

UTM keeps each VM in a .utm bundle inside its container folder. The exact macOS path and the Show in Finder trick.

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UTM stores virtual machines as .utm bundles. Each bundle holds the config plist plus an Images folder with qcow2 disks. The default home is ~/Library/Containers/com.utmapp.UTM/Data/Documents.

Older builds used ~/Documents, and some 4.x reports mention a bare com.utmapp.UTM versus UTM container name difference. Do not guess. Right click the VM inside UTM and use Show in Finder; that always resolves to the live bundle.

Where UTM stores this, by platform

macOS
~/Library/Containers/com.utmapp.UTM/Data/Documents

Each VM is Name.utm with disks in Images inside. The folder is sandboxed, so move VMs with UTM quit and keep mounts stable. Show in Finder from inside UTM is the reliable opener.

Frequently asked questions

how do i open my utm vm files

Right click the VM in the UTM list and choose Show in Finder. That opens the real .utm bundle even when the container path changed between versions. Right click the bundle and pick Show Package Contents to see disks.

can i store utm vms on an external drive

Quit UTM, move the .utm bundles, and symlink the old Documents path to the new spot, or use the in-app Move action on newer builds. External and network drives work but need stable mounts; a dropped mount mid write can corrupt the image.

Notice an outdated path? Let us know.