If macOS throws a message saying it couldn't open the installer because it wasn't downloaded from the App Store, Control-click the file icon and choose Open from the context menu, then confirm the action by clicking the Open button.
With the disk image mounted, double-click the Install Parallels Desktop button in the installer. If you see a warning that the app was downloaded from the Internet, click Open to continue. To finish installing Parallels, you must accept the terms to initiate the download process, verify your identity, and permit Parallels to access your Mac.
Launch Parallels and the Installation Assistant should take over. If it doesn't show up, click the File menu and choose New to create a fresh virtual machine.
Parallels allow you to manually install Windows 11 using an ISO. If you want to take that route, download Windows 11 ISO, and then choose the Other Options button on the setup screen. But, in this guide, we'll let Parallels download and install Windows, which is more convenient.
Click the Install Windows button to let Parallels download and install Windows 11. On the next page, select what you wish to use Parallels for, or simply click Continue to go with the default Productivity option. After that, Parallels will start the download process.
If Parallels requests access to your system storage after downloading Windows, click Allow. With that done, Parallels will validate and launch the installer.
It may take a while to install Windows 11—be patient as Parallels optimizes Windows 11 on your Mac. You'll see an "Installation Complete" message at the end of the process. At that point, click on the screen to continue.
Step 3: Complete the Installation
You'll be prompted to create a free Parallels account or sign in to an existing one. Select I'm a new user to create a new account or I have a password to log in to an existing account.
You can Sign in with Apple and avoid sharing your real email address. Parallels Desktop includes a 14-day free trial without limitations. Once it expires, you'll need to buy a license from the Parallels website.
Parallels will now boot your VM to finish installing Windows 11. The Windows License Agreement comes up next, so click the Accept button to continue.
You should now land on the Windows 11 desktop in a macOS window. With everything installed and set up correctly, you can run your favorite Windows apps and games alongside macOS! You can close the VM at any time by clicking Actions in the Windows 11 menu bar and selecting Shutdown. You can then quit Windows 11 safely from there.
This step is optional, but the Parallels Toolbox includes a variety of helpful utilities for freeing up storage space, content creation, optimizing computer settings for a presentation, and more. To get them, launch Parallels Desktop, click Parallels Desktop from the menu bar, select Install Parallels Toolbox for Mac, and then click Install Now.
You can now access the various apps in the Parallels Toolbox from the macOS menu bar in the top-right corner.
Parallels Toolbox won't replace the need for multiple apps, so I recommend installing your favorite Windows apps, too.
You can get third-party Windows apps via the Microsoft Store or the developers' websites, just like on a real PC. Parallels Desktop even allows you to open a downloaded Windows app installer directly from the macOS Finder, and it'll take over and do the right thing.
For inspiration, check out our list of must-have Windows apps for any new PC.
Step 5. Customize Your Windows 11 Virtual Machine
You can adjust various settings by clicking Actions from the Windows 11 menu bar and then selecting Configure (some of the settings cannot be changed until your virtual machine is shut down).
Under the General tab, click the Change button next to Configure for to choose whether you'll primarily use Windows 11 for productivity, gaming, development, etc. You can give your Windows 11 virtual machine a custom title in the Name field.
Next, click the Hardware tab to fine-tune your virtual machine by adjusting the amount of virtual RAM, processors, graphics cores, and other features available to Windows 11.
Click additional sections in the sidebar to configure other simulated hardware capabilities and how software features like sharing and picture-in-picture behave. Close the settings window to save the changes to your virtual PC.
Unsupported Features in Windows on ARM
According to Microsoft's support document, some features are unsupported in Windows on ARM:
- DirectX 12: Games and apps that use Direct X are not supported.
- 32-bit apps: 32-bit ARM apps on the Windows Store don't work on Apple silicon Macs.
- Android apps: Running Android apps available in the Amazon Appstore doesn't work.
- GNU/Linux: You cannot use a GNU/Linux environment on Windows 11.
- Windows Sandbox: You can't run Windows apps in isolation.
- Virtualization-based Security: Isolating a secure region of memory from the normal operating system is unsupported.
There are some perfectly valid reasons to run Windows 11 on a Mac. Regardless of your reason, virtualization software like Parallels is a very convenient method to run Microsoft's latest and greatest operating system alongside macOS with minimal effort.
