How to Passthrough USB Devices on VMware Workstation Pro 16 Virtual Machines

You can disconnect the USB devices connected to your computer and connect it to a VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machine and use it in there very easily. This feature is called USB passthrough.

In this article, I will show you how to passthrough USB devices to your VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machines. So, let’s get started.

Configuring System-wide USB Passthrough Settings:

VMware Workstation Pro 16 has some system-wide USB passthrough settings. Depending on the system-wide USB passthrough settings, VMware Workstation Pro decides what to do with your USB device when they are first plugged into your computer.

To access the system-wide USB passthrough settings of VMware Workstation Pro 16, open VMware Workstation Pro 16 and click on Edit > Preferences as marked in the screenshot below.

Navigate to the USB tab, and you should see 3 options. Select the option that suits you the best and click on OK.

Ask me what to do – VMware Workstation Pro 16 will ask you whether you want to connect it to a virtual machine or connect it to the host (your computer) every time you connect a USB device to your computer.

Connect the device to the host – VMware Workstation Pro 16 will connect the USB device to the host (your computer) every time you connect a USB device to your computer.

Connect the device to the foreground virtual machine – VMware Workstation Pro 16 will connect the USB device to the virtual machine that you will be using when you’ve connected the USB device to your computer.

Setting Up Virtual Machines for USB Passthrough:

To enable USB passthrough for a VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machine, open the virtual machine and click on Edit virtual machine settings as marked in the screenshot below.

You must have a USB Controller hardware added to the virtual machine for the USB passthrough to work, as you can see in the screenshot below.

If the virtual machine does not have a USB Controller already, you can add one to the virtual machine.

Just click on Add… as marked in the screenshot below.

Select the USB Controller from the Hardware types section and click on Finish as marked in the screenshot below.

NOTE: At a time, you can add only 1 USB Controller to a virtual machine. You can’t add multiple USB Controllers to a virtual machine. As I already have a USB Controller added to my virtual machine, the Finish button is grayed out (disabled) in my case.

Once you’ve added a USB Controller to the virtual machine, you can configure the type of devices that you would like to share with the virtual machine.

Show all USB input devices – VMware Workstation Pro 16 will allow passthrough of USB input devices (USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 input devices) to the virtual machine.

Share Bluetooth devices with the virtual machine – VMware Workstation Pro 16 will allow you to share Bluetooth devices from your computer to the virtual machine.

You can also select a specific USB version from the USB compatibility dropdown menu, as marked in the screenshot below. Selecting a USB 3.1 should be fine for most cases.

Once you’re done configuring the USB Controller, click on OK.

Passthrough USB Devices to VMware Virtual Machines:

Once you’ve added/configured the USB Controller for the virtual machine, click on Power on this virtual machine to start the virtual machine.

The virtual machine should start.

If you insert a USB device on your computer, VMware Workstation Pro 16 will ask you what you want to do with the USB device.

To connect the USB device to the virtual machine, select Connect to a virtual machine, select the virtual machine where you want to connect the USB device and click OK.

You may also check to Remember my choice and do not ask again if you’re sure that you will be using that USB device only in this virtual machine. That way, VMware Workstation Pro 16 will not ask you to select a virtual machine again when you connect the same USB device to your computer. It will automatically connect the USB device to your selected virtual machine.

You can also click on VM > Removable Devices and passthrough a USB device to your virtual machine as marked in the screenshot below.

Just select the USB device that you want to connect to the virtual machine and click on Connect (Disconnect from Host).

Click on OK.

The USB device should be connected to your virtual machine, as seen from the lsusb command in the screenshot below.

$ sudo lsusb

Disconnecting USB Devices from VM:

To disconnect the USB device from the virtual machine, click on VM > Removable Devices. Then, select the USB device that you want to disconnect from the list and click on Disconnect (Connect to host) as marked in the screenshot below.

The USB device should be disconnected from the virtual machine, as you can see from the output of the lsusb command.

$ sudo lsusb

Conclusion:

In this article, I have shown you how to configure system-wide USB passthrough settings for VMware Workstation Pro 16. I have also shown you how to configure a VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machine for USB passthrough. I have shown you how to connect a USB device to a VMware Workstation Pro 16 virtual machine and disconnect it from the virtual machine as well.

References:

[1] Configure USB Device Connection Behavior
[2] Add a USB Controller to a Virtual Machine