How to Suspend and Resume a Virtual Machine in VMware Player

Learn how to suspend a running VMware Player virtual machine, resume its saved session, understand .vmss files, and troubleshoot storage or performance issues.

Suspending a virtual machine saves its active execution state so you can continue the same session later. Unlike a guest operating system shutdown, suspension is designed for a temporary interruption: open applications, documents, terminal sessions, and other in-progress work remain available when the virtual machine resumes.

In this guide, VMware Player is the virtualization application, the guest operating system is the operating system running inside the virtual machine, and the host system is the physical computer and operating system running VMware Player. For background, see what a virtual machine is and what a guest operating system is.

What suspending a virtual machine does

A running virtual machine has a virtual machine state. This includes the contents of its virtual memory, processor execution context, device state, and active workload. VMware Player writes this state to storage when you suspend the VM, then uses it to restore the session later.

After a successful suspend, the guest stops running rather than continuing in the background. When you resume it, VMware Player restores the saved memory and device state, allowing the guest to continue from approximately the same point with its desktop and open work preserved.

When to use suspend

Use suspend when you are taking a short break and want to return quickly to the same desktop state.
Suspend before closing VMware Player when you want to preserve the current guest session.
Suspend when you need to temporarily free host CPU memory and other resources for another task.
Use a normal guest shutdown instead when the VM will remain unused for an extended period, needs maintenance, or has updates that require a restart or shutdown.

Suspend vs. shut down vs. power off

Action	What happens to the guest session	Best use case	Resume/start behavior	Key consideration
Suspend	Saves the active running state, including memory and device context.	Temporarily stop work and return to the same session quickly.	Resume the saved session with the Play virtual machine control.	Wait until the saved state is fully written; it uses host storage.
Guest shutdown	Asks the guest operating system to close applications and shut down normally.	Long-term stoppage, maintenance, updates, or a clean system state.	Start the VM and boot the guest operating system.	Unsaved application work may be lost if applications do not save it.
Power off	Stops the VM without allowing the guest operating system to shut down normally.	Only when the guest is unresponsive or a forced stop is necessary.	Start the VM and allow the guest to recover or check its filesystems.	Comparable to removing power from a physical computer; data corruption is possible.

How to suspend a running virtual machine

Start or select the target virtual machine and confirm that it is currently powered on.
Open the Player menu in VMware Player.
Open the Power submenu.
Choose Suspend Guest.
Wait while VMware Player saves the active virtual machine state. Do not close VMware Player, restart the host, move the VM files, or interrupt host power during this process.

Player > Power > Suspend Guest

When the operation finishes, the VM is no longer running and VMware Player identifies it as suspended. The host can then use resources that were previously allocated to the running guest.

How to resume a suspended virtual machine

Open VMware Player and locate the suspended VM in the library or home interface.
Select the suspended virtual machine.
Choose Play virtual machine.
Wait while VMware Player reads the saved state and restores the virtual memory and virtual device context.

After restoration finishes, control returns to the guest operating system. Applications, documents, terminal sessions, and other work that were open at suspension should be present as they were in the saved session. The first screen may take a moment to respond while the state is being loaded.

The .vmss suspended-state file

VMware uses the .vmss extension for a suspended-state file. This file belongs with the other files in the virtual machine’s directory and contains information needed to restore the suspended session.

Keep the .vmss file and the rest of the VM files together in their original location while the VM is suspended.
Do not manually delete, rename, or move the state file before resuming the VM.
Do not move the virtual machine directory while VMware Player is saving or restoring state.
After the VM returns to a running state, the suspended state is no longer needed in the same way. VMware Player manages the state as part of the power transition.

For more information about the files that make up a VM, see virtual machine files. If you need to relocate a VM, perform that task only after it is no longer suspended and VMware Player is not using its files.

How long suspend and resume take

Suspension and resumption are storage operations as well as power operations. The time depends on how much active or modified state VMware Player must write or read.

Factor	Effect on operation time	User guidance
Configured or active guest memory	A VM with more memory can require more state data to save or restore.	Allow additional time for VMs with large memory allocations.
Host storage performance	Slow storage increases the time needed to write or read the saved state.	Avoid placing the VM on storage that is slow, nearly full, or heavily occupied by other work.
Amount of changed VM state	More active or modified state can increase the amount of data processed.	Wait for the operation to complete rather than treating a delay as a failure.
Host CPU and disk activity	Competing applications can reduce the resources available to VMware Player.	Reduce disk-intensive or CPU-intensive host activity during suspend and resume.
Available disk space	Insufficient space can prevent the saved state from being written.	Check the host volume containing the VM and keep adequate free space available.

The initial suspend may take longer than later suspend operations because VMware Player may need to create or prepare the saved-state data. Timing also varies with host workload and the VM’s current activity.

Safe suspension practices

Wait for VMware Player to finish suspending before exiting the application.
Do not restart, shut down, or abruptly power off the host while the saved state is being written.
Do not move, rename, alter, or delete VM files while the VM is suspended.
Use an orderly guest shutdown for extended storage, operating-system maintenance, or updates that need to complete normally.
Save critical documents inside the guest as usual; suspension does not protect against every storage or host failure.

Troubleshooting suspend and resume

Suspend takes longer than expected

A large active memory state, slow or busy host storage, and high host resource usage are common causes. Allow the operation to finish, reduce competing disk-intensive work, and verify that the VM’s storage location has adequate free space.

The VM does not appear to resume normally

The resume process may still be loading the saved state, so wait before taking another power action. If the problem persists, confirm that the VM files remain together in their original location and that they were not altered or damaged while suspended. Never delete the .vmss file for a VM that is still suspended.

There is not enough disk space to suspend

The host volume containing the VM may not have enough room for saved-state data. Free space on that volume and try again. If saving a suspended state is not practical, shut down the guest operating system normally instead.

The guest has an update waiting for a restart

Suspension preserves the current state; it does not complete a pending reboot or maintenance task. Restart or shut down the guest as requested, then start it again when appropriate.

Practical examples

Pausing development work for the day

A Linux guest has terminal sessions, an editor, and test processes open. Suspending the VM preserves that workspace so it can be resumed later without reopening every application.

Temporarily freeing the host desktop

If you need the host for another task, suspend the running Windows guest. When ready to continue, select the VM in VMware Player and choose Play virtual machine.

Choosing a normal shutdown instead

If the guest has completed updates that request a reboot, use the guest’s restart or shutdown command. Do not rely on suspension to finish system maintenance.

Quick checklist

Confirm the VM is powered on.
Choose Player > Power > Suspend Guest.
Wait for the suspend operation to finish.
Keep the VM directory and its .vmss file intact while suspended.
To continue, select the suspended VM and choose Play virtual machine.