2 Solutions to Effectively Uninstall VMware Player in Windows

Need help to completely uninstall VMware Player on your PC? We have listed different, professional removal instructions on this page for you to follow, hopefully they can give a clear understanding of program’s removal in Windows.

VMware Player builds on the foundation of Workstation Pro, and delivers a streamlined user interface for creating and running operating systems and applications in a virtual machine. The free version is available for non-commercial, personal and home use. Commercial organizations require paid licenses to use Workstation Player.

Official website: www.vmware.com
Default installation folder: C:\Program Files\VMware Player\
Built-in uninstaller: C:\ProgramData\VMware\VM Player\Uninstaller\uninstall.exe
Program size: 100M

The complete uninstall process includes particular steps you might have missed before. By going through the following steps you shall successfully uninstall VMware Player.

Manual Steps to Uninstall VMware Player

First of all, make sure you’re using an Administrator account. If your system never had a second account, ignore this, then start the removal right away:

Step 1: close VMware Player.
Quit the VMware Player program from running in the background no matter what. It may not be necessary towards the removal of some programs, but just in case.

Step 2: open the list of currently installed programs.
Windows 7: open the Start menu > Control Panel > Uninstall a program
Windows 8: right-click on the Start button > Control Panel > Uninstall a program
Windows 10: open the Start menu > Settings > System > Apps & features

Step 3: uninstall VMware Player from the programs list.
Click on VMware Player > Uninstall or Double-click VMware Player to activate its default uninstaller > confirm the removal > wait for the wizard to finish the process.

Step 4: Follow the on-screen prompts to proceed with the removal.
When you’re prompted with options including Change, Repair, and Remove, select Remove and click Next.

Then if you’re not planning to reinstall VMware Player, uncheck the options “Product configuration” and “Product license information” and click Next.

Step 5: open the Windows Registry Editor.
Windows 7: open the Start menu > Execute “regedit” in the search box
Windows 8: point your mouse to the bottom-right corner > Search > Execute “regedit” in the box
Windows 10: Execute “regedit” in the taskbar box.

Step 6: delete the vestiges to completely uninstall VMware Player from your PC.
Now you’re removing the files that regular uninstallation might leave behind. Before doing this, you might want to read How to Back up & Restore the Registry in case of any mistaken deletion.

Delete the following folders:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\VMware, Inc.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VMware, Inc.

Then on the navigator of Registry Editor, click Edit > Find… > search for “VMware Player” > Delete the file (s)/folder (s) you found.

Step 7: restart your PC to take effect.
Then check your system tray (right end of the taskbar) and Task Manager (hit Ctrl + Alt + Del to open), if VMware Player is not there then the removal was successful.

So, as you can see there are more than one option you can take to complete the cleaning job. Anything you want to ask or share about this subject? Feel free to leave your comments below. For removal instructions of other similar software programs, click these link to view:

How to remove Defraggler?

How to remove Opera Browser?

Any Better Way to Uninstall VMware Player?

You can choose another shortcut to reach the final “destination” instead of taking the path through Control Panel and Registry Editor. Simply download a helper to manage the work for you in the background. All you are asked to do is clicking a few buttons to make it happen. These are steps:

1. Download and install Max Uninstall.

2. Open the helper, locate and select the VMware Player icon, then hit the green Run Analysis button on the left, as you can see in the image. Then check all the items belonging to the program and hit the green Complete Uninstall button.

3. The next is exactly the Registry part – after it finishes the first part, click on Scan Leftovers, tick all items likewise, then hit the green Delete Leftovers button to completely uninstall VMware Player.

Short video to show you the whole process:

This way the target program shall be gone for good. Since there are so many people that have no clue or don’t know how to perform the conventional cleaning process, this would be a better choice for them to save much time. If you happened to be one of them, I believe you will like this trustworthy tool.

You may try to use it to uninstall VMware Player or any other program you failed to remove in the past. Computer is like a creature, it gets tired and runs slowly when it bears heavy burden. So we shall make our move to optimize its performance when it’s necessary. It feels great to free up your hard drive space for more important purposes, isn’t it?