VMware Workstation keyboard shortcut?

Question

When working in full screen mode, I'd like a way to quickly switch between host and VM using a toggle key. How can I do this? Thanks.

Answer 1

I do not know a single keystroke way, however if you press Ctrl+Alt to release the capture of the Mouse and keyboard, followed by Alt+Tab, it should allow you to quickly switch to another window on the host machine.

Answer 2

From VMware's Setting Configuration Options on the User's Computer :

Hot Keys for Switching Directly to Virtual Machines and the Host Computer

You can specify a hot key or hot key combination for switching directly to any available virtual machine on a host computer. Each time you press the specified hot key, the screen display switches to that of the specified virtual machine. You may also specify a hot key for switching directly to the host operating system.

If any particular virtual machine is not running, pressing the hot key for that virtual machine has no effect.

You define the hot key used to switch to a virtual machine by adding a line to the target virtual machine's configuration (.vmx) file. The value of this option defines the hot key. It is specified as key,modifier. There is no default.

For example, to use Ctrl-Shift-F1 to switch to a particular virtual machine, add the following line to that virtual machine's .vmx file, or modify its value if the option is already listed.

FullScreenSwitch.directKey = "0x70,0x6"

You define the hot key used to switch to the host operating system by adding a line to the global configuration file (config.ini). The value of this option defines the hot key. It is specified as key,modifier. There is no default.

For example, to use Ctrl-Shift-F9 to switch to the host operating system, add the following line to the config.ini file, or modify its value if the option is already listed.

FullScreenSwitch.hostDirectKey = "0x78,0x6"

Answer 3

I'm pretty sure you can download VMWare tools which will enable you focus on the host and guest OS just by clicking. I.e. you are able to move out of the Guest screen to the Host and clicking anything in the Host screen will change the focus to Host OS.