Stuck in a VM – to release the mouse press the host key
October 2nd, 2008 | 
Author: So everybody and their mother has a virtualization product now. Too bad all the vendors could not standardize on the same key (or key combinations) that releases the mouse from a virtual machine’s (VM) console window. Until that day happens (don’t hold your breath) this post will be my listing of known host key or key combinations by vendor and product for when your mouse is stuck in a VM.
Please leave a comment on any products I have not included and I’ll update the list.
Updated 10.03.08 – corrected key combination for Mac versions and created separate rows for VMware Fusion and Parallels Workstation
|
Vendor |
Host Key |
Products |
|
VMware |
Ctrl+Alt (Windows and Linux) |
ESX, ESXi, Workstation, Server, Player, Ace |
|
VMware |
Ctrl-Cmd (Mac) |
Fusion |
|
Microsoft |
Right Alt |
Virtual Server 2005 R2, Hyper-V, Virtual PC 2007 |
|
Citrix |
Ctrl+Alt |
XenServer |
|
Virtual Iron |
Ctrl+Alt |
Virtual Iron 4.x |
|
KVM |
Right Ctrl |
KVM, Qemu |
|
Sun xVM |
Right Ctrl |
xVM Server, VirtualBox |
|
Parallels |
Ctrl+Alt (Windows) |
Workstation |
|
Parallels |
Ctrl+Option(Alt) (Mac) |
Workstation |
One of the posts I used as a research reference was Common Virtualization Keyboard Shortcuts from x86virtualization.com. Check out this post for a complete listing all keyboard shortcuts for Microsoft and VMware products besides the one for escaping the mouse from the VM console.
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Posted in XenServer, esx, how to, hyper-v, microsoft, virtual iron, virtualbox, vmware | 
Tags: citrix, esx, linux, microsoft, virtual iron, virtualbox, virtualization, vmware, windows, Xen
Stupid M$ always make it different from others
Only one small correction, Rich: VMware Fusion uses Ctrl-Cmd, which on a Mac is distinct and different than Ctrl-Alt. Macs do have an Alt key, but the Cmd key is unique to Macs.
Thanks for the catch Scott. I have updated the table for Fusion and for th e Mac key combination for Parallels.
Richard,
Glad you enjoyed my post at x86Virtualization.com. It is something I wrote a long time ago, and really need to go back and update it. I don’t think much has changed, but there are a few new products out there which I should add.
Bradford Knowlton
http://x86virtualization.com/
Bradford,
Please let me know if you update or write a new post with new product keyboard shortcuts and I\’ll definitely make sure the VM /ETC readers know about it! Thanks for proving a great single point of reference.
Thanks!
::shakes fist at microsoft::
smed,
LOL. Sounds like you found this post for similar reasons that made me
write it!
*Rich Brambley*
rbrambley@gmail.com
VM /ETC <http://feeds2.feedburner.com/%7Er/vmetc/%7E6/2>
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smed,
LOL. Sounds like you found this post for similar reasons that made me
write it!
Also a quick “thank you”. The MS help docs take forever to have that info, or clean links to it. Your note was right there in Google when I looked for help.
Just an FYI, while the Right Alt key is the host key for all MS virtual machines, this will not release the mouse if you are connecting to a VM via Hyper-V. In Hyper-V it's Alt+Ctrl+Right Arrow
Sorry, make that Alt+Ctrl+LEFT arrow
Pam,
Thanks for the Hyper-V tip