When the standard VMware Tools uninstaller fails, breaks mid-way, or leaves orphaned registry keys, this PowerShell script surgically removes every trace: registry entries, services, and filesystem directories. A reboot finishes the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
VMware Tools is generally well-behaved \u2014 but there are scenarios where the built-in Windows installer (MSI) gets stuck or leaves residual artifacts that block a clean reinstallation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In these cases, the automated script below is far more reliable than hunting through the registry manually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before you begin:<\/strong>\u00a0Run this script only on a VM that is being migrated away from VMware, decommissioned, or undergoing a clean reinstall. Removing VMware Tools from a running VMware-hosted VM without reinstalling will disable mouse integration, shared clipboard, time synchronization, and balloon memory management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Download and save the file as\u00a0 PowerShell \u2014 Remove_VMwareTools.ps1<\/p>\n\n\n\n The function\u00a0 Using the discovered IDs, the script compiles a list of every registry path that holds VMware installer metadata:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It also adds two filesystem directories to the list:\u00a0 For guests running Windows Server 2008 or 2012 (kernel version < 10), three additional hard-coded legacy GUIDs are appended to cover CLSIDs that don\u2019t exist on newer OSes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The script queries the Service Control Manager for all services whose display name starts with \u201cVMware\u201d, plus\u00a0 Before touching anything, the script prints the full target list and asks for explicit confirmation ( After reboot:<\/strong>\u00a0Confirm removal by checking\u00a0 VMware Tools is either not installed, or was already cleanly removed. No action is needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes \u2014 the script stops services before deletion. You do not need to stop them manually first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. The only dependency is an elevated PowerShell session. Run it via\u00a0 The script targets Windows Server 2008\u20132019 and was not tested on desktop editions. The registry paths are the same, but desktop VMs are out of scope for this guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Good Luck<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When the standard VMware Tools uninstaller fails, breaks mid-way, or leaves orphaned registry keys, this PowerShell script surgically removes every trace: registry entries, services, and filesystem directories. A reboot finishes the job. Why the standard uninstaller sometimes fails VMware Tools is generally well-behaved \u2014 but there are scenarios where the built-in Windows installer (MSI) gets […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,12,18,19,14,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-hyper-v","category-tutorials","category-virtualization","category-vmware","category-windows","category-windows-server"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3161"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3166,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3161\/revisions\/3166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itsimple.info\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Prerequisites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Remove_VMwareTools.ps1<\/code>\u00a0script saved locally on the guest VM<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nThe script<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Remove_VMwareTools.ps1<\/a><\/code>, (delete the TXT in the end of the file name) then review it before executing:<\/p>\n\n\n\n# This script will manually rip out all VMware Tools registry entries and files
# Tested for Windows Server 2019, 2016, and 2012 R2+
# \u2500\u2500 Step 1: Discover the VMware Tools installer IDs \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500
function Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID {
foreach ($item in $(Get-ChildItem Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Installer\\Products)) {
If ($item.GetValue('ProductName') -eq 'VMware Tools') {
return @{
reg_id = $item.PSChildName
msi_id = [Regex]::Match($item.GetValue('ProductIcon'), '(?<={)(.*?)(?=})') |
Select-Object -ExpandProperty Value
}
}
}
}
$vmware_tools_ids = Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID
# \u2500\u2500 Step 2: Build the list of registry targets \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500
$reg_targets = @(
\"Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Installer\\Features\\\",
\"Registry::HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\\Installer\\Products\\\",
\"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Installer\\Features\\\",
\"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Installer\\Products\\\",
\"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Installer\\UserData\\S-1-5-18\\Products\\\"
)
$VMware_Tools_Directory = \"C:\\Program Files\\VMware\"
$VMware_Common_Directory = \"C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\VMware\"
$targets = @()
If ($vmware_tools_ids) {
foreach ($item in $reg_targets) {
$targets += $item + $vmware_tools_ids.reg_id
}
$targets += \"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\{$($vmware_tools_ids.msi_id)}\"
}
# Legacy entries for Windows Server 2008 \/ 2012 (pre-10.0 kernel)
If ([Environment]::OSVersion.Version.Major -lt 10) {
$targets += \"HKCR:\\CLSID\\{D86ADE52-C4D9-4B98-AA0D-9B0C7F1EBBC8}\"
$targets += \"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\{9709436B-5A41-4946-8BE7-2AA433CAF108}\"
$targets += \"HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Uninstall\\{FE2F6A2C-196E-4210-9C04-2B1BC21F07EF}\"
}
If (Test-Path \"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\VMware, Inc.\") { $targets += \"HKLM:\\SOFTWARE\\VMware, Inc.\" }
If (Test-Path $VMware_Tools_Directory) { $targets += $VMware_Tools_Directory }
If (Test-Path $VMware_Common_Directory) { $targets += $VMware_Common_Directory }
# \u2500\u2500 Step 3: Collect VMware services \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500
$services = Get-Service -DisplayName \"VMware*\"
$services += Get-Service -DisplayName \"GISvc\"
# \u2500\u2500 Step 4: Confirm and execute \u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500\u2500
Write-Host \"The following registry keys, filesystem folders, and services will be deleted:\"
If (!$targets -and !$services) { Write-Host \"Nothing to do!\" }
Else {
$targets; $services
$user_confirmed = Read-Host \"Continue (y\/n)\"
If ($user_confirmed -eq \"y\") {
$services | Stop-Service -Confirm:$false
If (Get-Command Remove-Service -errorAction SilentlyContinue) {
$services | Remove-Service -Confirm:$false
} Else {
foreach ($s in $services) { sc.exe DELETE $($s.Name) }
}
foreach ($item in $targets) {
If(Test-Path $item) { Remove-Item -Path $item -Recurse }
}
Write-Host \"Done. Reboot to complete removal.\"
} Else { Write-Host \"Failed to get user confirmation\" }
}<\/pre>
<\/pre>\n\n\n\nWhat the script does \u2014 step by step<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Phase 1 \u2014 Discover installer IDs<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get-VMwareToolsInstallerID<\/code>\u00a0walks\u00a0HKCR\\Installer\\Products<\/code>\u00a0and finds the entry whose\u00a0ProductName<\/code>\u00a0equals \u201cVMware Tools\u201d. It returns two values:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
reg_id<\/code>\u00a0\u2014 the scrambled GUID used as the folder key across multiple registry hives<\/li>\n\n\n\nmsi_id<\/code>\u00a0\u2014 the standard GUID extracted from the\u00a0ProductIcon<\/code>\u00a0value, used in the\u00a0Uninstall<\/code>\u00a0key<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\nPhase 2 \u2014 Build the target list<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Registry hive<\/th> Purpose<\/th><\/tr><\/thead> HKCR\\Installer\\Features\\{id}<\/td> Feature advertisement records<\/td><\/tr> HKCR\\Installer\\Products\\{id}<\/td> Core product registration<\/td><\/tr> HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Installer\\Features\\{id}<\/td> WOW64 mirror of Features<\/td><\/tr> HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\Classes\\Installer\\Products\\{id}<\/td> WOW64 mirror of Products<\/td><\/tr> HKLM\\\u2026\\UserData\\S-1-5-18\\Products\\{id}<\/td> Per-machine install data (SYSTEM account)<\/td><\/tr> HKLM\\\u2026\\Uninstall\\{msi_id}<\/td> Add\/Remove Programs entry<\/td><\/tr> HKLM\\SOFTWARE\\VMware, Inc.<\/td> VMware application settings<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n C:\\Program Files\\VMware<\/code>\u00a0and\u00a0C:\\Program Files\\Common Files\\VMware<\/code>\u00a0(the latter can hold up to ~500 MB of shared libraries).<\/p>\n\n\n\nPhase 3 \u2014 Enumerate VMware services<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
GISvc<\/code>\u00a0(the VMware Guest Introspection service), which uses a different naming convention.<\/p>\n\n\n\nPhase 4 \u2014 Confirm and execute<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
y<\/code>). On approval it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Stop-Service<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\nRemove-Service<\/code>\u00a0on PowerShell 6+, or falling back to\u00a0sc.exe DELETE<\/code>\u00a0on older versions<\/li>\n\n\n\nRemove-Item -Recurse<\/code>\u00a0if the path exists<\/li>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nHow to run it<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Remove_VMwareTools.ps1<\/code>\u00a0to the guest VM (e.g.\u00a0C:\\Temp\\<\/code>)<\/li>\n\n\n\nSet-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\n.\\Remove_VMwareTools.ps1<\/code><\/li>\n\n\n\ny<\/code>\u00a0and press Enter to confirm<\/li>\n\n\n\nServices.msc<\/code>\u00a0(no VMware entries) and\u00a0C:\\Program Files\\VMware<\/code>\u00a0(directory should be gone). You can now perform a clean installation of VMware Tools or migrate the VM to a different hypervisor without conflicts.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFrequently asked questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What if the script reports \u201cNothing to do\u201d?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Will this work if VMware Tools is actively running?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Is this safe to run remotely via PSRemoting or RDP?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Invoke-Command<\/code>\u00a0or a remote desktop session \u2014 both work fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat about Windows 10 \/ Windows 11 desktop guests?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n