Configure Touch Bar for Windows programs with Parallels Desktop for Mac

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Some Mac computers have the Touch Bar. It dynamically changes based on the application being used, providing context-sensitive controls and shortcuts. This article is created to answer the most frequent questions related to the use of the Touch Bar in Parallels Desktop.

Supported Windows versions

Touch Bar integration support comes for the following Windows operating systems as virtual machines inside Parallels Desktop:

Unfortunately, due to some technical limitations, there is no ability to customize or utilize the Touch Bar within macOS virtual machines.

Use Mac Touch Bar in a Windows virtual machine with Parallels Desktop on Mac

Parallels Desktop for Mac brings out-of-the-box support for many popular Windows programs, such as:

To configure Touch Bar for other Windows programs, do the following:

  1. In the Windows virtual machine bring a program that you need to focus on.
  2. Go to View in macOS menubar > click Customize Touch Bar for file Explorer...

    Note: if you don't see the option, please make sure that Parallels Desktop.app is not listed in macOS System Settings > Keyboard > Shortcuts > Function Keys.

  3. Drag your favorite items to the bottom of the screen into the Touch Bar:

  4. Click 'Done' when finished.

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