Does Windows come with my purchase of Parallels Desktop for Mac?

1000 users found this article helpful

Parallels Desktop for Mac does not include Microsoft® Windows. A license for Parallels Desktop for Mac is the license key that allows you to activate only Parallels Desktop, the license key isn't supposed to activate Windows.

Visit the articles below to find out how to install a new virtual machine.

Install Windows 11 on a Mac with Apple M-series chip

Install Windows 11 on a Mac with an Intel chip

Mac computers with Apple M-series chips

Activation instructions are available at KB 114051.

Note: Parallels® Desktop is an authorized solution for running Arm® versions of Windows 11 Pro and Windows 11 Enterprise in a virtual environment on its platform on Apple M-series computers. 

You will need to acquire a separate license for Windows 11 Pro if you do not already have one. A unique license is required for each instance of Windows 11 Pro that you are running, either on a hardware or in a virtual machine. You can buy a license from the Microsoft Store or purchase one through retail. Windows 11 Pro product keys are platform agnostic (x64 vs Arm). To use Windows 11 Enterprise with this solution, you will first need to acquire the Windows 11 Pro license and then can upgrade to Windows 11 Enterprise through a volume licensing agreement (contact your IT admin for more information). 

Mac computers with Intel processors

You can purchase a Windows license directly from Microsoft's official website:

If you want to buy any other version of Windows or do not have a Windows installation disc or .iso disk image at all, please visit Microsoft Online Store or online retailers such as Amazon.

A list of all compatible Windows versions is available on this page:

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/resources/

Get Windows 10 in Parallels Desktop for Mac

Note: Windows 10 isn't supported in Parallels Desktop for Mac computers with Apple M-Series chips.

Read this blog post to learn how to install Windows 10 easily using Parallels Desktop for Mac: How to Get Windows 10 on Mac with Parallels Desktop.

Was this article helpful?

Tell us how we can improve it.