So instead I looked about and the best way is to take the following steps: Start your VM OS up and optionally

remove any cruft. At least run: sudo apt-get autoclean To prepare for the shrinking process run: sudo cat /dev/zero > zero;sync;sleep 1;sudo rm zero This fills all remaining space on your virtual disk with a file full of zeros so the space can be reclaimed in the shrinking step. Note: Your hard disk WILL NOT fill up as the vmdk images do actually optimise th e storage of files containing zeros Shutdown VM OS and delete any snapshots available then Quit VMWare Fusion To start the shrinking process in OSX run (Replacing path_to_your/disk with some thing like '/Users/username/Documents/Virtual Machines/Ubuntu/Ubuntu.vmdk'): cd '/Applications/VMware Fusion.app/Contents/Library' ./vmware-vdiskmanager -d path_to_your/disc.vmdk ./vmware-vdiskmanager -k path_to_your/disc.vmdk The first command defragments the disk, whilst the second actually does the shri nking.