How to Move a VirtualBox VM to another location

After you move a VirtualBox VM to another folder or drive using File Explorer, the Oracle VM VirtualBox Manager fails to detect the new location and thus can’t load the VM. The following error message occurs when you load a VM after moving the corresponding VM folder or the .nvram, .vbox, .vbox-prev, and the .vdi file to another location.

VM Name: Windows 11 Pro

Could not open the medium 'E:\VirtualBox VMs\Windows 11 Pro\Windows 11 Pro.vdi'.
VD: error VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND opening image file 'E:\VirtualBox VMs\Windows 11 Pro\Windows 11 Pro.vdi' (VERR_FILE_NOT_FOUND).
Result Code:
E_FAIL (0X80004005)
Component:
MediumWrap
Interface:
IMedium {ad47ad09-787b-44ab-b343-a082a3f2dfb1}

The inaccessible VM is flagged in red in the VirtualBox Manager.

Resolution

To resolve the issue, remove the corresponding VM and re-add it.

Right-click on the inaccessible VM and choose “Remove.”

Choose “Delete all files” or “Remove only” when prompted.

This removes the problematic VM.

Now, click “Add“.

Browse to select the VM (i.e., the .vbox file) you want to add manually.

That’s it. It adds the selected VM to the VirtualBox Manager listing.

RELATED: See Moving a VM or a Disk Image to a New Location and Removing and Moving Virtual Machines in the Oracle VirtualBox knowledgebase for more information.

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Additional Note

You can choose the global default VM location by clicking File and selecting “Preferences” in the VirtualBox Manager interface.

Changing the Default Machine Folder path applies to any VMs you create in the future. The setting doesn’t apply to existing VMs.