Virtualization Export Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to export (backup) one or more Hyper-V virtual machines at once in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Hyper-V enables running virtualized computer systems on top of a physical host. These virtualized systems can be used and managed just as if they were physical computer systems, however they exist in virtualized and isolated environment. Special software called a hypervisor manages access between the virtual systems and the physical hardware resources. Virtualization enables quick deployment of computer systems, a way to quickly restore systems to a previously known good state, and the ability to migrate systems between physical hosts.

You can export a Hyper-V virtual machine to back it up, and import (restore) as needed. An export gathers all required files into one unit--virtual hard disk files, virtual machine configuration files, and any checkpoint files. You can do this on a virtual machine that is in either a started or stopped state.

Reference:

You must be signed in as an administrator to export a Hyper-V virtual machine.

1 Open Hyper-V Manager (virtmgmt.msc).

2 Select one or more virtual machines (ex: "Windows 11 Home") in the middle pane you want to export. (see screenshot below)

3 Perform one of the following actions below to export the virtual machine(s):

• Click/tap on Export in the right "Actions" pane.
• Click/tap on Action on the menu bar, and click/tap on Export.
• Right click on the selected virtual machine(s) in the middle pane, and click/tap on Export.

4 Perform the following steps to select where to export and export: (see screenshots below)

1. Click/tap on Browse.
2. Navigate to and select the folder (ex: "D:\VM Backups") where you want to export the virtual machine(s) into.
3. Click/tap on Select Folder.
4. Click/tap on Export.

5 When exporting has finished, you can close Hyper-V Manager if you like. (see screenshot below)






1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Copy and paste the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below step 3)


3 Make note of the virtual machine name (ex: "Windows 11 Home") you want to export. (see screenshot below)


4 Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshotd below)

Substitute <VM Name> in the command above with the actual virtual machine name (ex: "Windows 11 Home") from step 3 you want to export.

Substitute <Full path of folder> in the command above with the full path of the folder (ex: "D:\VM Backups") you want to export all virtual machines into.

For example: Export-VM -Name "Windows 11 Home" –Path "D:\VM Backups"

5 When exporting has finished, you can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.








1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Substitute <Full path of folder> in the command above with the full path of the folder (ex: "D:\VM Backups") you want to export all virtual machines into.

For example: Get-VM | Export-VM –Path "D:\VM Backups"

3 When exporting has finished, you can close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like. (see screenshots below)

You will see a separate exporting percentage status per virtual machine being exported.

That's it,
Shawn Brink