The new version 6.0 of Oracle VM VirtualBox comes with a new feature called File Manager using which you can transfer files between the guest OS and the host OS. It is much easier than using the shared files/folders approach of sharing the files between the guest and host systems. Through the use of the file manager in VirtualBox, you can directly access all the partitions of the both systems and transfer files or folders quickly. We tested it to be working flawlessly with Windows 10 host OS, and Windows 10 guest OS.
Here is how you can use the File Manager feature in VirtualBox to transfer files between the guest OS and the host OS:
- Launch VirtualBox and run any of your guest operating systems.
- When the guest OS is running, select Machine → File Manager from the menubar.
- In the File Manager window, click on the New Session button in the toolbar.
- Enter the login details for any user that has access to local partitions. If you have not setup username and password for your guest OS, then you should create a username and password before this can work.
- Once a session has been created, you will see the filesystems visible on the both left side and the right side. The left side will show the host OS filesystem and the right side will show the guest OS filesystem. You can select files and use the arrows in the middle to transfer them from one side to another.
- After you have done using the File Manager, you can close the session and the File Manager window.
Oracle VirtualBox is a powerful virtualization software that is being offered for free under the GNU open-source license. It runs on Windows, Linux and Mac and can host a large number of the guest operating systems. With the new file manager, it has become even easier to use as far as file sharing is concerned.