Q. How can I delete entries in my Hyper-V management console for virtual machines (VMs) that don't exist?

A. The VMs displayed in the Hyper-V management console are based on shortcuts stored in the folder C:ProgramDataMicrosoftWindowsHyper-VVirtual Machines on the Hyper-V server, which is hidden by default. The shortcuts point to XML configuration files for your VMs. An example of the Virtual Machines folder is shown here.

The links in the folder are the globally unique identifiers (GUIDs) of the VMs. Delete the invalid link and the VM will no longer show up in the management console. You can get more information about a VM before deleting a link by double-clicking the link, which will open the linked XML file. The link won't work if the VM's XML no longer exists.

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