Virtual machines and disk images can be among the largest results on a Mac. They can contain an entire operating system and unique documents.
Shut down the virtual machine completely rather than suspending it. Quit its manager before moving or deleting files.
Check snapshots, linked disks, shared folders, encryption, and whether the machine is backed up. Use the virtualization app’s storage manager when available.
Sparse and dynamically allocated disks can have a logical maximum larger than current physical use.
Do not delete files from inside a virtual-machine package. Export or remove the whole machine through its owning application after verifying required data.