Older Macs with less RAM won’t be able to run Windows and macOS at the same time. However, for running big apps like Visio we recommend at least 8GB of RAM to prevent any lag or performance issues on your Mac although 4GB will just about work. To install Parallels on Mac, first of all you’ll need to make sure you have at least an Intel Mac that’s built within the past 3-4 years with at least 4GB of RAM.

The latest version of Parallels 18 now automates the entire process so that it installs Windows 11 on a Mac automatically for you – you don’t even need to download Windows from Microsoft yourself.

If only the real thing will do then the best way to run Visio on macOS is by using a virtual machine.Ī virtual machine allows you to run another operating system simultaneously inside macOS so that you can switch between the two easily.Īlthough there are a few virtual machines available, by far the easiest to setup Windows on Mac is Parallels. Of course, this only affects the desktop version of Visio – Visio Online can be used on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs without installing Windows but it’s very limited and not a replacement for Visio. The problem with this is that because of the added processing power it requires, running Visio on M1 and M2 Macs can be very slow, unstable and prone to crashes. However, Visio does still run in Windows ARM on a Mac thanks to something called x86 emulation where Windows ARM “translates” software to work in it. You can only run the ARM version of Windows on M1 & M2 Macs and it’s important to be aware that at the moment, there is no version of Visio for Windows ARM yet. You can also run Windows on Apple Silicon M1 & M2 Macs such as the M2 MacBook Pro and M2 Mac Mini – but there is a catch when trying to run Visio on them. SmartDraw also works on the latest Apple Silicon M1 and M2 Macs too and the latest version of macOS Ventura and Monterey. SmartDraw is much easier to use than Visio too and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and hassle than trying to run Windows and macOS simultaneously. We strongly recommend using our our top alternative to Visio on a Mac SmartDraw which is the only genuine equivalent to Visio on Mac that can import, edit and export Visio files in VSDX format. Using Windows on a Mac also has all the associated problems and issues that it does on Windows such as the risk of viruses, frequent system updates and slow downs over time.

Before you begin, be aware that this setup process takes time and we strongly recommend using one of these excellent alternatives to Visio on Mac especially if you’ve got an Apple Silicon M1 or M2 Mac.

Open visio on mac