How Docker Desktop 4.6’s virtiofs Boosts Mac Development Speed by Up to 98%

Docker Desktop for Mac has released a brand‑new 4.6 version with many updates.

The most notable addition is an experimental feature called virtiofs , which significantly improves file‑sharing performance for macOS users and changes the way files are synchronized between the macOS host and the Docker VM.

According to the official description, these improvements reduce file‑operation time by as much as 98%.

The performance gain is crucial when developers work with frameworks such as Symfony or React, editing source code on the macOS host while the application runs inside a Docker container. Using Docker volumes to share source code requires rapid, reliable synchronization of host file changes to the container filesystem. Modern dependency management can easily introduce 10k–100k files, linearly increasing performance loss; virtiofs alleviates this bottleneck.

Early testers of Docker Desktop 4.6 reported dramatic speedups: a 284 MB MySQL import dropped from 3 minutes 16 seconds to 18 seconds; a large codebase’s composer install time fell 87% from 1 minute 27 seconds to 11 seconds; and starting a monolithic TypeScript app became 80% faster, from 1 minute 30 seconds to 18 seconds.

How to Enable virtiofs

Note: virtiofs is only available for the following macOS versions

macOS 12.2 or later (Apple Silicon)

macOS 12.3 or later (Intel)

To enable virtiofs in Docker Desktop:

Upgrade Docker Desktop to version 4.6 (download link: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/mac/release-notes/)

Navigate to Preferences → Experimental Features

Select the Enable VirtioFS accelerated directory sharing option

Click Apply & Restart

virtiofs is now accessible in Docker Desktop for Mac 4.6 and is available to all users, including Docker Personal (free), Pro, Team, and Enterprise subscribers.

Because virtiofs is still experimental, some issues may arise; containers running virtiofs can fail due to permission errors. Users are encouraged to report any problems to the Docker Mac filesystem performance thread.

For more details, see the official documentation: https://docs.docker.com/desktop/mac/#experimental-features https://www.docker.com/blog/speed-boost-achievement-unlocked-on-docker-desktop-4-6-for-mac/