When running Linux virtual machines in VMware (especially with multiple CPUs assigned), users may experience significant keyboard lag or input delay. This issue is particularly noticeable when typing quickly, where characters appear with a delay or get repeated unexpectedly.
This is a simple configuration change that has resolved the issue for many users:
Open your VM settings
Navigate to Processors > Virtualization engine
Check the option Virtualize IOMMU (IO memory management unit)
Apply changes and restart the VM
Several users in the Broadcom VMware community confirmed this fixed their keyboard lag issues completely.
This fix involves modifying the VM's configuration file:
Locate your VM's .vmx file
Add the following line to the file
keyboard.vusb.enable = "TRUE"
Save the file and restart the VM
This setting was reported to fix keyboard lag issues in VMware 17.6.x with Linux guests, even when other solutions failed.