Help · Mac storage

How to delete or move local AI models.

By Grant and Brad, who make Pangalin's apps · Updated 11 October 2026

Running AI models on your Mac is great for privacy, but each model is a few gigabytes, and they pile up as you try new ones. The same model can also end up downloaded twice by different tools. Here's where they live and how to clear the ones you don't use.

Models can always be downloaded again, so deleting one isn't a disaster. Just a long download if you want it back.

Ollama

Models are stored in ~/.ollama/models. Use Ollama's own commands in Terminal rather than deleting files, so its index stays correct:

ollama list
ollama rm llama3.1:70b

ollama list shows each model and its size. ollama rm removes one (use the exact name from the list). Models that share layers only free the part that isn't shared.

LM Studio

1. Open LM Studio and go to My Models.
2. Use the menu (…) on a model to delete it, or reveal it in Finder.

Models live in LM Studio's models folder: ~/.lmstudio/models in current versions, ~/.cache/lm-studio/models in older ones. To keep models on an external drive, change the models folder in My Models, rather than moving the folder in Finder.

Hugging Face

Python tools and apps built on Hugging Face share one cache, usually ~/.cache/huggingface/hub. Its own tool lists and deletes cached models safely:

huggingface-cli scan-cache
huggingface-cli delete-cache

delete-cache shows a checklist; tick what to remove and confirm. Newer versions of the tool are also available as hf; see hf --help.

Moving models to an external drive

Each tool has an official way to use a different folder, which is better than moving files behind its back:

• Ollama: quit Ollama, move the whole models folder to the drive, and set the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable to the new path, as described in Ollama's FAQ. For the Ollama app (not just Terminal), the variable must be set where the app can see it; a line in ~/.zshrc only reaches Terminal.
• LM Studio: change the models folder in My Models.
• Hugging Face: set HF_HOME to a folder on the drive.

The drive must be connected whenever you use the models. External SSDs load models much faster than hard drives.