Where does Ollama store models on a Mac?

In ~/.ollama/models , unless you set OLLAMA_MODELS . The blobs folder holds the layers; manifests says which layers make up each model.

How do I delete an Ollama model?

Run ollama rm model-name . Use the name from ollama list . Don't delete files from the blobs folder by hand: a layer can belong to more than one model.

Can I get a deleted Ollama model back?

If it came from ollama.com, ollama pull model-name downloads it again. A model you built with ollama create needs its Modelfile to be built again.

How do I move Ollama models to an external drive?

Set the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable to the new folder and restart Ollama. For the Mac app, set it with launchctl setenv .

Ollama models taking up disk space on a Mac: find and remove them

Ollama models are filling your Mac

Local models are some of the largest files on a developer's Mac. Here's where Ollama keeps them, how to remove one without breaking another, and how to move them.

Updated 11 Oct 2026. Every figure here was measured on the developer's Mac, or on a test disk on it, and carries its date.

See what you have

ollama list

This lists each model with its size. For the folder as a whole:

du -sh ~/.ollama/models

On the developer's Mac on 5 Oct 2026, four models took close to 21 GB:

Model	Size
`gemma4`	9.61 GB
`llama3.2-vision`	7.82 GB
`qwen2.5:3b`	1.93 GB
`moondream`	1.74 GB

How the store works

A model is a list of layers: the weights, a template, parameters, a licence. The list lives in manifests; the layers live in blobs, named by their checksum. Models made from the same base share layers.

That is why deleting files from blobs by hand is risky. You can't tell from a file name which model it belongs to, and a layer you remove may be one another model still needs.

Remove a model

ollama rm model-name

Use the exact name from ollama list, tag included. The space comes back at once: removing a 1,929,924,608-byte test model with ollama rm freed 1,930,792,960 bytes within a second (measured 8 Oct 2026).

The cost: to use the model again, you download it again. A model you built yourself with ollama create needs its Modelfile to be built again.

If no space comes back

A Time Machine local snapshot can hold a model's files after you delete them, until macOS removes the snapshot. Check with tmutil listlocalsnapshots /. More on snapshots.

Move models to another drive

Ollama reads the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable. For the Mac app, set it and restart Ollama:

launchctl setenv OLLAMA_MODELS /Volumes/YourDrive/ollama-models

Models you already have stay in the old folder until you move them or pull them again. If the drive is not connected, Ollama won't find them.

One odd detail

Opening the manifests folder in Finder makes Finder write a hidden .DS_Store file there. A tool that reads every file in that folder as a model has to know to skip it. Spaceific learned this the hard way on 4 Oct 2026.