Reference

Where does Ollama store models? Mac and Windows paths

Ollama keeps every model you pull in one folder in your home directory. Individual models run from about 2 GB to 40 GB or more, so it fills a disk quietly. Here is where it lives and how to trim it.

1. The default location

Mac: ~/.ollama/models
Windows: C:\Users\<you>\.ollama\models

Inside, manifests holds a small file per model and tag, and blobs holds the heavy weight files, named by hash. Check the size:

# Mac
du -sh ~/.ollama/models

# Windows (PowerShell)
"{0:N1} GB" -f ((Get-ChildItem "$env:USERPROFILE\.ollama\models" -Recurse -File | Measure-Object Length -Sum).Sum / 1GB)

If the numbers look wrong, check for OLLAMA_MODELS. When set, Ollama uses that folder instead (echo $OLLAMA_MODELS on Mac, $env:OLLAMA_MODELS in PowerShell).

2. List and delete models

ollama list
ollama rm llama3.2
ollama rm mistral:7b

ollama rm removes the manifest and any blobs no other model needs. Pulling the model again restores it. Models are listed as name:tag, and each tag is its own download, so an old llama3 and a new llama3.2 both count. Remove the versions you no longer run, not just the model families.

3. Move the folder to a bigger drive

# Mac (Ollama app): set it, then quit and reopen Ollama
launchctl setenv OLLAMA_MODELS /Volumes/Data/ollama

# Windows: set it, then quit and reopen Ollama
setx OLLAMA_MODELS "D:\ollama\models"

Setting the variable does not move existing files. Copy the old models folder across first, or pull again.

What is safe and what is not

Safe: removing any model you can pull again. Not safe: deleting individual files inside blobs, because several models can share one blob and the manifest will point at a file that is gone. Also leave the rest of ~/.ollama alone: it holds your Ollama key files and history, not just models.

If you also use LM Studio or Hugging Face, the same weights may exist twice. Keep the copy you actually run.

Or let Prune do it

Prune lists each Ollama model by name and size, finds the same weights stored by other tools, and sends your own files to the Trash (Recycle Bin on Windows). The free scan shows every file before you pay. Pro is $15 a year or $29 once ($19 until 20 December 2026).

FAQ

Where does Ollama store models on Mac?

In ~/.ollama/models, split into manifests and blobs folders. If OLLAMA_MODELS is set, that folder is used instead.

Where does Ollama store models on Windows?

In C:\Users\<you>\.ollama\models by default, or in the folder named by the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable.

Can I delete the blobs folder to free space?

It works only if you want to remove every model, because blobs are shared and named by hash. To remove one model, use ollama rm so the manifest and its blobs stay consistent.

Can Prune delete Ollama models?

Yes. Prune lists each Ollama model by name and size, you pick what goes, and it moves them to the Trash or Recycle Bin. It also spots the same weights stored by LM Studio or Hugging Face.