How to uninstall Ollama on a Mac, and the models that take the space
Remove Ollama from Homebrew or its app, stop its background service, and delete the models folder, which is where nearly all of Ollama's space goes.
How do I uninstall Ollama on a Mac?
- List and remove models while Ollama still runs:
ollama list, thenollama rm <name>for each. - Stop the service:
brew services stop ollama, or quit the Ollama app from the menu bar. - Uninstall:
brew uninstall ollama, or move Ollama from Applications to the Trash. - Move
~/.ollamato the Trash.
Where are Ollama models stored on a Mac?
In ~/.ollama/models. A single model is usually 2 to 40 GB. Ours held 12 KB, no models downloaded, which is why the whole ~/.ollama folder was 152 KB. The program itself, Ollama 0.15.4 from Homebrew, was 30 MB.
Why does Ollama keep starting?
A launch agent starts it at login. Ours had ~/Library/LaunchAgents/homebrew.mxcl.ollama.plist. brew services stop ollama removes it; the app version adds itself to Login Items instead.
More AI tools that keep large caches: uninstall Claude Code.
Common questions
Where does Ollama store models on Mac?
In ~/.ollama/models in your home folder.
How do I completely remove Ollama from Mac?
Remove models with ollama rm, stop the service, uninstall it with brew uninstall ollama or by trashing the app, then delete ~/.ollama.