---
title: "Uninstall LM Studio on Mac: The Model Cache Does Not Go With the App"
description: "Dragging LM Studio to the Trash leaves your models behind, often tens of gigabytes. Here is every location to check, and which one you may want to keep."
date: 2026-08-10
author: "Ben Racicot"
tags: ["LM Studio", "macOS", "Migration", "GGUF", "Troubleshooting"]
type: "article"
canonical: "https://modelpiper.com/blog/uninstall-lm-studio-mac"
---

# Uninstall LM Studio on Mac: The Model Cache Does Not Go With the App

> Dragging LM Studio to the Trash leaves your models behind, often tens of gigabytes. Here is every location to check, and which one you may want to keep.

## TL;DR

Moving LM Studio to the Trash removes about a gigabyte and leaves the models, which are usually the largest AI-related folder on the machine. The models default to ~/.cache/lm-studio/models unless you changed the directory. Before you delete them, note that they are plain GGUF files any other llama.cpp tool can load, so keeping them is often the better move.

The app bundle is the small part. What survives an ordinary uninstall is the model cache, and on a machine that has been running local models for a few months that is frequently the biggest folder on the disk. People discover this when they uninstall to reclaim space, empty the Trash, and find the space did not come back.

LM Studio does not publish an uninstall procedure, so the list below is locations to check rather than a vendor instruction. Look at each one before deleting it, because a couple of them may not exist on your install and one of them you probably want to keep.

## Where does LM Studio put things on a Mac?

Four places, plus wherever you pointed the model directory if you moved it. The app is in /Applications. Models default to ~/.cache/lm-studio/models. The lms command-line tool lives under ~/.lmstudio. Settings and app state sit under ~/Library, in the usual macOS locations. Only the first is removed by dragging the app to the Trash.

The models directory is the one that matters, and it is also the one most likely to have moved. LM Studio's own docs note you can change the models directory from the app, and people with small startup disks routinely point it at an external drive. If you did that, the path below is not where your models are. Check the app's model directory setting before you uninstall, or you will delete an empty default and leave fifty gigabytes on a Thunderbolt drive.

## Before you delete the models: they are portable

LM Studio stores models as plain GGUF files with real filenames, not as an opaque cache. Any other llama.cpp-based tool can load them from disk with no conversion and no export step. If you are uninstalling because you are switching apps rather than because you are done with local AI, moving the folder is faster than redownloading tens of gigabytes.

This is worth pausing on because it is the opposite of the situation with some other runners, where the weights live in a content-addressed store under sha256 filenames and getting them out takes manual digest mapping. LM Studio's storage is honest and unlocked. The full move is in [the migration guide](/blog/migrate-from-lm-studio-mac), and it is mostly one `mv`.

Delete them if you actually want the disk space back. Keep them if you are switching tools. Do not delete them by accident because they were in a hidden folder you did not know about.

## Removing it completely

Work through these in order. Steps three and four are optional cleanup that matters if you are reinstalling to fix a broken install, and does not matter much otherwise.

## What if you are uninstalling to fix something?

A clean reinstall is a reasonable move when an app will not start, but do it in the right order or you will lose data you did not mean to lose. Remove the app and the state under `~/Library`, and leave the models directory alone. That gives you a fresh app against your existing library, which is the reinstall you actually wanted. The launch failures worth ruling out first are in [the not-working guide](/blog/lm-studio-not-working-mac), and several of them do not need a reinstall at all.

## The alternative: somewhere you can see

If the reason you are here is that a hidden cache surprised you, that is a design choice rather than an accident, and it is one worth checking in whatever you install next.

ToolPiper stores models in `~/Library/Application Support/ToolPiper/models/` as plain, named GGUF files. Not a dotfolder, not a content-addressed store, not a cache directory. You can open it in Finder, see what each file is from its name, and point any llama.cpp-compatible tool at it. Leaving ToolPiper someday would need no guide at all, which is the same property that makes LM Studio's library easy to take with you.

The engine is upstream llama-server embedded directly, build b10068, so the models you keep from LM Studio load unchanged. Expect parity on speed rather than an improvement: our same-bytes benchmark on an M2 Max came in within single digits in both directions with the winner flipping by model. The free tier is the whole runner, including unlimited downloads, multi-model switching, the local OpenAI-compatible API, embeddings, all speech, browser automation, and an MCP server with over 420 tools. Local RAG over your files is the $10 Pro tier.

The honest limits: macOS 26 or newer and Apple Silicon only, which is a higher floor than LM Studio's macOS 14.0. If your Mac is older, keep what you have.

If the uninstall was a decision rather than a cleanup, the cost side is short. LM Studio's local app is free and its cloud tier bills per million tokens. Our runner is free with no account, and the paid tiers buy capabilities outside model running altogether. [The comparison in full](/compare/is-lm-studio-free).

## Steps

### 1. Find out where your models actually are

Open LM Studio before you remove it and check the model directory setting. The default is `~/.cache/lm-studio/models`, but the app lets you change it and plenty of people have. Note the real path. Doing this after the app is gone is much harder.

### 2. Decide about the models first

They are plain GGUF files that any llama.cpp-based tool can load with no conversion. If you are switching apps, move the folder rather than deleting it. If you want the disk space, delete it, and expect that to be most of the space you reclaim.

### 3. Quit the app and remove the bundle

Quit LM Studio properly, including anything it left running in the menu bar, then move `/Applications/LM Studio.app` to the Trash. Deleting an app while it is running is how you end up with orphaned processes holding files open.

### 4. Remove the CLI and app state

In Finder press Cmd+Shift+G to open hidden paths. Remove `~/.lmstudio`, which holds the `lms` tool, and the LM Studio folders under `~/Library/Application Support`, `~/Library/Caches` and `~/Library/Preferences`. Not all of these exist on every install, so absence is fine, not a sign you missed something.

### 5. Clean up the PATH entry

If you ran the bootstrap step that made `lms` available in your shell, it added a line to your shell profile. Open `~/.zshrc` and remove the LM Studio line, or the shell keeps referring to a binary that no longer exists.

### 6. Empty the Trash and confirm the space came back

Check the disk in About This Mac, Storage. If the number barely moved, you deleted the app and not the models, which means the model directory was somewhere other than the default. Go back to step one.

## FAQ

### How do I completely uninstall LM Studio on a Mac?

Quit the app, move /Applications/LM Studio.app to the Trash, then remove the hidden leftovers: the models directory (default ~/.cache/lm-studio/models, unless you changed it in the app), ~/.lmstudio which holds the lms CLI, and the LM Studio folders under ~/Library. Finally remove the LM Studio line from your shell profile if you set up the lms command. LM Studio does not publish an uninstall procedure, so verify each location exists on your install before deleting it.

### Why did uninstalling LM Studio not free up space?

Because the app bundle is about a gigabyte and the models are tens of gigabytes, and the models are not inside the app. They sit in a hidden directory that a normal drag-to-Trash uninstall does not touch. If you moved the model directory to an external drive at some point, that is where the space is.

### Where does LM Studio store models on a Mac?

The default is ~/.cache/lm-studio/models. LM Studio's docs confirm the directory is user-changeable from within the app, so check the setting rather than trusting the default if you have ever adjusted it. The files there are ordinary GGUF, with real names.

### Should I delete my models when I uninstall?

Only if you want the disk space. They are plain GGUF files that load unchanged in any other llama.cpp-based tool, so if you are switching apps rather than leaving local AI behind, moving the folder saves you redownloading tens of gigabytes.

### Do I need to uninstall LM Studio to fix a broken install?

Often not, and several launch failures have simpler causes worth ruling out first. If you do reinstall, remove the app and its state under ~/Library but leave the models directory alone. That gives you a clean app against your existing library instead of a clean app and no models.

### Is there an uninstaller?

LM Studio does not publish one, which is why every guide including this one is a list of locations rather than a procedure. A general Mac app cleaner will find most of it automatically, but check what it proposes to delete before confirming: the models directory is easy to lose by accident and expensive to get back.