Quick summary: This guide shows you 3 ways to completely uninstall Ollama on Mac — using Finder (easiest), Terminal (most thorough), or a third-party uninstaller app. We also cover how to delete Ollama AI models to free up gigabytes of storage.
If you’ve been running AI models locally with Ollama, you already know how useful it is. But whether you’re freeing up disk space, switching to another tool, or troubleshooting a broken install — at some point you’ll need to know how to uninstall Ollama on Mac properly.
The problem? Simply dragging Ollama to the Trash is not enough. Ollama stores AI model files, caches, and background services in hidden folders — and these can take up 10–50 GB of your storage if you’ve downloaded several models.
This guide walks you through everything, step by step.
Before You Start: Why Fully Removing Ollama Takes More Than One Step
When you install Ollama, it stores files in several places on your Mac:
| What | Where on your Mac |
|---|---|
| The app itself | /Applications/Ollama.app |
| AI model files (the big ones!) | ~/.ollama/models |
| App data & settings | ~/Library/Application Support/Ollama |
| Cache files | ~/Library/Caches/com.ollama.* |
| CLI tool | /usr/local/bin/ollama |
If you only delete the app, all those model files and hidden folders stay on your Mac. The methods below make sure everything is cleaned up.
Method 1: Uninstall Ollama via Finder (Easiest — Good for Beginners)
BEGINNER FRIENDLY
This method is the quickest and doesn’t require any technical knowledge. It’s perfect if you just want Ollama gone and don’t mind doing a little manual cleanup.
Step 1 — Quit Ollama completely
1 Click the Apple menu (top-left corner) → Force Quit.
2 Find Ollama in the list and click Force Quit. If it’s not listed, it’s already closed.
Step 2 — Delete the Ollama app
1 Open Finder → click Applications in the left sidebar.
2 Find Ollama, right-click it, and choose Move to Trash.
Step 3 — Delete leftover files manually
1 In Finder, click Go in the menu bar → Go to Folder…
2 Type ~/.ollama and press Enter. Delete this entire folder (this is where model files live).
3 Repeat for ~/Library/Application Support/Ollama and ~/Library/Caches — delete any folder with “ollama” in the name.
4 Empty your Trash.
💡 Tip: The ~/.ollama/models folder is where AI models are stored and can be several gigabytes. Make sure you delete this folder to fully recover your disk space.
Method 2: Uninstall Ollama via Terminal (Most Complete Removal)
RECOMMENDED FOR FULL CLEANUP
Terminal is the most thorough way to remove Ollama and every file it has ever created. Don’t worry — we’ll go command by command with a clear explanation of what each one does.
⚠️ Important: Copy and paste each command exactly as shown. Terminal commands are case-sensitive.
Step 1 — Stop Ollama from running
Open Terminal (press Command + Space, type “Terminal”, press Enter) and run:
killall OllamaThis stops the Ollama app and any background processes. If you see “No matching processes”, that’s fine — it just means Ollama wasn’t running.
Step 2 — Remove the Ollama app
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Ollama.appYou’ll be asked for your Mac password. Type it (you won’t see characters as you type) and press Enter.
Step 3 — Remove the CLI tool
sudo rm /usr/local/bin/ollamaStep 4 — Delete all model files and app data
rm -rf ~/.ollama
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Ollama
rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/com.ollama.*Run each line one at a time. The ~/.ollama folder contains your downloaded AI models — this is often the largest folder and where you’ll recover the most storage.
Step 5 — Verify Ollama is fully removed
which ollamaIf this returns nothing (blank line), Ollama has been successfully removed.
💡 Result: Users who downloaded multiple AI models (like Llama 3, DeepSeek, Gemma) often recover 20–50 GB of storage after a full Terminal cleanup.
Method 3: Use a Third-Party Uninstaller App (Easiest + Most Thorough)
BEST OF BOTH WORLDS
If you’re not comfortable with Terminal but want a truly complete uninstall, a third-party Mac uninstaller app does the hard work for you. Apps like AppCleaner (free) automatically find and remove all associated files.
1 Download a Mac uninstaller app (AppCleaner is free and well-regarded).
2 Open the uninstaller and search for Ollama.
3 The app will show you all associated files — including hidden ones. Select all and click Remove.
4 Done! The uninstaller handles everything automatically.
💡 Note: Third-party uninstallers are great at finding app and config files, but may not always locate the large model files in ~/.ollama/models. Double-check that folder afterward using the Finder method above.
How to Delete Ollama AI Models Without Uninstalling the App
If you just want to free up disk space — but keep Ollama installed — you can delete individual models instead of removing the whole app.
Option A: Delete via Terminal
List all installed models:
ollama listRemove a specific model (replace llama3 with your model name):
ollama rm llama3Option B: Delete model files manually via Finder
1 In Finder, press Shift + Command + G to open Go to Folder.
2 Type ~/.ollama/models and press Enter.
3 Delete the model folders you no longer need, then empty the Trash.
Troubleshooting: Common Problems When Uninstalling Ollama
Problem: “Ollama is still running” error when trying to delete
Ollama runs in the background even when you’re not using it. To fix this:
- Click the Ollama icon in your Mac’s menu bar (top-right area) → choose Quit Ollama.
- Or open Activity Monitor, search for “Ollama”, select it, and click the X button to force quit.
- Then try deleting again.
Problem: “Permission denied” in Terminal
Add sudo before the command to run it with admin privileges:
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Ollama.appProblem: Disk space not recovered after uninstall
You likely still have the model files. Make sure you deleted the ~/.ollama folder — this is the main culprit. Use the Finder “Go to Folder” trick to check.
Problem: The ollama command still works in Terminal after uninstalling
Run which ollama to find where the leftover binary is, then delete it manually with sudo rm [path].
Which Method Should You Choose?
| Method | Best for | Completeness |
|---|---|---|
| Finder (Method 1) | Beginners, quick removal | Good (manual cleanup needed) |
| Terminal (Method 2) | Anyone who wants full cleanup | Excellent |
| Third-party app (Method 3) | Users who avoid Terminal | Very good |
For most users, Method 2 (Terminal) is the recommended approach. If you’re not comfortable with Terminal, use Method 1 and make sure to manually delete the ~/.ollama folder at the end.
Frequently Asked Questions
✅ Summary
- Uninstalling Ollama requires more than just moving the app to Trash — you need to delete hidden model files and caches too.
- Finder method: Easy, but requires manual cleanup of leftover folders.
- Terminal method: Most complete — use 4–5 commands to remove everything.
- Third-party uninstaller: Great middle ground if you want to avoid Terminal.
- Always check
~/.ollama/models— that’s where your storage space is hiding.