Is it safe to delete Docker Model Runner models?
AI models pulled or packaged with Docker Model Runner, kept on your Mac outside Docker's disk image.
Review first
It's your own data, or hard to recreate. Decide item by item.
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What it is
Docker Model Runner, part of Docker Desktop, keeps the models you pull from Docker Hub or Hugging Face in this folder and loads them into memory only when a request comes in. Models stay until you remove them. Models you packaged yourself exist only here unless you pushed them to a registry.
If it's removed
Docker removes models permanently, not to the Trash. Models from Docker Hub or Hugging Face download again the next time you pull or run them; models you packaged yourself are gone unless you pushed them to a registry.
What to do instead
In Docker Desktop, open Models and remove the models you no longer use. Keep any model you packaged yourself unless you've pushed it to a registry.
The free analyzer finds it and explains it, with these steps. The app doesn't remove it for you.
Sources
- docs.docker.com/ai/model-runner
- docs.docker.com/reference/cli/docker/model/purge
- github.com/docker/model-runner/blob/main/pkg/envconfig/envconfig.go
Last checked on 26 Sep 2026. Every entry is written and checked by hand; the app and the command-line tool use the same words.