Is it safe to delete LM Studio models?

Language models downloaded or imported in LM Studio, in a folder for each publisher and model.

Review first

It's your own data, or hard to recreate. Decide item by item.

~/.lmstudio/models

~/.cache/lm-studio/models

What it is

LM Studio stores the models you download or import here, in a folder for each publisher and model that follows Hugging Face's layout. Earlier versions of LM Studio used a models folder in ~/.cache/lm-studio instead. Model files are large and stay until you delete them, and models you imported from elsewhere may not be available to download again.

If it's removed

A deleted model can be downloaded again from LM Studio's Discover tab. Imported models need to be imported again.

How it's removed

Moved to the Trash, where you can restore it. Quit LM Studio first.

PRO

The free analyzer finds it and explains it. Removing it is Pro, after a review sheet that lists every move and command. It's never checked for you: it waits for your choice.

Sources

Last checked on 27 Sep 2026. Every entry is written and checked by hand; the app and the command-line tool use the same words.