How to uninstall LM Studio on Mac completely: app, models, hidden files

Uninstalling Mac apps is mostly painless. LM Studio is another matter. This app itself is only ~690 MB. The problem is GGUF models, from 2 GB to 70+ GB each, sitting in a hidden folder that a Trash removal won’t touch. Neither will it touch the inference server, clear the caches, or clean up the logs scattered across the Library’s invisible folders.

Whatever brought you here:

• getting disk space back,
• fixing background processes,
• doing a full reinstall,
• fixing RAM issues, or
• switching machines,

this guide has every removal option, from uninstalling the whole LM Studio package to deleting an individual model, from manual efforts to automated means. Just choose the way based on uninstallation time, effort, and scope.

Skip manual uninstall, pick the automated one

Deleting LM Studio by hand means checking hidden folders, Library paths, caches, and leftover model files one by one. App Cleaner & Uninstaller does the searching for you automatically and shows every file tied to LM Studio before removal, including hidden GGUF models and support files. Try this tool to get apps fully uninstalled in seconds.

App Cleaner & Uninstaller

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Where LM Studio stores files on your Mac

Before deleting anything, it helps to know what’s where. Here’s a full map of every location LM Studio touches.

/Applications/LM Studio.app

~/.lmstudio/models/

~/.lmstudio/.internal/

~/.lmstudio/logs/

~/Library/Logs/LM Studio/

~/Library/Application Support/LM Studio/

~/Library/Caches/LM Studio/

~/Library/Caches/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.sfl4/

~/.lmstudio/

└── models/
    ├── lmstudio-community/
    │   └── Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct-GGUF/
    │       └── Meta-Llama-3-8B-Instruct-Q4_K_M.gguf
    ├── mistralai/
    ├── google/
    ├── microsoft/
    └── Qwen/

.gguf

Supported GGUF model formats in LM Studio

LM Studio background processes to know about

• In Activity Monitor, LM Studio runs under the names:
  • LM Studio,

  • lmstudio

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    , and

  • lms

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    .
• The local inference server runs on port 1234 by default.
  • You can check if it’s active with

    lsof -i :1234

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    in Terminal.
  • If so, quit it by running

    kill $(lsof -t -i :1234)

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    in Terminal.

LM Studio compatibility on Mac

Compatibility affects performance, not removal. Cleanup steps are identical on all Macs.

Why dragging LM Studio to Trash isn’t enough

/Applications/LM Studio.app

~/.lmstudio/models/

~/.lmstudio/.internal/

~/Library/Application Support/LM Studio/models/

Completely uninstall LM Studio (app, models, and all files)

The methods below remove LM Studio entirely: the app bundle, every model, all logs, settings, caches, and preferences. Choose the approach that fits your comfort level. Tested on Apple M1, macOS Tahoe 26.4.1, LM Studio v0.4.12.

Case 1: Uninstall LM Studio automatically via the uninstaller

App Cleaner & Uninstaller means it’ll find every file connected to an app, including hidden folders, and list them before you delete anything. It takes under a minute.

1. Quit LM Studio. App Cleaner & Uninstaller will prompt you to close it if it’s still running.
2. Open App Cleaner & Uninstaller.
3. Find LM Studio in the app list → click it.

   

   Optional

   Review the list of files the app found using Expert Mode. You will see /Applications/LM Studio.app, the ~/.lmstudio/ folder with models and internal files, logs, preferences, and service files.

4. Click Uninstall (or Remove in Expert Mode) and confirm.
5. Empty Trash to free the space.

After this, no LM Studio files remain on your Mac, including models.

App Cleaner & Uninstaller also has:

• Remaining files scanner to catch missing files from deleted apps.
• Updater to keep installed Mac apps updated from one place.
• App permission manager to control what apps can access on Mac.

Case 2: Delete LM Studio completely via Finder

This is the manual route. Each location matters; skipping one can leave residual data. Follow every step to avoid leftover caches, logs, or running background processes.

Step 1: Quit LM Studio.

1. Press Cmd+Q inside LM Studio.
2. Open Activity Monitor → search for LM Studio → confirm no processes named LM Studio, lmstudio, or lms are running. If so, select them and click Stop.

   

3. If the app is frozen and won’t quit, open Terminal and run:
   killall “LM Studio”

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Step 2: Delete the application.

1. Open Finder → go to Applications → find LM Studio → right-click it → select Move to Trash.

Step 3: Delete the models.

1. In Finder, press Shift+Cmd+G → type

   ~/.lmstudio

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   → press Return.
2. Right-click the

   ~/.lmstudio

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   folder → select Move to Trash.
3. Confirm deletion by entering your admin password, if asked.
4. Also check

   ~/Library/Application Support/LM Studio/models/

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   for any legacy model files and delete what you find there.

Step 4: Delete the remaining support files.

1. In Finder, use Go to Folder (Shift+Cmd+G) to navigate to each path below and move each item to Trash:

   • ~/Library/Application Support/LM Studio/

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   • ~/Library/Caches/LM Studio/

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   • ~/Library/Caches/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.sfl4

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   • ~/Library/Logs/LM Studio/

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   • ~/Library/Preferences/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.plist

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   • ~/Library/Saved Application State/ai.lmstudio.LMStudio.savedState/

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   • /private/var/folders/

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     1. Use Finder search bar → enter lmstudio
     2. Set the scope to This Folder.
     3. Trash all files related to LM Studio like:
        • /private/var/folders//**/*/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.helper.GPU
        • /private/var/folders//**/*/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio

   

Step 5: Empty Trash

Right-click the Trash icon in the Dock and select Empty Trash.

Case 3: Remove LM Studio permanently via Terminal

Terminal removes files in one pass and skips the Trash entirely. Changes are permanent; there’s no recovery after running these commands.

Step 1: Force quit LM Studio.

1. Open Terminal → enter:

killall “LM Studio”

Step 2: Remove the LM Studio app.

sudo rm -rf /Applications/LM\ Studio.app

Step 3: Remove the LM Studio models and service files.

• rm -rf ~/.lmstudio

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/LM\ Studio

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/LM\ Studio

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Logs/LM\ Studio

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.plist

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/ai.lmstudio.LMStudio.savedState/

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• rm -rf ~/Library/Caches/ai.elementlabs.lmstudio.sfl4

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Step 4: Remove the LM Studio caches.

1. Preview what the temp cache command would find:

   sudo find /private/var/folders -iname “*lmstudio*”

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2. If the list looks right, clear the temp caches:

   sudo find /private/var/folders -iname “lmstudio” -exec rm -rf {} + 2>/dev/null

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Explaining the command:

sudo

/private/var/folders

find /private/var/folders

-iname “*lmstudio*”

-exec rm -rf {} +

2>/dev/null

LM Studio uninstall models

Case 4: Delete individual models inside LM Studio (GUI)

Use this method to free up disk space without uninstalling LM Studio itself.

Steps

1. Open LM Studio.
2. Click the My Models icon in the left sidebar.
3. Find the model you want to remove → click the three-dot button next to it.
4. Select Delete → confirm the prompt.

.gguf

~/.lmstudio/models/

Case 5: Remove LM Studio models via Finder

This method reaches the models folder directly. Use it to remove models that don’t appear in the LM Studio GUI, or to delete the legacy models from older versions.

1. Open Activity Monitor → type LM Studio in the search bar → stop LM Studio processes by clicking the X button.
2. Open Finder → press Shift+Cmd+G to open Go to Folder.
3. Type

   ~/.lmstudio/models/

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   → press Return.
4. Browse the publisher subfolders (lmstudio-community, mistralai, google, microsoft, Qwen, etc.).
5. Select the

   .gguf

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   files or entire model folders you want to remove.
6. Press Cmd+Delete to move them to Trash → empty Trash.

Final summary

• Dragging LM Studio to Trash removes only the app, models stay behind.
• The real space is in hidden model GGUF files (often 10-70+ GB total).
• Always quit LM Studio and stop its processes before deleting files to avoid errors.
• Use the LM Studio GUI to delete models without touching system folders.
• Manual removal (Finder/Terminal) works, but you must clear hidden folders, caches, logs, and legacy paths.
• App Cleaner & Uninstaller is the fastest way to remove LM Studio completely with minimal manual work.