Change Default Directory for Ollama

By default, Ollama stores models in:

C:\Users\<YourUsername>\.ollama\models

You can change this by setting the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable.

🛠️ Steps

1. Choose a New Directory

Example:

D:\Ollama\models

Create this folder if it doesn’t already exist.

2. Set the Environment Variable

✅ Temporary (Only for Current CMD Session)

Open Command Prompt and run:

set OLLAMA_MODELS=D:\Ollama\models
ollama run llama3

This setting will reset once the terminal is closed.

✅ Permanent (System-wide or User-wide)

1. Press Win + S, search for “Environment Variables” and open “Edit the system environment variables”.
2. In the System Properties dialog, click “Environment Variables…”
3. Under User variables (or System variables for global scope), click New…
   • Variable name: OLLAMA_MODELS
   • Variable value: D:\Ollama\models
4. Click OK → OK → OK to close all dialogs.
5. Restart your terminal, IDE, or PC to apply changes.

📌 Notes

• The change affects only where models are stored.
• Other configuration files remain in the default .ollama directory.
• You can move existing models from the old directory to the new one to avoid re-downloading.

✅ Verification

Run this to confirm:

ollama run llama3

Check that models are now saved in your new OLLAMA_MODELS path.