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"
   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.