A Model Disappeared After an Update
A model you already pulled is just gone from ollama list. Almost always a path problem, not actual data loss - here's where to look.
Check this first: the models are almost never actually deleted
An update to Ollama itself doesn't touch your downloaded model files. If ollama list is showing fewer models than you expect right after updating, the far more likely explanation is that Ollama is looking in a different place than it was before - not that the files are gone.
The real cause: OLLAMA_MODELS
Ollama reads the OLLAMA_MODELS environment variable at startup to decide where to look for and store models. If that variable was ever set - even temporarily, in a single terminal session while trying something else - and then the service restarts without it, Ollama falls back to its default location instead, where your models won't show up even though they're sitting untouched on disk elsewhere.
Check what it's currently set to:
# Mac/Linux
echo $OLLAMA_MODELS
# Windows (PowerShell)
echo $env:OLLAMA_MODELSIf that comes back empty, Ollama is using its default location - the same ones covered in the storage guide: ~/.ollama/models on Mac, /usr/share/ollama/.ollama/models on Linux, %USERPROFILE%\.ollama\models on Windows.
OLLAMA_MODELS just isn't pointing at it anymore, set it back (permanently this time - in your shell profile on Mac/Linux, or a systemd override on Linux for the background service specifically) rather than moving the files. If you genuinely can't find the files anywhere, they're actually gone, and a re-pull is the fix - see Model Downloads Keep Failing or Coming Out Corrupted for that path.
If you just reinstalled Ollama entirely
Re-running the official install script is safe and doesn't touch your models - see Ollama Service Won't Start, which recommends exactly that as a fix for a broken install. If models still don't show up after a reinstall specifically, the OLLAMA_MODELS check above is still the first thing to check, not evidence the reinstall deleted anything.
Written from hands-on security operations experience. More about this site →