How to back up and restore Ollama data

Ollama data includes downloaded model blobs, manifests, account state, and local configuration. A useful backup must preserve the model store layout and prove that a restored host can list or run the expected model afterward.

Default paths differ by platform. Linux service installs commonly use /usr/share/ollama for service-owned data, while macOS and Windows user installs keep data under the user's home profile.

Stop Ollama before copying the model store so partially written pulls or manifests do not enter the archive. Restore into a test location first when the original model store is large or production-critical.

1. Identify the active model directory.

   $ ollama show gpt-oss:20b | sed -n '1,8p'
     Model
       architecture        gptoss
       parameters          20.9B

   If OLLAMA_MODELS is set, back up that directory instead of the default.

2. Stop Ollama before copying the data.

   $ sudo systemctl stop ollama

   On macOS or Windows, quit the Ollama app before the backup.
   Related: How to manage the Ollama service

3. Create a compressed backup of the Linux service data directory.

   $ sudo tar -C /usr/share -czf ollama-data-$(date +%Y%m%d).tar.gz ollama
   ollama/
   ollama/.ollama/
   ##### snipped #####

   Adjust the source path for ~/.ollama or a custom OLLAMA_MODELS location.

4. Restore the archive into a new data directory.

   $ sudo mkdir -p /srv/ollama-restore
   $ sudo tar -C /srv/ollama-restore -xzf ollama-data-20260707.tar.gz

5. Point a test server at the restored model directory and list models.

   $ OLLAMA_MODELS=/srv/ollama-restore/ollama/.ollama/models ollama serve
   $ OLLAMA_HOST=http://127.0.0.1:11434 ollama list
   NAME           ID              SIZE     MODIFIED
   gpt-oss:20b    17052f91a42e    13 GB    6 months ago