How to remove Apple Intelligence from Mac on macOS 27

AppleInsider deleted Apple Intelligence's model folder on a test Mac last week and watched the Storage pane's AI figure drop from 27.59GB to 3.07GB, a 24.52GB swing. Available disk space only grew by about 14GB (AppleInsider). That gap matters before anyone touches anything: a Storage-pane number, a folder's measured size, and actual free space are three different things, and no method in this guide can promise an exact number back.

Here's why this is suddenly a problem worth solving. macOS 27 removed the single Apple Intelligence on/off toggle that existed in macOS 26, and its models now download automatically the first time a Mac connects to the internet after updating (MacRumors). Using the features is optional. Downloading them isn't. This guide covers how to remove Apple Intelligence from Mac storage on macOS 27 through three distinct paths: disabling features in Settings, manually deleting the model folder in Recovery, and running a third-party tool called RemoveMacAI that claims to remove models and block their return (RemoveMacAI GitHub).

An Apple silicon Mac running macOS 27 is required for the Recovery and RemoveMacAI methods specifically; both depend on Apple silicon startup options and tool compatibility detailed below. Comfort with Terminal helps for those last two methods. A current backup matters before either one, since both make permanent or semi-permanent changes.

Check how much storage Apple Intelligence is using on your Mac

Apple's documented requirement is up to 14GB for Macs with an M3 chip or later and at least 12GB of unified memory, or up to 8GB for other compatible Macs (AppleInsider). Real-world readings run higher on a number of machines. MacRumors recorded 20.67GB on an M4 Pro Mac mini, 22.42GB on an M3 MacBook Air, 24.35GB on an M3 Pro MacBook Pro, and 30.16GB on one Reddit user's Mac (MacRumors). None of that contradicts Apple's stated range; it's just a different measurement. Apple's number is a minimum requirement, not a cap.

Check your own Mac at System Settings > General > Storage, then click the information button next to macOS. Treat a large System Data figure as a clue rather than proof, since Apple doesn't cleanly isolate Apple Intelligence from other system files in that view (Tom's Guide). Write that number down before trying anything below. It's the only way to tell whether a method actually did something on this specific Mac.

Three ways to remove Apple Intelligence from Mac storage

Each method changes something different, and only one has an independently measured storage result in the reporting behind this guide.

Apple already builds granular Apple Intelligence controls into its own deployment tools, restriction keys that can toggle Siri, Genmoji, Writing Tools, and similar features individually, but only for supervised, enrolled Macs starting at macOS 26.4 (Apple Support). None of that reaches a personal Mac's Settings app on macOS 27, which is the entire reason three separate, imperfect workarounds exist below instead of one checkbox.

Back up before you delete anything

Apple doesn't document manual model deletion as a storage-management procedure, and the deletion in Recovery is permanent. Back up the Mac first (AppleInsider). A beta tester reported that macOS resumed downloading deleted models after Low Data Mode was turned off, so deletion on its own isn't guaranteed to stick.

If a Mac is already close to full, losing even 10GB is roughly 4% of a 256GB drive's advertised capacity (Tom's Guide). Free up space elsewhere first, iCloud, an external drive, deleting large files, so storage and a broken boot volume don't need troubleshooting at the same time. Keep expectations in check, too: disabling a feature or deleting its model doesn't confirm that feature keeps working normally afterward. It may stall or fail until the model returns.

Turn off Apple Intelligence features in System Settings

This is the only officially supported method, and it's fully reversible. Start by enabling Screen Time at System Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy, then set Siri to "Classic" or "Don't Allow." Work through the rest of the Capabilities list individually, since the master toggle from macOS 26 no longer exists (PCMag Middle East).

From there, turn off the features that generate the most background activity:

• Summarize Notifications: System Settings > Notifications
• Message Summaries: Messages > Settings
• Summarize Message Previews and Personalize Smart Replies: Mail > Settings

None of this clears models already on disk. System Data may shrink over time as macOS releases assets on its own schedule, but that isn't guaranteed and isn't tied to a known window (Tom's Guide). Note the Storage pane number from the first section, reboot, and check again a few days later rather than expecting an immediate change.

Delete Apple Intelligence's model folder in Recovery Mode

This method targets one specific folder on the Data volume: com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels. The Visual, Overrides, and downloadDir folders are left alone on purpose. This is a file deletion done outside of macOS, not a settings change, and it's undocumented and unsupported by Apple (AppleInsider).

Deleting this folder permanently removes files Apple does not list as safe to remove manually. Back up the Mac first, and stop at any point below where the output doesn't match what's described.

1. Shut down the Mac, then hold the power button until startup options appear.
2. Select Options and click Continue.
3. Open Disk Utility, then choose View > Show All Devices.
4. Select the Data volume. Click Mount or Unlock if needed, and confirm its mount point in Disk Utility.
5. Quit Disk Utility and open Utilities > Terminal.
6. List the candidate folders before touching anything:

7. Change into the parent directory and confirm the path:

In AppleInsider's test, this printed /Volumes/Data/System/Library/AssetsV2. If the output shows a different path, or Terminal reports an error, stop and recheck the Data volume's mount point in Disk Utility instead of continuing. The commands below assume that volume name.

8. From the verified directory, delete only the named folder, never with a wildcard:

9. Confirm it's gone:

10. Measure available space:

In AppleInsider's test, this folder measured 23GB with du, and the Data volume's available space rose from 337GB to 351GB, about 14GB, after deletion. The folder's size and the space actually recovered weren't the same number, which is the exact discrepancy that opened this guide.

Restart into macOS once the deletion is confirmed, then check System Settings > General > Storage again using the info-button method from the first section. As with the Settings method, give it a day or two before trusting the figure. Because Settings options stay enabled even though the models are gone, any feature that needs them may stall or attempt to re-download the next time it's used, and that behavior hasn't been independently confirmed one way or the other.

Remove Apple Intelligence models and block re-downloads with RemoveMacAI

RemoveMacAI is a third-party command-line tool, not an Apple product, and its removal and re-download claims come from the developer's own documentation rather than outside testing (RemoveMacAI GitHub). It requires an Apple silicon Mac, it's tested on macOS 27.0, and on 27.0.1 the developer specifies version 0.2.3 or later. macOS 26 and earlier aren't supported.

Running the base removemacai command shows the current state and asks for confirmation before changing anything. After confirming, the tool opens System Settings so the user can explicitly approve its configuration profile, which macOS requires before the profile applies. That profile applies Apple's own restriction keys for Apple Intelligence and forces the handful of settings that have no restriction key of their own. Only then does the tool remove the models through Apple's asset service, without touching anything under /System or disabling System Integrity Protection. According to the developer, the profile also redirects each removed model's download to a closed local port, which is how it blocks macOS from quietly fetching the model again.

Useful commands to run before committing to anything:

• removemacai status shows each feature and the size of its models on disk
• removemacai off --dry-run previews the changes without applying them
• removemacai off --keep <feature> leaves specific features untouched
• removemacai features lists the feature names accepted by --keep

Per the developer's documentation, the tool disables Siri (including "Hey Siri" and its menu bar icon), Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension, summaries across Mail, Messages, Safari, and Notes, Mail smart replies, inline text predictions, Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up, and Xcode predictive code completion. It also removes the foundation models themselves, along with the image generation, Genmoji, Spatial Photos, Photos Clean Up, and Xcode code completion models, which in turn affects anything built on Apple's on-device Foundation Models framework, including the Use Model action in Shortcuts, Visual Intelligence, and Calendar's natural-language event editing. Dictation keeps working, since its speech models sit under a separate setting and aren't touched.

Two things worth knowing before assuming something broke. First, Storage settings may keep listing Apple Intelligence for a while after removal, since Apple's asset service releases the models immediately but macOS deletes the underlying files on its own schedule, so a lagging number isn't proof the tool failed. Second, a process named Siri may still show up in Activity Monitor afterward; in macOS 27 that's the Spotlight window running under that process name, not a sign the removal didn't take. Per the developer, the profile and its download block also persist across macOS updates, so a system update shouldn't silently undo the change.

To undo everything, run removemacai revert. Per the developer's documentation, this restores the previous settings, and macOS re-downloads models automatically the next time a feature needs them. If the tool was installed through Homebrew, remove it afterward with brew uninstall removemacai. These are the developer's stated steps, and they haven't been independently verified outside the project's own documentation.

Which method should you actually use

For simply turning off AI features while staying fully supported, use Settings. It won't reliably free space, but it's reversible, official, and the only method Apple documents.

For space needed right now on an Apple silicon Mac, back up first and consider Recovery-mode deletion only if running unsupported terminal commands feels manageable. It's the one method with a measured result: about 14GB freed in AppleInsider's test, though results on any given Mac could differ.

For RemoveMacAI's appeal of doing both at once, run removemacai off --dry-run first and read through the configuration profile before approving anything. Its process is documented in detail, but nobody outside the developer has measured how much storage it actually recovers. Verify that gap personally before leaning on it as a permanent fix.