Mac users who want to reclaim storage space can now remove Apple Intelligence from their machines using a new open-source command line tool called RemoveMacAI. The utility switches off Apple's AI features, deletes the associated models and prevents macOS from downloading them again. It targets the roughly 12GB of foundation models that remain on disk even when the AI features are disabled.
The tool exists because Apple removed the single Settings toggle that previously let users disable Apple Intelligence, a change introduced in macOS 27. Since then, disabling the features requires locating about a dozen separate settings, several of which sit under Screen Time. Even after all of them are turned off, the underlying models stay on disk.
According to the developer, RemoveMacAI performs the job the old toggle once did in one step. It turns off Siri, Writing Tools, Genmoji, Image Playground, the ChatGPT extension and all the summaries, then deletes the models and stops macOS from downloading them again. The developer wrote in a Reddit post that the tool consolidates all of these actions, which MacRumors spotted earlier.
The developer says the changes survive macOS updates and that Dictation continues to work. A command called removemacai revert restores everything and allows the AI models to download again. A separate status command, removemacai status, displays the size of each individual AI model stored on a Mac.
The 12GB figure is the developer's estimate and may understate the actual footprint. Some users noted in comments on the Reddit thread that the models can occupy more space. One MacBook Air listed Apple Intelligence as using 35.05GB, a figure visible in the Settings app by opening storage and clicking the information icon beside macOS. RemoveMacAI gives users a way to see those individual model sizes before deciding what to delete.
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