Delete Apple Intelligence Files from macOS 26 (Tahoe)

A complete guide to removing Apple Intelligence model files from macOS 26.0.1 (Tahoe) and reclaiming ~8-9 GB of storage space.

⚠️ Important Disclaimer

• This guide involves modifying system files. Back up your data before proceeding.
• System Integrity Protection (SIP) must be temporarily disabled. This reduces system security during the process.
• Only perform these steps if you've already disabled Apple Intelligence in System Settings.
• Future macOS updates may redownload these files if Apple Intelligence is re-enabled.

📊 What You'll Reclaim

• ~8.44 GB of storage from Apple Intelligence language models
• Files removed:
  • com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels (text generation models)
  • com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual (image generation models)

🔧 Prerequisites

• macOS 26.0.1 (Tahoe) or later
• Administrator access
• Apple Intelligence already disabled in System Settings
• Important data backed up

📋 Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Boot into macOS Recovery

For Apple Silicon Macs (M1-M4):

1. Shut down your Mac completely
2. Press and hold the Power button (Touch ID button) until you see "Loading startup options"
3. Click Options, then Continue
4. Select your macOS volume and authenticate if asked

For Intel Macs:

1. Restart your Mac
2. Immediately hold Command (⌘) + R until you see the Apple logo
3. Authenticate if prompted

Once in Recovery: From the menu bar, choose Utilities → Terminal

---

Step 2: Disable System Integrity Protection (SIP)

In the Recovery Terminal, run:

csrutil status
csrutil disable
csrutil status

You should see "System Integrity Protection: disabled" after the second command.

Note: We'll re-enable SIP later to restore system security.

---

Step 3: Mount the Data Volume

First, identify your Data volume:

diskutil apfs list

Look for the volume with Role: Data (usually named "Macintosh HD - Data")

Mount it:

diskutil mount "Macintosh HD - Data"

Verify it's accessible:

ls -ld /System/Volumes/Data

---

Step 4: Locate and Remove Apple Intelligence Directories

Set up the path and verify targets:

ASSETS="/System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/AssetsV2"
ls -ld "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual
du -sh "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual

Delete the directories:

rm -rf "$ASSETS/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels" "$ASSETS/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual"
sync

Verify deletion:

ls -ld "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels "$ASSETS"/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual

You should see "No such file or directory" errors (which means success!).

---

Step 5: Re-enable System Integrity Protection

⚠️ Critical for security:

csrutil enable
csrutil status

You should see "System Integrity Protection: enabled"

---

Step 6: Reboot to Normal macOS

From the menu bar: Apple menu () → Restart

Let your Mac boot normally into macOS 26.0.1

---

Step 7: Verify Success

After rebooting, open Terminal and verify:

Check SIP status:

csrutil status

Confirm directories are gone:

sudo ls -ld /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_GenerativeModels /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_Visual

Check storage:

df -h /

Or via GUI: System Settings → General → Storage (wait a few minutes for it to recalculate)

Expected Result: ~8.44 GB freed! 🎉

---

FAQs

Why didn't the old Reddit methods work?

macOS 26 (Tahoe) changed the file structure and increased System Integrity Protection compared to earlier versions. The paths and access methods are different now.

Will these files come back?

Since Apple Intelligence is disabled, they typically won't return unless:

• You re-enable Apple Intelligence in System Settings
• A future macOS update reinstalls them (you can repeat this process if needed)

Is this safe?

• Yes, if you follow the steps carefully and only delete the two specified directories
• No, if you delete other system files or skip re-enabling SIP

Can I delete other UAF files?

No. Only delete the two Apple Intelligence model directories specified in this guide. Other UAF (Unified Asset Framework) files are used by critical system features.

What if I make a mistake?

If you:

• Delete the wrong files: Reinstall macOS from Recovery (your data on the Data volume should be preserved)
• Forget to re-enable SIP: Boot back into Recovery and run csrutil enable

---

🔍 Technical Details

File Locations

On macOS 26 (Tahoe), Apple Intelligence models are stored at:

• System volume: /System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_*
• Data volume: /System/Volumes/Data/System/Library/AssetsV2/com_apple_MobileAsset_UAF_FM_*

The Data volume is where the actual large files reside and must be accessed via Recovery Mode.

Why SIP Must Be Disabled

System Integrity Protection (SIP) prevents modification of critical system directories, even with sudo. To delete Apple Intelligence models from /System/Library/AssetsV2/, SIP must be temporarily disabled.

---

Contributing

Found an issue or have improvements? Feel free to open an issue or submit a pull request!

---

⚠️ Final Warning

This guide modifies system files. Proceed at your own risk. Always have a backup before making system-level changes.

If you're uncomfortable with any step, consider waiting for Apple to provide an official method to remove these files in a future update.