Download an LLM

LM Studio comes with a built-in model downloader that let's you download any supported model from Hugging Face.

Searching for models

You can search for models by keyword (e.g. llama, gemma, lmstudio), or by providing a specific user/model string. You can even insert full Hugging Face URLs into the search bar!

Pro tip: you can jump to the Discover tab from anywhere by pressing ⌘ + 2 on Mac, or ctrl + 2 on Windows / Linux.

Which download option to choose?

You will often see several options for any given model named things like Q3_K_S, Q_8 etc. These are all copies of the same model, provided in varying degrees of fidelity. The Q represents a technique called "Quantization", which roughly means compressing model files in size, while giving up some degree of quality.

Choose a 4-bit option or higher if your machine is capable enough for running it.

Advanced

Changing the models directory

You can change the models directory by heading to My Models

Community

Chat with other LM Studio users, discuss LLMs, hardware, and more on the LM Studio Discord server.