The latest articles on DEV Community by Juan JAC (@juan_jac_9c). https://dev.to/juan_jac_9c https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=90,height=90,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https:%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Fuser%2Fprofile_image%2F4016541%2F4fd353dc-7648-426a-b0cd-67870cd46010.png https://dev.to/juan_jac_9c en Juan JAC Sun, 05 Jul 2026 18:08:40 +0000 https://dev.to/juan_jac_9c/how-to-make-lm-studio-truly-portable-on-windows-43ea https://dev.to/juan_jac_9c/how-to-make-lm-studio-truly-portable-on-windows-43ea <p>LM Studio is great for running LLMs locally, but by default it puts configs, cache, and models in your <code>%USERPROFILE%</code> folder. If you have a small SSD or want everything on an external drive, here's the clean, official way to make it fully portable.</p> <h2> The Problem </h2> <ul> <li>Models are huge (7B ≈ 4GB, 70B ≈ 40GB+)</li> <li>Cache and conversations pile up in <code>%USERPROFILE%</code> </li> <li>Moving LM Studio's folder doesn't move the data</li> </ul> <h2> The Solution: <code>.lmstudio-home-pointer</code> </h2> <p>LM Studio has a hidden feature — it checks for a file named <code>.lmstudio-home-pointer</code> in your user home. If found, it treats the path inside as its home folder.</p> <h2> Step by Step </h2> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Step</th> <th>Action</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>1</td> <td>Create file <code>C:\Users\&lt;yourname&gt;\.lmstudio-home-pointer</code> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>2</td> <td>Write your desired path inside, e.g. <code>X:\LM Studio</code> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td> <td>Install LM Studio for <strong>all users</strong> to that exact path</td> </tr> <tr> <td>4</td> <td> <strong>Crucial:</strong> The final folder must be named exactly <code>LM Studio</code> </td> </tr> <tr> <td>5</td> <td>Launch — all data now lives there</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <h2> Resulting Structure </h2> <p>X:\LM Studio<br> ├── .internal\ # App state, cache, downloads<br> ├── bin\lms.exe # Official CLI<br> ├── conversations\ # Chat history<br> ├── extensions\ # Backends: CPU, CUDA 11/12, Vulkan<br> ├── hub\ # Models from LM Studio Hub<br> ├── models\ # Your GGUF files<br> └── LM Studio.exe # Main app<br> plain</p> <h2> Migrating to Another PC </h2> <ol> <li>Copy the entire <code>LM Studio</code> folder</li> <li>On the new PC, create <code>.lmstudio-home-pointer</code> pointing to it</li> <li>Done — all models, settings, and conversations come with you</li> </ol> <h2> Verified Setup </h2> <div class="table-wrapper-paragraph"><table> <thead> <tr> <th>Component</th> <th>Detail</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td>OS</td> <td>Windows 11 23H2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>GPU</td> <td>NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti 8GB</td> </tr> <tr> <td>LM Studio</td> <td>v0.3.x</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Backends tested</td> <td>CUDA 12, Vulkan, CPU</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> <h2> Full Guide </h2> <p>All details: <a href="https://gist.github.com/jjacmate10-ops/42b98db77dbb5bd041470089ff7bbe61" rel="noopener noreferrer">GitHub Gist</a></p> <p>Have you tried this? Any quirks on your setup? Let me know in the comments!</p> ai lmstudio localai tutorial