Where ComfyUI Stores Checkpoints and Models
Complete guide to ComfyUI's model folder structure — where to put checkpoints, LoRAs, VAEs, ControlNets, and how to use external model paths.
Community Knowledge
This page is based on common ComfyUI troubleshooting patterns and has not been fully tested across all environments. Back up your environment before changing packages.
ComfyUI stores model files in a structured folder hierarchy under the models/ directory. Each model type has its own subfolder, and placing files in the wrong subfolder means ComfyUI will not find them.
This guide explains the complete folder structure and how to extend it for models stored elsewhere on your system.
Fast answer
Put checkpoint files (.safetensors, .ckpt) in:
ComfyUI/models/checkpoints/Put LoRA files in models/loras/, VAE in models/vae/, ControlNet in models/controlnet/, and so on.
Default folder structure
ComfyUI/
└── models/
├── checkpoints/ ← Main model files (SD 1.5, SDXL, FLUX, etc.)
├── clip/ ← CLIP text encoder models
├── clip_vision/ ← CLIP vision models (used by IP-Adapter)
├── controlnet/ ← ControlNet models
├── diffusion_models/ ← Standalone diffusion models
├── embeddings/ ← Textual inversion embeddings (.safetensors, .pt)
├── gligen/ ← GLIGEN models
├── hypernetworks/ ← Hypernetwork files
├── ipadapter/ ← IP-Adapter model files
├── loras/ ← LoRA and LyCORIS files
├── photomaker/ ← PhotoMaker models
├── sams/ ← Segment Anything Model checkpoints
├── style_models/ ← Style transfer models
├── unet/ ← Standalone UNet models (FLUX, etc.)
├── upscale_models/ ← Upscaling models (RealESRGAN, etc.)
└── vae/ ← VAE modelsNot all of these folders exist by default. ComfyUI creates some automatically, while others are created by custom nodes. You can create any missing folder manually.
Which file goes where
| Model type | Folder | Common file extensions |
|---|---|---|
| SD 1.5, SDXL, FLUX checkpoints | checkpoints/ | .safetensors, .ckpt |
| LoRA, LyCORIS | loras/ | .safetensors |
| VAE | vae/ | .safetensors, .pt |
| ControlNet | controlnet/ | .safetensors, .pth |
| CLIP text encoders | clip/ | .safetensors |
| CLIP vision (IP-Adapter) | clip_vision/ | .safetensors |
| IP-Adapter | ipadapter/ | .safetensors, .bin |
| Upscale models | upscale_models/ | .pth, .pt |
| Embeddings | embeddings/ | .safetensors, .pt |
| FLUX UNet | unet/ | .safetensors |
| SAM models | sams/ | .pth |
Using subfolders for organization
You can create subfolders inside any model folder to organize your files:
models/
└── checkpoints/
├── sd15/
│ ├── v1-5-pruned-emaonly.safetensors
│ └── dreamshaper_8.safetensors
├── sdxl/
│ └── sd_xl_base_1.0.safetensors
└── flux/
└── flux1-dev.safetensorsComfyUI scans subfolders recursively. Models in subfolders will appear in dropdowns with their relative path (e.g., sd15/v1-5-pruned-emaonly.safetensors).
Storing models on a separate drive
If your models are on a different drive (e.g., D:/AI/models), create or edit ComfyUI/extra_model_paths.yaml:
external:
base_path: D:/AI/models
checkpoints: checkpoints/
loras: loras/
vae: vae/
controlnet: controlnet/
clip: clip/
clip_vision: clip_vision/
embeddings: embeddings/
upscale_models: upscale_models/After saving, restart ComfyUI. Models from both the default models/ folder and the external path will appear in dropdowns.
Important YAML notes
- Use spaces for indentation, not tabs
- Use forward slashes in paths:
D:/AI/modelsnotD:\AI\models - Quote paths with spaces:
base_path: "D:/My Models" - Restart ComfyUI after any changes to this file
Sharing models between ComfyUI and other tools
If you also use Automatic1111, Forge, or other SD interfaces, you can point ComfyUI to their model folders using extra_model_paths.yaml:
a1111:
base_path: D:/stable-diffusion-webui
checkpoints: models/Stable-diffusion/
loras: models/Lora/
vae: models/VAE/
embeddings: embeddings/
controlnet: models/ControlNet/This avoids duplicating large model files.
Common mistakes
| Mistake | Result | Fix |
|---|---|---|
Model in models/ root instead of subfolder | Not found | Move to correct subfolder |
LoRA in checkpoints/ | Shows in wrong dropdown | Move to loras/ |
| Windows shortcut (.lnk) instead of actual file | Not found | Copy or move the actual file |
| Download incomplete | File too small, may crash on load | Re-download |
| Wrong file extension | Not scanned | Rename if appropriate |
How Wonderful Launcher can help
Wonderful Launcher provides a visual model manager that shows where your models are stored, helps you organize them into the correct folders, and assists with configuring external paths without manual YAML editing.
Download Wonderful Launcher — it's free and simplifies model management.
Related guides
- ComfyUI Cannot Find Model File
- Model Path Not Detected
- Where to Put Safetensors in ComfyUI
- Install Models in ComfyUI
- Model Types Explained
Source References
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