How to Install Stable Diffusion UI on Your Mac: A Simple Step-by-Step Guide

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a significant role in the way we create things these days. One popular example of this is Stable Diffusion, an AI model that allows you to generate images based on text inputs. If you’ve ever wanted to bring a description like “a cat wearing a hat” to life as an actual image, then Stable Diffusion is for you.

Even though this tool is available for free, using it through commands can be intimidating—especially for those unfamiliar with technical setup processes. Thankfully, the team behind AUTOMATIC1111 has developed a user-friendly web interface, making it much easier to interact with Stable Diffusion.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to install the Stable Diffusion web UI on your Mac. I’ll break down the steps so that anyone can follow along—even without prior technical knowledge. If you prefer a visual guide or are using an M1 Mac (Apple Silicon), I’ve also created a YouTube tutorial, which you can check out below:

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Watch the YouTube Tutorial:

If you are more comfortable following along with a video, you can check out my step-by-step guide on YouTube:

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In this blog post, we’ll cover every step for getting Stable Diffusion up and running on your Mac, whether you’re using Apple Silicon (M1/M2 or Newer). Ready? Let’s get started.

What is Stable Diffusion?

Stable Diffusion is an AI-based model that can turn text prompts into high-quality images. It uses large datasets to learn how to create visual representations from descriptions. The fact that it can run on personal devices (like your Mac) makes it accessible to more people.

However, the initial setup can feel a bit challenging, especially if you’re not comfortable with command-line interfaces. That’s where AUTOMATIC1111’s web UI comes in handy. It provides a much more approachable experience for those who prefer a visual, web-based workflow.

Before You Start: Minimum Requirements for Your Mac

Before going into the installation, make sure your Mac meets these baseline requirements.

System Requirements:

• RAM: Preferably 16GB or more for smooth performance, especially if you’re aiming for high-resolution outputs. If your Mac has less RAM, you might encounter performance slowdowns, or even overheating.
• Disk Space: With models and images taking up quite a bit of storage, it’s ideal to have at least 50GB of free space. Stable Diffusion stores a lot of data, so more space is always better.

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Step 1: Installing Homebrew

Homebrew is a highly popular package manager for macOS that simplifies software installation. It makes setting up all the necessary tools for Stable Diffusion far easier.

Checking if You Already Have Homebrew

Open Terminal and type the following:

brew -v

If you see a version number, you’re good to move on. Otherwise, you’ll need to install it.

Installing Homebrew

To install Homebrew, type the following command in Terminal and hit enter:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

Once installation is complete, you’re good to move to the next step.

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Step 2: Installing Necessary Packages

Stable Diffusion requires a set of additional tools, or dependencies, to work properly. In this step, we install everything needed for the application to run smoothly.

Type the following in Terminal:

brew install cmake protobuf rust python@3.10 git wget

This will set you up with essential software required for the web UI.

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Step 3: Downloading the Stable Diffusion UI

The interface for Stable Diffusion can be accessed through a repository (collection of files) available on GitHub.

Where to Install

Before anything, navigate to the folder where you want to install Stable Diffusion. For example, if you want to install it in your Downloads folder, run this line in Terminal:

cd Downloads

Cloning the Repository

Next, we’ll download Stable Diffusion by copying (or “cloning”) the repository:

git clone https://github.com/AUTOMATIC1111/stable-diffusion-webui

With that, the necessary files for the UI will be downloaded, all set to be put to use.

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Step 4: Downloading a Model

Stable Diffusion requires “models,” which are files built using lots of images and data to help the AI generate new images. Think of them as instruction sets that the AI uses to create visuals.

Finding Models

You can browse several websites such as Hugging Face or Civit AI to download pre-trained models. Look for ones with the file extensions .ckpt or .safetensors. A good beginner-friendly option is the “dreamshaper” model.

Saving and Placing the Model

Once you’ve downloaded a model file, move it into the following folder:

• Open Finder, then navigate to the stable-diffusion-webui folder you created in Step 3.
• Inside that folder, go to models/Stable-diffusion/ and drag your downloaded model into this directory.

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Step 5: Running the Stable Diffusion Web UI

Now that everything is set up, let’s bring Stable Diffusion to life on your Mac.

Open Terminal

Navigate to the Stable Diffusion UI folder using Terminal by typing:

cd Downloads/stable-diffusion-webui

Start The Server

Run the following command to start the application:

./webui.sh

(Note: If you’re using an M1 Mac and encounter a runtime error, try launching it with this command instead:

./webui.sh --no-half

This will avoid issues related to memory usage.)

The first time you run it, it may take a few minutes as it downloads files and sets things up.

Accessing The Interface

Once everything is ready, your Terminal will display a local webpage URL, such as:

http://127.0.0.1:7860

Copy and paste that link into your browser, and the Stable Diffusion web interface should appear.

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Step 6: Creating Your First Image

Ready to get creative? Here’s how you can generate your first image using a text prompt.

1. In the txt2img tab of the interface, you’ll find a text box. Type something interesting like, “a dog walking in a meadow under a rainbow.”
2. Click the Generate button, and within a few seconds, the model will output your image based on the prompt you entered. It’s that easy!

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How to End Your Session

When you’re done and wish to stop Stable Diffusion, simply closing the browser isn’t enough. The server will still be running in the background.

Stopping the Server

Head back to your Terminal window, where the system is still running.
To end the session, press Control + C. This will stop the server and free up resources on your computer.

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Common Problems and Fixes

If things don’t go smoothly, don’t worry—here are a few tips to handle common issues.

• Web UI Won’t Start: If it doesn’t load, you may need to delete some folders like repositories and venv within the stable-diffusion-webui directory, then pull the latest updates with:

  git pull
  

  After that, retry launching with ./webui.sh.

• Slow Performance: If the system feels sluggish, especially when generating larger images, try using some additional parameters designed to save memory:

  ./webui.sh --opt-split-attention-v1 --medvram
  

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Wrapping Up

Congratulations! You’ve successfully set up Stable Diffusion on your Mac. Whether you’re a hobbyist or just curious about AI, you now have the tools to create highly detailed images from simple descriptions.

Feel free to experiment with different prompts and models, and see what kind of creative outputs you can generate. And don’t forget to check out the YouTube tutorial for a step-by-step visual walk-through of everything covered here.