As of June 2026 — official download: ollama.com/download
Ollama is the app that runs open-weight models on your machine. One install — then every model is a single command away.
Pick your operating system below.
Windows
- Open ollama.com/download in your browser.
- Click Download for Windows and run the installer (
OllamaSetup.exe). - Accept the installer prompts (defaults are fine).
- When it finishes, look for the Ollama icon in the system tray (bottom-right, near the clock). You may need to click the ^ arrow to show hidden icons.
You should see: the Ollama llama icon in the tray — that means the background service is running.
macOS
Option A — installer (easiest)
- Open ollama.com/download.
- Click Download for macOS and open the
.dmg. - Drag Ollama into Applications.
- Open Ollama from Applications. Approve any security prompt ("Open" in System Settings if macOS blocks it).
Option B — terminal
Requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Open Terminal and run:
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
You should see: Ollama in the menu bar (top-right) with the llama icon, or a successful install message in Terminal.
Linux
Open a terminal and run:
curl -fsSL https://ollama.com/install.sh | sh
When it finishes, the installer usually starts the Ollama service automatically. If not, run:
ollama serve
Leave that terminal open only if you started serve manually — otherwise the service runs in the background.
You should see: no errors from the install script; ollama is available as a command.
Whichever OS you're on: only ever grab the installer from the official site. A random build off a forum thread cost me an afternoon once, and a dodgy one isn't worth the risk.
Continue — confirm Ollama is alive before you download a model.