BeginnerEdge / Local 6 min read

Ollama on Windows (Native, No WSL)

Install the Windows Ollama app for the simplest path — GPU works on NVIDIA; AMD is CPU-only for now.

WindowsOllamaNVIDIADesktop

Install

Download the installer from ollama.com. It runs as a background service and auto-detects NVIDIA GPUs. No CUDA toolkit install needed.

powershell

# Download from https://ollama.com/download/windows
# Or winget:
winget install Ollama.Ollama

# Verify service
ollama --version
ollama list

When to use WSL instead

Stick with native Ollama for quick chat and Open WebUI. Switch to WSL2 if you need llama.cpp custom builds, ExLlamaV2, or fine-grained CUDA control.

text

Native Windows Ollama:
  ✓ One-click install
  ✓ NVIDIA GPU acceleration
  ✓ OpenAI-compatible API at :11434

Use WSL2 instead for:
  → ExLlamaV2 / EXL2 quants
  → Custom llama.cpp flags
  → vLLM / TabbyAPI

Deployment guides are educational. Each model is subject to its own license — read the official Hugging Face model card before downloading or deploying.