---
title: "Essential Ollama Commands Every Beginner Should Know"  
description: "it is to understand the basic commands of ollama that beginners should know."  
author: "Yash Srivastava"  
published: 2026-06-03  
updated: 2026-06-03  
canonical: https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/348/essential-ollama-commands-every-beginner-should-know  
category: "technology"  
tags: ["ollama", "ai model", "llm"]  
reading_time: 2 minutes  

---

# Essential Ollama Commands Every Beginner Should Know

## [Introduction](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/1514/introduction-to-backbone-js)

Till now we understand what is ollama, how ollama works and how to run different [AI](https://www.mindstick.com/services/artificial-intelligence) models. But for practical use it is not sufficient to only know about running the model, we also have to know about [download](https://www.mindstick.com/articles/188403/website-to-download-photos-from-instagram), manage, check and delete models. The different [commands](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/817/what-is-the-use-of-dbcc-commands) which are important to know about are:

- **ollama run:**

This is the most important [command](https://www.mindstick.com/blog/178/synchronous-and-asynchronous-command-execution-in-c-sharp-dot-net) of ollama. This command is use to run any [AI model](https://www.mindstick.com/news/4386/tencent-unveils-new-ai-model-claims-it-responds-faster-than-deepseek-r1) in ollama.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama run llama 3
```

when you run this command ollama check is the model already downloaded or not, if the model is not downloaded in the system this command automatically download the model and the launch in local system.

- **ollama pull:**

If you only want to download the AI models but don't want to run the models then only pull command is used.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama pull llama 3
```

This command only download the model but don't launch the chat session. This command is useful if you want to install [multiple](https://www.mindstick.com/forum/2323/handling-multiple-submit-button-in-asp-dot-net-mvc) models.

- **ollama list:**

when you want to list multiple models which are installed in your local system we use this list command.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama list
```

- **ollama ps:**

this command shows currently running status of the AI model.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama ps
```

suppose you used the llama 3 model then the result could be generate as

```plaintext
NAME
llama 3
```

ps= Process Status

- **ollama show:**

If you want to see any model details then you can use this command.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama show llama 3
```

this will show the information about llama 3 model.

```plaintext
Model name
Size
Parameter, etc.
```

This can be useful for comparing different AI models.

- **ollama rm:**

if the model is consuming more [storage](https://www.mindstick.com/interview/1293/what-are-the-different-types-of-storage-in-html-5) and you want to delete the model you can use this ollama command.

*example:-*

```plaintext
ollama rm llama 3
```

this command remove the AI model from the local system.

- **ollama --version:**

this command is used to check the current version of the AI model.

```plaintext
ollam --version
```

read more about ollama:-

previous topic: [Understanding ollama models](https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/344/understanding-ollama-models)\
next topic: [Understanding ollama API](https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/350/understanding-ollama-api)

---

Original Source: https://answers.mindstick.com/blog/348/essential-ollama-commands-every-beginner-should-know

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