AI Tools don't respond (Windows)

AI Tools (Clean, Improve, Summary, Translate, AI Prompt) need **Ollama** running locally on your Windows PC. If they don't respond, Ollama is the issue 99% of the time. **Diagnostic — is Ollama installed and running?** 1. Open your browser 2. Go to `http://localhost:11434` 3. You should see: **"Ollama is running"** If you see "Ollama is running" → Ollama is fine. Problem is elsewhere — skip to "Check the model" below. If you see "connection refused" or an error → Ollama isn't running. **Fix 1: Install Ollama (one-time, free):** 1. Go to [ollama.com](https://ollama.com) and download 2. Install (default options are fine) 3. Ollama runs as a background service after install **Fix 2: Start Ollama (if installed but not running):** - **Windows:** Find Ollama in Start menu → click to start. Or open Task Manager → check if `ollama.exe` is running. - **Restart your PC** if Ollama doesn't start cleanly **Fix 3: Download a model:** Ollama needs at least one model installed. Even if Ollama is running, no model = no AI. 1. Open a terminal (Win+R → cmd → Enter) 2. Run: `ollama pull qwen2.5:0.5b` 3. Wait for download to complete (~400 MB, a few minutes) 4. Verify: `ollama list` should show qwen2.5:0.5b **Fix 4: VoicePad → Ollama connection:** 1. VoicePad → Settings → AI Model 2. **Ollama URL** should show: `http://localhost:11434` 3. If empty or different — reset to `http://localhost:11434` 4. Click **Test Connection** — should show "Connected" **Choosing the right model:** | Model | Size | When to use | |-------|------|-------------| | qwen2.5:0.5b | 400 MB | Default — fast, good for cleanup | | qwen2.5:1.5b | 1 GB | Better quality, mid-speed | | qwen2.5:3b | 2 GB | Best quality, slower | Larger models need more RAM. If AI Tools hang or freeze your PC, you might have chosen a model too large for your hardware. Switch back to qwen2.5:0.5b. **AI Tools are slow:** - Larger models take longer - First request after starting Ollama is slow (model loading into RAM) — subsequent requests are fast - If freezing the PC: your model is too large — downgrade For more on AI Tools, see [How do I use AI Tools?](#).