Run Gemma 4 without a GPU or setup

getting started

// what it does

gemma4:e2b is the smallest member of the family (2.3B effective parameters), fitting in under 5 GB at 4-bit so it runs on a laptop CPU or a modest GPU. Ollama downloads the weights (~7 GB) on first run and drops you into an interactive chat. Type a prompt and press Enter; /bye exits.

// shell

$ ollama run gemma4:e2b

// gotcha

The bare tag ollama run gemma4 pulls the E4B build (the tag marked latest, ~9.6 GB), not E2B. Ask for gemma4:e2b explicitly when you are tight on memory.

// resources