Can I use a local AI model to proofread offline?
Yes. Connect Write by Zaweba to a model in Ollama on your own PC and Proofread checks your text in UK English without it leaving the computer.
It can, using Ollama. Write by Zaweba connects to a local model running through Ollama on your own computer. Once connected, Proofread in the AI menu checks your text in UK English using that model, and the text never leaves your machine. The rest of Write already works offline, so with a local model the whole job does too.
Why a local model
Online AI services are powerful, but they mean sending your text over the internet to someone else's servers. For a private letter, a medical or legal document, work that is not yet public, or simply on a train with no signal, that is not ideal. A local model runs on your own PC. Write sends the text to it, it sends the answer back, and nothing goes any further.
What you need
You need Ollama, a free program that runs AI models on your own computer, and a model downloaded through it. Getting Ollama and the model needs an internet connection once. After that, it all runs offline.
Local models need a reasonably capable PC. More memory and a good graphics card help a great deal. Smaller models run on more modest machines but give simpler answers. For proofreading, which is a narrower job than writing from scratch, a modest model is often good enough.
Connecting and proofreading
In Write, connect your AI account and choose Ollama as the provider. With it connected, select the text you want checked and choose Proofread from the AI menu. Write sends the text and its proofreading instructions to the local model and shows you the reply.
Then decide what to do with it. Replace the selection if the corrections are right, insert it below to compare, or open it in a new document. Each insertion is a single undo step, so Ctrl+Z restores your original if you change your mind.
Work in smaller pieces: a paragraph or a page at a time. With nothing selected, Write sends the whole document's text, trimmed to 24,000 characters, which is a lot for a small local model to handle in one go.
How it fits with the spell checker
Write's own spell checker needs no AI at all. It uses Hunspell with UK English as standard, puts red squiggles under unknown words as you type, offers suggestions on right-click and has the Spelling dialog on F7. It catches misspelled words quickly and reliably.
What it cannot catch is a real word in the wrong place, a missing word, or a clumsy sentence. That is where a proofread from a model helps. A good routine is to run the spell checker first, then proofread with the local model, then read the text through yourself.
Other things a local model can do
The other AI actions work with a local model too: Rewrite with its Clearer, Shorter, Longer, More formal and Friendlier options, Summarise, Make bullet points, Translate, Write a title, Draft from a description and Explain. Results depend on the model, so try a few and see which suit your writing.
Keeping expectations right
Local models make mistakes, as all AI does. Treat the proofread as suggestions, and check any change to names, figures or meaning. Write by Zaweba gives you a private, offline route to a second pair of eyes, with the final word always yours.
