What Is an Anki Deck? The Complete Beginner's Guide to Anki

If you have spent any time in online study communities — medical school forums, language learning subreddits, bar exam prep groups — you have encountered Anki. It is one of the most recommended study tools in the world, yet for many newcomers it feels cryptic: unfamiliar vocabulary, a dated interface, and a learning curve that can discourage before the real benefits kick in. This guide demystifies Anki completely. You will learn what an Anki deck is, how does Anki work, how to make Anki flashcards from scratch, what it costs, and where it fits against modern alternatives.

Anki is not magic. It is the rigorous application of two well-established principles from cognitive science: active recall and spaced repetition. Understanding those principles is the key to understanding why the Anki method produces results that feel almost implausible to people who have only ever studied by re-reading notes.

What Does Anki Mean? Origin and Purpose

Anki meaning is straightforward: anki (暗記) is the Japanese word for "memorization" or "learning by heart." The name reflects the software's singular purpose — helping users commit information to long-term memory as efficiently as possible.

Anki was created by Damien Elmes, an Australian software developer, and released in 2006 as free and open-source software. According to the official Anki website, it is available for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android, and has accumulated millions of users worldwide — particularly among medical students, language learners, and anyone preparing for high-stakes exams like the GRE. The project is maintained actively; as of 2024 the desktop client receives regular updates and has migrated to a modern Rust-based backend.

So what does Anki mean beyond its name? The Anki meaning extends to the practice itself: a flashcard program that uses a scheduling algorithm to decide when you should review each card. That sounds simple. The power is in the precision of the scheduling.

How Does Anki Work? The Spaced Repetition Method

How does Anki work? At its core, Anki is a spaced repetition system (SRS). After you review a card, you rate how well you remembered it. Anki uses that rating to schedule the next review. Cards you found easy get pushed far into the future. Cards you found difficult come back the next day or the day after. Over weeks and months, each card's interval grows until you only need to review it once every few months — while still retaining it reliably.

The original scheduling algorithm Anki used is called SM-2, developed by Piotr Woźniak at SuperMemo in the late 1980s and documented publicly in 1990. SM-2 calculates an "easiness factor" for each card based on your rating history, then multiplies the previous interval by that factor to compute the next interval. A card you consistently answer correctly will have its interval grow exponentially. A card you struggle with keeps a short interval until your recall improves.

Anki 23.10 (released in late 2023) introduced FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) as an optional algorithm available alongside SM-2. FSRS-5, the current version, is a machine-learning-derived algorithm that models memory more accurately than SM-2 by tracking both "stability" (how slowly a memory decays) and "difficulty" (how hard a card is to learn). Research by the FSRS team found it reduces total review workload by 20–30% while maintaining equivalent retention compared to SM-2.

The Anki method in practice looks like this: you review a short session of due cards each day — typically 15 to 30 minutes — rather than cramming for hours before an exam. The algorithm ensures you see each card at the moment it is about to be forgotten. This exploits what psychologists call the spacing effect: memories are strengthened most when retrieved just before they would otherwise be lost. The result is long-term retention with a fraction of the study time that passive review requires.

Core Concepts: Decks, Notes, Cards, and Fields

Before you can answer "what is an Anki deck," you need to understand how Anki organizes information. Anki has four fundamental concepts: decks, notes, card types, and fields. New users often confuse notes with cards — and that confusion causes problems.

Decks

A deck is a named collection of cards. Think of it as a folder. You might have a deck called "Spanish Vocabulary," another called "Anatomy," and a third called "AWS Certification." Decks can be nested: "Anatomy › Cardiovascular" is a subdeck of "Anatomy." You review cards from a deck as a unit — you can choose to study all decks together or focus on one at a time.

Notes

A note is the raw piece of information you want to learn. It is not what you see on screen during review — it is the underlying data. A single note can generate multiple cards. For example, a Spanish vocabulary note might generate a "Spanish → English" card and a separate "English → Spanish" card from the same underlying note.

Fields

Fields are the individual data slots within a note. A basic note has two fields: Front and Back. A more complex note type for language learning might have fields for: Word, Translation, Example Sentence, Pronunciation, and Image. Fields are the raw data; card templates decide how that data is displayed during review.

Cards

A card is what you actually see during a review session. It is generated from a note according to a card template. The front of a card shows some fields; the back reveals the rest. One note can produce multiple cards with different front/back configurations.

Types of Anki Cards

Understanding the types of Anki cards available is essential for building effective decks. Anki ships with several built-in note types, each generating different card configurations.

Basic

The simplest note type. One Front field, one Back field, one card. You see the front, try to recall the back, then flip. Suitable for definitions, vocabulary, dates, and any fact with a single correct answer. Most beginners start here and many advanced users stick with it permanently.

Basic (and reversed card)

Generates two cards from one note: Front→Back and Back→Front. Useful for vocabulary learning where you want to test recognition in both directions (seeing the English and producing the Spanish, and vice versa). Double the review time but double the learning direction.

Basic (optional reversed card)

Like the above, but only generates the reverse card if you fill in an "Add Reverse" field. Gives you per-note control over whether both directions are tested.

Cloze

Cloze cards use fill-in-the-blank formatting. You write a sentence with part of it replaced by a placeholder: “The mitochondria is the {{c1::powerhouse}} of the cell.” During review, the cloze deletion is hidden and you must recall the missing word. Cloze cards excel for learning information in context — medical facts, historical events, code syntax — rather than isolated definitions. You can have multiple cloze deletions in a single note, generating multiple separate cards.

Image Occlusion

Available as a built-in feature since Anki 23.10, Image Occlusion lets you cover parts of an image and test yourself on the hidden regions. It is the go-to card type for anatomy students labeling diagrams, medical imaging, maps, and any visual content where spatial relationships matter.

Custom Note Types

Advanced users create custom note types with any number of fields, custom HTML/CSS templates, and conditional formatting. A language learning note type might have fields for audio, example sentences, and frequency rank alongside the translation. This flexibility is one reason Anki's power users are so devoted to it.

Card Type	Cards Generated	Best For
Basic	1	Definitions, single-direction facts
Basic (reversed)	2	Vocabulary, bidirectional recall
Cloze	1 per deletion	In-context facts, medical, code
Image Occlusion	1 per occluded region	Anatomy diagrams, maps, visuals
Custom	Unlimited	Advanced learners, language decks

How to Make Anki Cards: Step-by-Step Guide

Here is how to make Anki flashcards from scratch, whether you are starting your first deck or expanding an existing one. The process is the same on desktop — the platform you should use for card creation regardless of where you review.

Step 1: Open the Card Editor

Launch Anki on your computer. On the main screen, click Add in the top menu bar (or press A). The Add Card dialog opens with fields for the note type you have selected.

Step 2: Choose Your Deck and Note Type

At the top of the Add dialog, you will see two dropdowns: Type (the note type) and Deck (where the card will be saved). Select the appropriate note type for what you are creating. For most use cases, Basic or Cloze is the right choice. Select the destination deck, or click the deck name to create a new one.

Step 3: Fill in the Fields

For a Basic card: type your question or prompt in the Front field. Type the answer in the Back field. Keep each card atomic — test exactly one concept per card. For more on effective layouts, see our flash card design principles. If you find yourself writing three-sentence answers, the card is probably too broad. Split it.

For a Cloze card: type your sentence in the Text field. Highlight the word or phrase you want to test, then press Ctrl+Shift+C (Windows/Linux) or Cmd+Shift+C (Mac) to wrap it in a cloze deletion. Anki will format it as {{c1::word}} automatically.

Step 4: Add Tags (Optional but Recommended)

Tags let you filter and search cards across decks. Add them in the Tags field at the bottom of the Add dialog. Good tagging habits now save significant time later when you want to study a subset of cards or identify weak areas.

Step 5: Save and Continue

Click Add to save the card. The fields clear and you can immediately add another card to the same deck. Anki keeps your deck and note type selection between cards, so batch card creation is efficient. When finished, close the dialog. Your new cards will appear in the deck's "New" queue and will be introduced at the rate configured in your deck settings.

How to Make Anki Flash Cards from Existing Material

Knowing how to make Anki flash cards from existing notes opens several faster options than manual entry. You can import a CSV or TSV file via File › Import. Each row becomes a note, with columns mapping to fields. This is the fastest way to bulk-create cards from structured data. You can also import shared decks (“.apkg” files) from AnkiWeb's shared decks library, which has thousands of pre-made decks for medical school curricula, language learning, geography, and professional exams. You can also build a study guide from these shared decks to structure your review sessions.

How to Use Anki on Mac, Windows, and Mobile

Knowing how to use Anki effectively requires understanding the difference between the platforms. Anki's desktop client (available for Mac, Windows, and Linux) is the authoritative version — it has the full feature set including card templates, custom note types, add-on support, and advanced statistics. Mobile is excellent for reviewing but limited for creating complex cards.

How to Use Anki on Mac

Learning how to use Anki on Mac starts with the download. Visit apps.ankiweb.net and download the macOS installer. Open the .dmg file and drag Anki to your Applications folder. On first launch, macOS Gatekeeper may warn you about an unverified developer — go to System Settings › Privacy & Security and click "Open Anyway."

The Mac experience is identical to Windows in functionality. Some users prefer the Mac version's rendering due to Retina display support. Our full Anki download guide for Mac and Windows covers every step including common Gatekeeper issues.

How to Use Anki on Windows

Download the Windows installer from apps.ankiweb.net. Run the .exe installer and follow the prompts. No special configuration is needed. Windows Defender may flag the installer on first run — click "More info" then "Run anyway." Anki does not require administrator privileges for normal use.

Anki on Android (AnkiDroid)

AnkiDroid is the official Anki client for Android, maintained by a separate volunteer team. It is available free on Google Play and is fully compatible with Anki's file formats. AnkiDroid syncs with AnkiWeb, so decks created on desktop are available immediately on your phone. It supports all card types including Image Occlusion.

Anki on iOS (AnkiMobile)

AnkiMobile is the official iOS app, developed by Anki's creator. It is available on the App Store and is one of the few paid apps in Anki's ecosystem — more on pricing in the next section. The iOS experience is excellent and fully syncs with AnkiWeb.

The Basic Review Workflow

Regardless of platform, understanding how to work Anki reviews is straightforward. Open a deck. Anki presents the front of a card. You think of the answer, then click "Show Answer" (or press Space). The back is revealed. You rate your recall using one of four buttons: Again, Hard, Good, or Easy. Anki schedules the next review based on your rating and the algorithm's model of your memory. Repeat until the deck's due queue is empty.

The how to work Anki question that confuses most beginners is the rating scale. "Again" resets the card to learning phase. "Hard" shortens the interval relative to what "Good" would give. "Good" is the default expectation — use it when you recalled correctly with moderate effort. "Easy" extends the interval significantly and should be used sparingly, only when a card is genuinely trivial and you want to push it far out.

Anki Cost: What's Free and What's Not

One of the most common questions about Anki is simply: what does it cost? The Anki cost structure is unusual because it is almost entirely free, with one notable exception.

Platform	App	Cost	Notes
Windows	Anki (desktop)	Free	Full feature set, add-on support
macOS	Anki (desktop)	Free	Full feature set, Retina support
Linux	Anki (desktop)	Free	Full feature set
Android	AnkiDroid	Free	Open-source, Google Play
iOS	AnkiMobile	$24.99 (one-time)	Official app, App Store
Web	AnkiWeb	Free	Basic reviews only, limited features

Is Anki really free? Yes, on every platform except iOS. The desktop clients for Mac, Windows, and Linux are free and open-source. AnkiDroid on Android is free. AnkiWeb for browser-based reviews is free but limited. The iOS app, AnkiMobile, costs $24.99 as a one-time purchase with no subscription. This is intentional: the purchase price of AnkiMobile funds Anki's ongoing development across all platforms. It is essentially a donation mechanism that also unlocks the best mobile experience.

There are no subscriptions, no premium tiers on desktop, and no paywalled card types. The shared decks library on AnkiWeb is free. Add-ons from AnkiWeb are free. If you use Anki exclusively on desktop and Android, your total cost is $0 — forever.

If you are an iPad user specifically, see our detailed guide to Anki on iPad: complete setup guide and cost breakdown, which covers AnkiMobile pricing, the AnkiApp confusion, and free alternatives for iOS.

Anki Online: Can You Use Anki in a Browser?

Anki online access is available through AnkiWeb, the official web companion to the desktop app. AnkiWeb serves two purposes: it is the sync server for all your devices, and it provides a basic web-based review interface.

The AnkiWeb review interface is functional but limited. You can review due cards, rate them, and view basic statistics. You cannot create new cards, edit note types, install add-ons, or access advanced settings. AnkiWeb is best understood as a fallback option — useful when you are on a borrowed computer and need to keep up with your daily reviews without installing anything.

For a true Anki online experience with full card creation, you need the desktop app. There is no official web version of Anki with complete functionality. Some third-party tools claim to offer full Anki compatibility in the browser, but they vary in update frequency and file format fidelity.

If browser-first flashcard study is important to you — for instance, if you study on a school Chromebook or a shared computer — a dedicated browser extension may serve you better than trying to replicate the full Anki experience in a tab.

Anki AI: How Artificial Intelligence Is Changing Flashcards

The rise of large language models has introduced a new category of tools around the concept of Anki AI: software that uses artificial intelligence to automatically generate flashcard content from source material such as PDFs, lecture slides, textbook chapters, or pasted notes.

Anki itself does not have built-in AI card generation as of early 2026. However, the add-on ecosystem has several options. AnkiConnect (an add-on that exposes Anki's API to external programs) can be used with custom scripts or third-party services to pipe AI-generated content directly into Anki decks. Community add-ons like various GPT-based card generators can draft card content from highlighted text or imported documents, though quality and maintenance vary.

Dedicated Anki AI tools outside the official app have proliferated: platforms like Wisdolia, Gizmo, and Knowt can generate flashcard drafts from uploaded PDFs. Some export to .apkg format for direct Anki import. The workflow is typically: upload your source material → AI generates candidate cards → you review and edit → export to Anki. This pipeline dramatically reduces card creation time for large volumes of material, though human review of AI-generated cards remains important for accuracy.

For a comprehensive comparison of all AI-powered flashcard tools available in 2026, see our guide to the best AI flashcard generators.

Anki Alternatives: Faster Ways to Build Decks

Anki is exceptional at what it does, but it has real limitations. The desktop-first interface is powerful but dated. Card creation from web content requires copying and pasting. There is no built-in browser extension. Mobile sync requires AnkiWeb setup. And the iOS app carries a cost. Depending on your workflow, one of these alternatives may serve you better — or complement Anki rather than replace it.

Tool	Cost	Algorithm	Best For	Limitation
Anki	Free (iOS $24.99)	FSRS-5 / SM-2	Power users, medical, language	Steep learning curve, dated UI
Flashcard Maker	Free	FSRS-5	Browser-based learning, web readers	Chrome only, no mobile, no sync
Quizlet	Free / $35.99/yr	Basic spacing	Shared decks, quick test prep	Paywalled learning modes
Brainscape	Free / $9.99/mo	Confidence-based	Professional certifications	Subscription required for full access
RemNote	Free / $8/mo	SM-2	Note-takers, knowledge management	Complex for simple flashcard use
AnkiDroid	Free	SM-2 / FSRS	Android mobile Anki users	Android only

Flashcard Maker: The Browser Extension Workflow

One gap no competitor addresses is seamless flashcard creation directly from web browsing. Flashcard Maker is a Chrome extension built specifically for this workflow. Highlight any text on any webpage, right-click, and create a flashcard in one click. The card saves to a deck inside the extension with the source URL tracked automatically.

Flashcard Maker uses FSRS-5 — the same algorithm Anki recently adopted as its default, and more advanced than the SM-2 that most alternatives still use. Reviews use the familiar four-button system (Again, Hard, Good, Easy) with keyboard shortcuts (Space to flip, 1–4 for ratings). The analytics dashboard shows retention rates, daily forecast, and session statistics. Immersion mode highlights saved terms as you continue browsing, turning passive reading into review.

On the import/export side, Flashcard Maker accepts Quizlet exports (TSV/CSV) and exports your cards to CSV. Dark mode, notifications, tags, and per-deck FSRS settings are all included. No account is required and the extension is completely free.

The limitations are real and worth stating clearly: Flashcard Maker is Chrome-only, has no mobile app, no sync across devices, no AI card generation, no .apkg import, no multimedia cards, and no card templates beyond front/back. For users who want Anki's full power — audio cards, Image Occlusion, shared decks, mobile sync — Anki remains the right tool. Flashcard Maker fits a specific niche: learners who spend meaningful time reading online and want frictionless capture without switching apps.

For a full comparison of all available tools, read our guide to the best flashcard apps in 2026 and our list of the top Quizlet alternatives.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an Anki deck?

An Anki deck is a named collection of flashcards within the Anki application. Decks organize cards by subject or topic and can be nested into subdecks. When you study, you select a deck and Anki presents cards that are due for review based on its spaced repetition algorithm. Decks can be shared with other users as .apkg files or downloaded from the AnkiWeb shared decks library.

Is Anki really free?

Anki is free on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. The iOS app (AnkiMobile) costs $24.99 as a one-time purchase. AnkiWeb for browser-based review is also free. There are no subscriptions or premium tiers on the desktop clients.

How does Anki spaced repetition work?

After each card review, you rate your recall (Again, Hard, Good, Easy). Anki's algorithm calculates when the memory will begin to fade and schedules your next review just before that point. Easy cards get longer intervals; difficult cards come back sooner. Over time, well-remembered cards are reviewed only a few times per year while remaining reliably recalled.

Can you use Anki online?

Yes, through AnkiWeb, which provides basic browser-based card review and syncs with the desktop app. AnkiWeb does not support card creation, note type editing, or add-ons. For full functionality, the desktop app is required.

What types of cards can you make in Anki?

Anki supports Basic (front/back), Basic with Reversed card, Cloze (fill-in-the-blank), Image Occlusion (hide parts of an image), and fully custom note types with any number of fields and HTML/CSS templates. Most users start with Basic and Cloze.

How long does it take to learn Anki?

Most users are functional within 30 minutes of installation. Creating basic cards and running review sessions is straightforward. Advanced features — custom note types, filtered decks, add-ons, and FSRS parameter tuning — take longer to learn but are optional. The Anki manual at docs.ankiweb.net is comprehensive and well-organized.

What is the difference between Anki and AnkiDroid?

Anki is the desktop application (Windows/Mac/Linux) developed by Damien Elmes. AnkiDroid is a separate open-source Android app maintained by a different volunteer team. Both use the same file formats and sync via AnkiWeb. AnkiDroid is not an official Anki product but is fully endorsed and linked from the official Anki site.