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Anki User Manual and FAQ

repository·main·Indexed 18 days ago

https://github.com/ankitects/anki-manual

Official documentation for Anki, a learning tool based on active recall and spaced repetition. Includes guides on using the Browse window, managing backups and restores, installing and troubleshooting add-ons, and understanding scheduling algorithms like SM-2 and FSRS.

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What's inside Anki Manual

  2. Use Flags for card-level organization

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    Flags are similar to tags but serve different purposes and have different scopes:

    • Card-level scope: Unlike tags, flags work at the card level. Flagging one card in a note will not affect its siblings.
    • Single flag limit: A single card can have only one flag at a time.
    • Visual indicator: Flags appear as colored icons in the upper right area of the review window during study.
    • Usage: Use flags when you need to mark a specific card for special attention (e.g., for a filtered deck) without affecting the entire note.

    Shortcuts:

    • Windows: Ctrl + 1-7
    • Mac: Cmd + 1-7

    You can also flag/unflag cards in the Browser and create filtered decks from them.

  3. How media synchronization works

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    Anki synchronizes sounds and images used by your notes. It detects when media is added, removed, or replaced in your media folder, but it cannot detect if you have edited an existing file. To sync edits to a file, you must replace the file with the new version.

    Media Deletion and Restoration

    • Syncing Deletions: To prevent accidental loss, deletions only sync to other devices if they are made after the device is fully in sync. If you delete files before a sync is complete, they may be re-downloaded from AnkiWeb during the next sync.
    • Restoring Deleted Media: If you accidentally delete media, go to preferences and log out. The next time you sync, Anki will attempt to restore the deleted files from AnkiWeb.

    Hardware Note

    If running Anki from a USB flash drive, use an NTFS file system. Anki may fail to detect media changes on FAT32 filesystems.

  4. Configure note updating behavior (Anki 23.10+)

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    In Anki 23.10 and later, you have granular control over how imported notes and note types interact with your existing collection. When importing, you can choose between several behaviors:

    • Unconditionally update: Overwrite your local modifications with the contents of the file.
    • Never update: Do not update any existing objects.
    • Merge note types: If both you and the deck author modified the same note type, you can choose to merge them. This preserves all templates and fields from both versions.

    Note on Merging: Merging relies on template and field IDs (introduced in Anki 2.1.67). If IDs are missing, Anki attempts to match them by name. Merging requires a full sync and may mark other existing notes as modified.

  5. Organize cards using Decks

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    A deck is a group of cards. Decks allow you to study specific subsets of your collection and apply unique settings (like new card limits or intervals) to each group.

    Subdecks and Hierarchy

    Decks can be organized into a tree structure using subdecks. You can create hierarchy by:

    1. Naming decks with double colons (::). For example, Chinese::Hanzi creates a Hanzi subdeck inside a Chinese parent deck.
    2. Dragging and dropping decks within the deck list.

    When you select a parent deck, Anki shows all cards within it, including those in its subdecks. Selecting a subdeck shows only the cards in that specific subdeck.

    Deck Management Tips

    • Default Deck: Anki includes a "Default" deck for cards that are not assigned to any other deck. This deck is hidden if it is empty and you have other decks.
    • Sorting: Decks are sorted alphabetically. To ensure numerical order (e.g., My Deck 09 before My Deck 10), use leading zeros in names.
    • Best Practice: Use decks for broad categories rather than granular topics (like specific lessons) to optimize study flow.

  6. Best practices for using shared decks

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    Shared decks are useful for saving time on simple subjects (like capital cities or flags) or as a supplement to existing study materials.

    However, for complex subjects (like languages or sciences), shared decks should be used as a supplement, not a replacement for external material (textbooks, teachers, etc.). Because creators often omit background explanations that they already understand, using shared decks without external context can make the material difficult to learn.

    Core Principle: Do not learn if you do not understand.

  7. Manage Deck Options using Presets

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    Anki uses presets to group options, allowing you to apply the same settings to multiple decks simultaneously. Changing an option in a preset updates all decks using that preset.

    To manage presets, use the arrow icon in the top right of the Deck Options window. Available actions include:

    • Save: Apply current modifications to the active preset.
    • Add Preset: Create a new preset with default options for the current deck.
    • Clone: Duplicate the current preset to create a new one with the same base settings.
    • Rename: Change the name of the current preset.
    • Delete: Remove the current preset (Note: this may cause a one-way sync conflict during your next sync).
    • Save to All Subdecks: Save the current preset and assign it to all subdecks of the selected deck.

  8. How Cloze templates work

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    Cloze note types function differently than regular note types. Instead of multiple customizable card types, a Cloze note type uses a single type shared by all cloze deletions on a note.

    Generation Logic

    1. Anki looks for cloze replacements in the front template (e.g., {{cloze:FieldName}}).
    2. It then looks for cloze references in that field (e.g., {{c1::text}}, {{c2::text}}).
    3. A separate card is generated for each unique number (c1, c2, etc.).

    Note: {{cloze:...}} tags only work with Cloze note types; they will not function correctly with regular note types.

    Conditional Cloze Rendering

    You can use special conditional fields to check which specific cloze card is currently being rendered (e.g., {{c1}}, {{c2}}). This allows you to show different hints for different deletions:

    {{cloze:Text}}

{{#c1}}
    {{Hint1}}
{{/c1}}

{{#c2}}
    {{Hint2}}
{{/c2}}

  9. How Spaced Repetition works in Anki

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    Spaced repetition leverages the "spacing effect," where information is remembered more effectively when reviews are distributed over time.

    In Anki, the system tracks your performance on each card. When you answer a question, you provide feedback on how well you remembered it. The algorithm uses this feedback to calculate the optimal time to show the card again. As a memory becomes stronger through successful recall, the intervals between reviews grow longer (e.g., from 3 days to 15 days to 45 days), allowing you to maintain knowledge with minimal effort.

  10. Update existing notes using the GUID Column

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    Anki uses a Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) to track notes and handle duplicate checking. If you export notes with their GUIDs included, you can modify the notes and re-import them to update the existing entries in Anki, provided the GUID field remains unchanged.

    Important considerations:

    • Duplicate Checking: If a row contains a non-empty GUID that already exists in the collection, Anki will not create a duplicate; it will treat it as an update.
    • Custom IDs: If you are using your own custom IDs (e.g., MYNOTE0001), it is recommended to place them in the first field of the note rather than assigning them to Anki's internal GUID field. Anki can use the first field for duplicate checking to achieve the same update behavior.

  11. Adjust FSRS Parameters and Historical Retention

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    If you are using the FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler), you can use specific settings to handle missing or imported data:

    • Historical Retention: (Hidden unless FSRS is enabled). Used to tell FSRS what your estimated retention was during periods where review history is missing. This helps FSRS approximate missing reviews more accurately.
    • Ignore Cards Reviewed Before: Allows you to specify a date. Any cards reviewed before this date will be ignored when FSRS optimizes its parameters. This is useful if you have imported scheduling data from another user or changed your answering habits significantly.

  12. How Siblings and Burying work

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    Related cards from the same note (e.g., a front→back and a back→front card) are called siblings.

    Burying prevents siblings from appearing in the same study session by hiding them until the next day.

    • Activation: Can be enabled for New cards and Reviews separately in Deck Options.
    • Behavior: Anki will not hide cards in the Learning state. However, studying a learning card will trigger the burying of its new/review siblings.
    • Unburying: You can manually unbury cards using the Unbury button on the deck overview screen.
    • Note: A card cannot be both buried and suspended. Suspending a buried card will unbury it.