How to Use Anki: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Here is how to use Anki in short: install the free desktop app (or AnkiDroid on Android, or AnkiMobile on iPhone), create a deck, and add cards with a question on the front and a short answer on the back. Then click Study Now every day, recall each answer before you reveal it, and grade yourself Again, Hard, Good, or Easy. Anki uses those grades to schedule each card just before you are likely to forget it. Keep new cards to 10–20 a day, turn on FSRS, and sync with a free AnkiWeb account so your devices stay in step.

This guide is for students, med students, and language learners new to Anki, and for anyone who got buried in reviews and wants a clean restart. Button names and defaults match the official Anki manual(opens in a new tab) and Anki 26.09.3, the current release as of October 2026.

Key takeaways

• Anki is free on computers, Android (AnkiDroid), and the web (AnkiWeb). AnkiMobile for iPhone and iPad is a one-time $24.99 purchase in the US App Store.
• Press Again whenever you forgot. Hard counts as a pass.
• The defaults are 20 new cards and 200 reviews a day, and 20 new cards a day leads to roughly 200 daily reviews.
• Turn on FSRS and keep desired retention at its default of 90%.

Contents

• What is Anki
• How to use Anki in 9 steps
• How to install Anki
• How to create a deck and add cards
• How to study cards in Anki
• Set your daily limits
• Anki FSRS settings
• How to use Anki shared decks
• How to use Anki image occlusion
• How to sync Anki with AnkiWeb
• How to use Anki effectively
• Your 7-day Anki starter plan
• If Anki feels like too much
• FAQ
• Start using Anki today

What is Anki

Anki is an open-source flashcard program that decides when you review each card. As the Anki manual(opens in a new tab) explains, it combines active recall (answering before you see the answer) with spaced repetition (reviewing each card just before you would forget it, with longer gaps every time you get it right).

Four terms to know: you type information into a note, split into fields such as Front and Back. Anki turns each note into one or more cards (for example perro → dog and dog → perro). A deck is a group of cards you study together, and the note type decides which fields and cards a note gets.

How to use Anki in 9 steps

1. Install Anki on your computer, your phone, or both.
2. Create a deck for one broad subject.
3. Pick a note type: Basic, Cloze, or Image Occlusion.
4. Add cards with a short question and a short answer.
5. Click Study Now and recall each answer before you reveal it.
6. Grade yourself honestly with Again, Hard, Good, or Easy.
7. Set daily limits so your reviews stay manageable.
8. Turn on FSRS in Deck Options.
9. Sync with AnkiWeb so every device has the same cards.

How to install Anki

Get Anki from its official site, apps.ankiweb.net(opens in a new tab), which also links to the mobile apps:

• Windows: download Windows 10+ (x64) (or Windows 11 (ARM)), run the installer, and open Anki from the desktop star icon.
• Mac: download the Apple Silicon or Intel build and drag Anki into Applications.
• Linux: download the .tar.zst package and run install.sh (see the Linux install steps(opens in a new tab)).

On a phone, install AnkiMobile from the App Store(opens in a new tab) or AnkiDroid from Google Play(opens in a new tab). A comfortable setup is to add cards on a computer, where typing is faster, and review on your phone.

How to create a deck and add cards

Create a deck

On the Decks screen, click Create Deck at the bottom and name it. Keep decks broad, one per subject, and use subdecks (Spanish::Verbs) or tags for structure; the Anki manual(opens in a new tab) warns that many tiny decks show cards in a predictable order, making answers easier to guess.

Pick a note type

Add a Basic card

1. Click Add at the top of the main window.
2. Check the note type at the top left (Basic) and the deck at the top right.
3. Type a question in Front, such as "Which enzyme unwinds DNA?", and the answer in Back: "Helicase."
4. Click Add or press Ctrl+Enter (Cmd+Enter on a Mac). The fields clear for your next card.

Add a Cloze card

Choose the Cloze note type, type a sentence in the Text field, select the words to hide, and click the [...] button. Anki marks them like this: The Peace of Westphalia was signed in {{c1::1648}}. Each new number (c2, c3) makes another card. For card-writing rules, see our guide on how to make flashcards.

How to study cards in Anki

Click a deck, then click Study Now. Answer the question in your head or out loud, then press Show Answer (or the spacebar). If you can't recall it within about 10 seconds, the manual(opens in a new tab) suggests showing the answer and moving on.

What Again, Hard, Good, and Easy mean

The manual expects you to press Again about 5–20% of the time and Good about 80–95%. Hard is a passing grade, so never press it for a card you forgot; if four buttons feel like too many, use only Again and Good. New cards first come back after short learning steps: 1 minute, then 10 minutes, by default.

Set your daily limits

Click the gear icon next to a deck on the Decks screen and choose Options (or press O while studying). Under Daily Limits:

• New cards/day: how many never-seen cards Anki introduces each day. Default: 20.
• Maximum reviews/day: the cap on review cards per day. Default: 200.

These are Anki's default deck settings(opens in a new tab). New cards are what create future reviews: the deck options manual(opens in a new tab) estimates that 20 new cards a day settles into roughly 200 reviews a day, and Anki's own tooltip says the new-card limit should be at least 10 times smaller than the review limit. The review limit caps new cards too: with a limit of 200 and 190 reviews due, Anki adds at most 10.

Short on time? Start with 10. Changes apply to every deck sharing the preset (new decks use Default).

Anki FSRS settings

FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) has been built into Anki since version 23.10(opens in a new tab), released in October 2023. Per the manual, it is an alternative to the older SM-2 algorithm that predicts more accurately when you'll forget each card, so it can help you remember more in the same study time. A new collection starts with FSRS off, so switch it on:

1. Open Deck Options (gear icon, then Options).
2. Scroll to the FSRS section at the bottom and turn FSRS on. It applies to your whole collection.
3. Leave Desired retention at its default of 90%.
4. Keep your Learning steps under 1 day; the default 1m 10m is fine.
5. Click Save.
6. After a few hundred reviews, click Optimize Current Preset to fit FSRS to your own history. Once a month is plenty.

Three cautions from the manual's FSRS section(opens in a new tab):

• Every device you sync must support FSRS: Anki or AnkiMobile 23.10+, AnkiWeb, or AnkiDroid 2.17+.
• Higher retention means more reviews. Workload climbs quickly above 90%, so stay below 97%.
• FSRS treats Hard as a pass, so pressing Hard on a forgotten card inflates its intervals.

Converting an existing collection? Leave Reschedule cards on change off at first. For how FSRS compares with SM-2, see our FSRS guide.

How to use Anki shared decks

AnkiWeb's shared deck library(opens in a new tab) offers ready-made decks in categories such as languages, anatomy, chemistry, history, and law.

1. On the Decks screen, click Get Shared.
2. Search or pick a category, open a deck, and click Download to get an .apkg file.
3. Double-click the file, or use File > Import in Anki.
4. Leave Import any learning progress unticked, so you don't inherit the author's intervals (an option since Anki 23.10(opens in a new tab)).

Shared decks can't go straight into AnkiWeb; import them into Anki, AnkiMobile, or AnkiDroid, then sync. The manual(opens in a new tab) treats them as a supplement: great for list-like facts such as capitals and flags, or a deck built around your textbook, but for complex subjects your own cards carry context that someone else's lack.

How to use Anki image occlusion

Image Occlusion has been built into Anki since 23.10(opens in a new tab), so no add-on is needed. It masks parts of an image, such as the labels on an anatomy diagram, and quizzes you on each one.

1. Click Add, click the note type button at the top left (labeled Type), and choose Image Occlusion.
2. Click Select Image, or Paste Image from Clipboard if you copied one.
3. Draw a rectangle, ellipse, or polygon over each label you want to hide.
4. Pick a mode: Hide All, Guess One keeps every label covered, while Hide One, Guess One covers only the label being tested.
5. Click Add. Anki creates one card per shape or group of shapes.

How to sync Anki with AnkiWeb

AnkiWeb is Anki's free sync service, and you can also study on it in a browser.

1. Create a free account at ankiweb.net(opens in a new tab).
2. In Anki on your computer, click Sync at the top right of the main window (or press Y) and sign in with your AnkiWeb email and password.
3. On the first sync, choose Upload to AnkiWeb if your cards are on this computer, or Download from AnkiWeb if they're already in your account.
4. Sign in on your phone with the same account and sync there too.

After that, Anki syncs automatically when you open or close your collection. Per the syncing manual(opens in a new tab), adding different cards on two devices before the first sync means one side gets overwritten, so sync early. AnkiWeb may also delete data from accounts unused for 6 months.

How to use Anki effectively

Avoid these common beginner mistakes:

• Too many new cards. The manual notes that more than one user has studied hundreds of new cards in their first few days, then been overwhelmed by reviews.
• Cards that ask too much. Keep one fact per card. If a card regularly takes over 60 seconds, simplify it, and don't memorize what you don't understand yet.
• Pressing Hard when you forgot. Honest grading is what makes the schedule work.
• Skipping days. If you fall behind, pause new cards until you catch up; Anki shows the cards that have waited longest first.
• Ignoring leeches. After 8 lapses (the default threshold), Anki tags a card as a leech(opens in a new tab), and also suspends it if the leech action is set to Suspend Card. Rewrite it, split it, or delete it.
• Keeping cards you don't need. While studying, click More > Suspend Card to pause a card until you unsuspend it in the Browse window.

Your 7-day Anki starter plan

Beginner settings checklist

If Anki feels like too much

Plenty of learners use Anki for years, and if the plan above works for you, there's no reason to switch. If the setup or the settings are what's holding you back, our roundup of Anki alternatives compares other apps. Deckbase is one of them: an AI flashcard app for web, iOS, and Android that schedules reviews with FSRS, drafts cards from your notes with its AI flashcard maker, and imports Anki .apkg decks. Your cards come with you; your review history doesn't.

FAQ

Is Anki free?

Anki is free on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and so are AnkiDroid on Android and AnkiWeb in a browser. The only paid app is AnkiMobile for iPhone and iPad, a one-time $24.99 purchase in the US App Store with no subscription. Its sales help fund Anki's development.

Is Anki hard to learn?

The basics fit in one sitting: create a deck, add cards, click Study Now, and grade each card. What overwhelms most beginners is volume, not the interface. Keep new cards to 10–20 a day and leave most settings at their defaults for a few weeks.

How many new cards per day should I do in Anki?

Start with 10 to 20. Anki's default is 20, and the manual estimates that 20 new cards a day leads to about 200 reviews a day. If your reviews take longer than you can spare, lower the number; if they feel easy, raise it gradually.

Should I make my own Anki cards or use shared decks?

For complex subjects, make your own: writing cards forces you to choose the key points, and the Anki manual notes that shared decks often lack the background their authors had. Shared decks suit list-like facts, such as capitals or flags, and decks built for your textbook.

What is FSRS in Anki?

FSRS, the Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler, is a scheduling algorithm built into Anki since version 23.10. It estimates how likely you are to forget each card and times reviews to match your desired retention, 90% by default. Turn it on in Deck Options to replace the older SM-2.

Why does Anki show so many reviews?

Every new card brings future reviews, so a burst of new cards creates a pile a few days later. Skipped days add to it, and a desired retention set too high shortens every interval. Pause new cards, clear the backlog, and keep desired retention near 90%.

Start using Anki today

Now you know how to use Anki: add a few good cards, click Study Now every day, and grade yourself honestly. Install it today, make 10 cards from your next lesson, and follow the 7-day plan. Once the habit sticks, tune your schedule with our FSRS guide and write sharper cards with how to make flashcards.

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Also see: How to Make Flashcards · Spaced Repetition Schedules · FSRS Guide · Anki Alternatives