How to use Anki. Rate the card.

Install Anki, open a deck, Study. Show Answer. Again / Hard / Good / Easy. That loop is the whole program. FSRS Anki (or SM-2) picks the next interval. Update Anki when 26.x ships so the scheduler stays current.

Statistics

Stats before you change limits.

Today, Future Due, Review count. If Future Due is a cliff, your new-card limit is too high. Anki screenshots of Stats are the honest version of “I’m doing 500 cards a day.”

Againfailed recall

Hardneeded a hint

Goodnormal

Easytoo easy

FSRS Anki

FSRS Anki is the modern scheduler (Anki 23.10+). Deck options → FSRS. It predicts stability instead of a naive ease factor. Same retention, fewer reviews, if you rate honestly.

New / Learn / Review

Blue / red / green counts on the deck list. Cap new cards. Reviews are the point. “How to use Anki” fails when new cards outrun reviews.

Update Anki

Help → Check for Updates, or grab the latest MSI/DMG on Download Anki. How to update Anki on Mac is the same: replace the app, collection stays in ~/Library or %APPDATA%.

AnkiDroid screenshot of reviewing a flashcard with Again Hard Good Easy buttons

Same ratings on Anki mobile.

AnkiDroid and Anki iOS show the same four buttons. Study on Anki PC in the morning, finish reviews on Anki Android at night after AnkiWeb sync. That is the actual “how to use Anki” workflow, not a 40-minute settings tour.

How to use Anki for the first hour?

Download Anki. Create a tiny deck or import one shared deck you already understand. Add 5 notes. Study. Stop when new cards feel cheap. Read the manual after you have a streak, not before.

FSRS Anki or SM-2?

New collections should turn FSRS on. Old collections can optimize FSRS from review history. Do not toggle every week.