Anki To Quizlet: 7 Smarter Ways To Move Your Decks (And A Better Alternative Most Students Miss) – Stop wasting hours converting cards and upgrade your whole study system instead.
Anki to Quizlet sounds easy, but here’s why it often feels like a downgrade and how moving your decks into Flashrecall instead actually fixes your study prob...
How Flashrecall app helps you remember faster. It's free
Anki To Quizlet: You’re Asking The Wrong Question (But Here’s How To Fix It)
So you’ve got a bunch of Anki decks and you’re thinking of moving them to Quizlet.
Maybe Anki feels clunky, maybe Quizlet looks prettier, or your class uses Quizlet sets.
Totally fair. But instead of just going Anki → Quizlet, it’s worth asking:
> “Is there a better, faster way to study than just bouncing between two old-school flashcard apps?”
That’s where Flashrecall comes in – a modern flashcard app that:
- Lets you import or create cards instantly from text, images, PDFs, audio, YouTube links, or typed prompts
- Has built-in spaced repetition + active recall (like Anki, but automatic and way easier)
- Works on iPhone and iPad, offline, and is free to start
- Lets you chat with your flashcards if you’re confused about something
You can grab it here:
👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085
I’ll walk you through:
1. How people usually go from Anki to Quizlet
2. Why that switch often disappoints
3. A smarter option: migrating into Flashrecall instead
4. Practical steps to move your decks without losing your mind
1. How People Normally Go From Anki To Quizlet
Let’s start with the basic, boring way people do this.
Step 1: Export from Anki
In Anki (desktop):
1. Open Anki
2. Select the deck you want
3. Go to File → Export
4. Choose:
- Export format: `Notes in plain text (.txt)` or `Notes in tab-separated text (.txt)`
- Include: the deck you want
5. Click Export and save the file
This gives you a text/TSV file with your cards.
Step 2: Import into Quizlet
In Quizlet:
1. Go to Create a new study set
2. Click Import from Word, Excel, Google Docs, etc.
3. Paste the content from your exported file OR upload it (depending on what Quizlet supports at the moment)
4. Make sure:
- Term and definition are separated correctly (tabs or semicolons usually)
- Each line is one card
5. Click Import and create your set
Boom: Anki → Quizlet.
But here’s the problem…
2. Why Moving From Anki To Quizlet Often Feels Like A Downgrade
Anki is powerful but clunky. Quizlet is prettier but… kind of shallow.
What You Lose When You Leave Anki For Quizlet
- Real spaced repetition:
Anki is built around it. Quizlet is more like “here’s a set, go study whenever.”
- Serious control:
Anki lets you tweak intervals, lapses, card types… Quizlet is more casual.
- Advanced study features:
If you’re doing medicine, languages, or heavy exams, Quizlet often feels too basic.
So people move from Anki to Quizlet hoping for “easier,” and end up with:
Flashrecall automatically keeps track and reminds you of the cards you don't remember well so you remember faster. Like this :
> “This is nicer to look at… but I’m not actually remembering more.”
That’s why a lot of students are now jumping to newer tools like Flashrecall instead of just shuffling between old platforms.
3. Why Flashrecall Is A Better Upgrade Than Just Anki → Quizlet
If you’re already going through the pain of moving decks, you might as well upgrade, not just side-grade.
Flashrecall vs Anki
What Anki does well:
- Real spaced repetition
- Powerful and customizable
Where Anki hurts:
- Steep learning curve
- Ugly UI
- Syncing across devices can be annoying
- Mobile experience isn’t exactly “fun”
- Built-in spaced repetition
No need to mess with settings. Flashrecall automatically schedules reviews for you.
- Active recall by default
You see the prompt, try to remember, flip the card, rate how well you knew it. Simple.
- Fast, modern, easy to use
No weird menus. You can start in minutes, not hours.
- Works offline on iPhone and iPad
Study on the bus, plane, dead Wi‑Fi zones – no problem.
Flashrecall vs Quizlet
What Quizlet does well:
- Simple to start
- Nice UI
- Popular for shared sets
Where Quizlet falls short:
- Spaced repetition is limited / paywalled / not central
- Not built for long-term mastery, more for “I have a test tomorrow”
- Serious spaced repetition baked in, not an afterthought
- Study reminders so you don’t forget to review
- Chat with your flashcards – if you’re unsure about something, you can literally ask and get explanations
- Great for languages, exams, school, university, medicine, business – anything that needs long-term retention
And unlike both Anki and Quizlet, Flashrecall lets you create cards insanely fast:
- Snap a photo of notes → cards
- Paste text or PDFs → cards
- Drop in a YouTube link → cards
- Use audio or your own typed prompts
- Or just make cards manually if you prefer control
Again, link if you want to check it out now:
👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085
4. “But I Already Have Anki Decks… Can I Still Use Them In Flashrecall?”
Yes, that’s the whole point: don’t waste the work you’ve already done.
Here’s a general approach you can use to move from Anki to a modern app like Flashrecall (or really any other):
Step 1: Export From Anki As Text
1. Open Anki (desktop)
2. Select your deck
3. File → Export
4. Choose Notes in plain text (tab-separated)
5. Export and save the file
You’ll get something like:
```text
front1
front2
...
```
Step 2: Clean Up The File (Optional But Helpful)
Open the file in:
- Excel / Google Sheets, or
- Any text editor
You can:
- Remove tags or extra fields you don’t need
- Fix weird formatting
- Make sure each row is “front – back”
Step 3: Import Into Your New App
For Flashrecall specifically, you’d:
- Create a new deck
- Import / paste your text or CSV (depending on the current import options)
- Let the app turn them into flashcards
From there, Flashrecall’s spaced repetition + reminders kick in, and you’re back in business without remaking everything from scratch.
5. When Does Quizlet Still Make Sense?
To be fair, Quizlet isn’t useless. It’s good for:
- Quick cramming
- Shared class sets
- Light subjects or vocab where you don’t care about long-term memory
If your goal is:
- “Pass this quiz tomorrow and forget it later” → Quizlet is fine
- “Actually remember this for years (languages, med school, big exams)” → You need proper spaced repetition
That’s where Flashrecall shines way more than Quizlet.
6. How Flashrecall Makes Studying Actually Less Annoying
Let’s connect this to real life.
Example 1: Language Learning
You’re moving your Anki Spanish deck.
With Flashrecall, you can:
- Import your existing cards
- Add new words by:
- Pasting text from articles
- Taking a picture of a page in a book
- Dropping a YouTube video of a Spanish lesson
- Let spaced repetition handle the review timing
- Chat with the deck if you’re unsure:
- “Explain this verb tense”
- “Give me another example sentence”
That’s way more powerful than just flipping static cards in Quizlet.
Example 2: Med School / Nursing / Exams
You’ve got huge Anki decks for anatomy, pharm, whatever.
In Flashrecall:
- Import your decks
- Split them into smaller, focused decks (e.g., “Cardio Pharm”, “Neuro Anatomy”)
- Let auto reminders tell you when to study
- Study offline on your commute
- Ask the flashcard chat to clarify tricky concepts
Anki can technically do a lot of this, but Flashrecall makes it way less painful and way more modern.
7. So… Anki To Quizlet, Or Anki To Something Better?
If you really just want to go Anki → Quizlet, you can:
1. Export from Anki as text
2. Import into Quizlet
3. Rebuild your sets there
But if you’re already doing all that work, it’s worth asking:
> “What if I moved my decks into a tool that actually helps me remember more with less effort?”
That’s exactly what Flashrecall is built for:
- Automatic spaced repetition
- Active recall baked in
- Study reminders so you don’t ghost your decks
- Crazy-fast card creation from images, text, PDFs, audio, YouTube
- Offline support
- Chat with your flashcards when you’re stuck
- Works great for languages, exams, school, uni, medicine, business – pretty much anything
- Free to start on iPhone and iPad
If you’re ready to upgrade instead of just switching platforms sideways, grab it here:
👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085
Move your Anki decks once, then let Flashrecall handle the hard part: actually helping you remember.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Quizlet good for studying?
Quizlet helps with basic reviewing, but its active recall tools are limited. If you want proper spacing and strong recall practice, tools like Flashrecall automate the memory science for you so you don't forget your notes.
Is Anki good for studying?
Anki is powerful but requires manual card creation and has a steep learning curve. Flashrecall offers AI-powered card generation from your notes, images, PDFs, and videos, making it faster and easier to create effective flashcards.
What's the fastest way to create flashcards?
Manually typing cards works but takes time. Many students now use AI generators that turn notes into flashcards instantly. Flashrecall does this automatically from text, images, or PDFs.
Related Articles
- Brainscape To Anki: The Complete Guide To Switching Flashcard Apps (And The Smarter Alternative Most People Miss) – Learn a faster way to move your decks and upgrade your whole study workflow.
- Anki Revision: 7 Powerful Tricks To Study Smarter (And a Better Alternative Most Students Don’t Know) – Stop wasting hours reviewing the wrong way and use these proven strategies to actually remember what you study.
- Anki Flash Cards: The Powerful Alternative Most Students Ignore (And How To Learn Faster With Smarter Flashcards) – Discover why classic Anki decks aren’t your only option anymore and how a modern app can save you hours.
Research References
The information in this article is based on peer-reviewed research and established studies in cognitive psychology and learning science.
Cepeda, N. J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J. T., & Rohrer, D. (2006). Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis. Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), 354-380
Meta-analysis showing spaced repetition significantly improves long-term retention compared to massed practice
Carpenter, S. K., Cepeda, N. J., Rohrer, D., Kang, S. H., & Pashler, H. (2012). Using spacing to enhance diverse forms of learning: Review of recent research and implications for instruction. Educational Psychology Review, 24(3), 369-378
Review showing spacing effects work across different types of learning materials and contexts
Kang, S. H. (2016). Spaced repetition promotes efficient and effective learning: Policy implications for instruction. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 3(1), 12-19
Policy review advocating for spaced repetition in educational settings based on extensive research evidence
Karpicke, J. D., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). The critical importance of retrieval for learning. Science, 319(5865), 966-968
Research demonstrating that active recall (retrieval practice) is more effective than re-reading for long-term learning
Roediger, H. L., & Butler, A. C. (2011). The critical role of retrieval practice in long-term retention. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(1), 20-27
Review of research showing retrieval practice (active recall) as one of the most effective learning strategies
Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K. A., Marsh, E. J., Nathan, M. J., & Willingham, D. T. (2013). Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), 4-58
Comprehensive review ranking learning techniques, with practice testing and distributed practice rated as highly effective

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