Make Flashcards With Microsoft Office: 7 Easy Ways (And a Faster App Most People Don’t Know About)

So, You Want To Make Flashcards With Microsoft Office?

Alright, let’s talk about how to make flashcards with Microsoft Office in a way that actually works and doesn’t waste your whole afternoon. You can totally build flashcards in Word, PowerPoint, and even Excel by setting up card layouts and printing or using them on-screen. It’s handy if you’re already using Office for school or work, but it can get clunky fast when you have a lot of cards to manage or want spaced repetition. That’s where a dedicated app like Flashrecall comes in—so you get the benefits of flashcards and smart study features without fighting with formatting.

By the way, if you just want to skip the boring setup and start studying, you can grab Flashrecall here:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Let’s go through the Office methods first, then I’ll show you the faster route.

1. Making Flashcards With Microsoft Word

Word is usually the first thing people try, because it feels familiar. It works, but it’s a bit manual.

Option A: Simple Q&A List (On-Screen Flashcards)

This is the quickest way if you don’t need pretty printable cards.

1. Open Word and create a new blank document.

2. Type your question in bold.

3. On the next line, type your answer in normal text.

4. Add a line break and repeat for each card.

5. Use the Navigation Pane or headings if you want each Q&A as a separate “section.”

How to use it:

• Scroll through, cover the answers with your hand or screen, try to recall, then reveal.
• It works, but you’re doing all the “active recall” and scheduling manually.

This is exactly the kind of thing Flashrecall automates—you type your Q&A once and the app handles testing you and reminding you at the right time.

Option B: Printable Flashcards Using Tables

If you like physical cards, this works better.

1. In Word, go to Insert → Table and choose a 2x4 or 2x3 table (depending on card size).

2. Each cell = one side of a flashcard.

3. Type questions in the top half, answers in the bottom half (or front/back pages if you want double-sided).

4. Adjust cell size: right-click → Table Properties → Row/Column to make them more card-like.

5. Print, cut them out, and you’ve got basic flashcards.

Downside:

• Editing is slow.
• Adding new cards messes up layout.
• No spaced repetition—you’re shuffling paper and guessing what to review.

With Flashrecall, you still get that “front/back” card feel, but:

• You can add/edit cards instantly
• The app automatically schedules reviews so you don’t waste time on stuff you already know.

2. Making Flashcards With Microsoft PowerPoint

PowerPoint is actually better than Word for flashcards, especially digital ones.

Option A: One Slide = One Flashcard

1. Open PowerPoint → new blank presentation.

2. On the first slide, type your question in the middle.

3. Add a text box below or on the next click to show the answer (or put the answer on a second slide).

4. Duplicate the slide for each new card (Ctrl + D / Cmd + D).

5. Use Presenter View or slideshow mode:

• Look at the question,
• Try to recall the answer,
• Click to reveal the answer or go to the next slide.

Pros:

• Super visual.
• You can add images, diagrams, colors.

Cons:

• Still no automatic tracking of what you know vs. don’t.
• Once you have 100+ slides, it’s painful to manage.

With Flashrecall, you can:

• Add images, text, audio directly to cards.
• Use them like slides, but with built-in active recall and spaced repetition that adapts to you.

3. Making Flashcards With Microsoft Excel

Excel sounds weird for flashcards, but it’s actually decent if you like structured data.

Basic Excel Setup

1. Open Excel and create a new sheet.

2. In Column A, type your questions.

3. In Column B, type your answers.

4. Optional:

• Column C: topic
• Column D: difficulty

5. Use Filters to sort by topic or difficulty.

How to study:

• Hide the answer column (Column B) and try to recall.
• Then unhide to check yourself.
• Or just scroll and mentally test yourself row by row.

This is also a nice way to prepare content to import into a flashcard app later.

Flashrecall doesn’t need all this spreadsheet juggling—you can:

• Paste text directly
• Or even generate flashcards automatically from PDFs, images, YouTube links, or typed prompts.

4. Pros & Cons of Using Microsoft Office for Flashcards

Let’s be honest about it.

Why Making Flashcards With Microsoft Office Is Nice

• You already have it at school or work.
• You control the layout completely.
• Great for printed flashcards if you love paper.
• Easy to copy-paste from notes or documents.

Why It Starts To Fall Apart

• No spaced repetition – you have to remember when to review.
• No study reminders – if you forget, your progress drops.
• Hard to manage hundreds of cards across multiple docs/slides.
• Not ideal on your phone when you’re on the bus or waiting in line.

That’s exactly the gap Flashrecall fills: all the good parts of flashcards, none of the manual hassle.

5. A Faster Alternative: Use Flashrecall Instead of Fighting With Office

So yes, you can make flashcards with Microsoft Office…

But if your goal is to actually remember stuff long-term and not just feel productive for an hour, a dedicated flashcard app is just better.

What Flashrecall Does That Office Can’t

Flashrecall on the App Store)

Here’s why it’s way smoother:

• Automatic Spaced Repetition

Flashrecall schedules your reviews for you. See a card today, then in a few days, then a week, etc. You don’t have to think about timing—it’s built in.

• Active Recall by Design

Every study session is question → recall → reveal → rate how hard it was. That’s how your brain actually locks things in.

• Study Reminders

You get gentle nudges so you don’t forget to study. Way better than “oh no, exam is tomorrow” panic.

• Instant Card Creation From Anything

Instead of manually formatting in Word or PowerPoint, Flashrecall can make cards from:

• Images (e.g., textbook pages, lecture slides)
• Text you paste
• PDFs
• YouTube links
• Typed prompts

Or you can just make flashcards manually if you like full control.

• Chat With Your Flashcards

Stuck on a card? You can literally chat with the flashcard to get more explanation, examples, or context. Office can’t do that.

• Offline Support

Study on the train, in class, on a plane—Flashrecall works offline on iPhone and iPad.

• Free to Start & Easy to Use

No weird menus, no formatting battles. Just open the app and start adding cards.

And it works for pretty much anything:

• Languages (vocab, grammar, phrases)
• School subjects and exams
• University (medicine, law, engineering, whatever)
• Business, certifications, job interviews
• Random personal learning projects

6. How to Move From Microsoft Office to Flashrecall (Simple Workflow)

If you’ve already started to make flashcards with Microsoft Office, you don’t have to throw that work away. You can transition smoothly.

If Your Cards Are in Word

• Copy your questions and answers from Word.
• Paste them into Flashrecall as new cards.
• Or paste big chunks of text and let Flashrecall help you generate cards from it.

If Your Cards Are in PowerPoint

• Screenshot your slides or export them as images.
• Import those images into Flashrecall and turn them into flashcards.
• Or copy the text directly into new cards.

If Your Cards Are in Excel

• Copy Column A (questions) and Column B (answers).
• Paste into Flashrecall card fields (front/back).
• You can keep your topics/difficulty columns as tags or just ignore them and let spaced repetition handle the rest.

Once your cards are in Flashrecall, you never have to mess with layout again—you just focus on learning.

7. When It Still Makes Sense to Use Microsoft Office

To be fair, Office isn’t useless here. There are times when it’s still helpful:

• You need nicely formatted, printable flashcards for a group or a class.
• You’re preparing handouts for students or coworkers.
• You want to brainstorm content in Excel before finalizing cards.
• Your school or job only allows Office tools on certain devices.

In those cases, you can:

• Draft in Office
• Then move your final, “ready to study” content into Flashrecall for actual learning.

Best of both worlds.

8. So… What Should You Do Next?

If your goal is just “I need some flashcards right now,” then sure, making flashcards with Microsoft Office works:

• Word for simple Q&A
• PowerPoint for slide-style cards
• Excel for structured lists

But if your goal is “I want to remember this stuff and not waste time”, then it’s honestly smarter to use something built for that.

Flashrecall gives you:

• Fast card creation
• Automatic spaced repetition
• Active recall baked in
• Study reminders
• Offline access
• And even chat-based explanations when you’re stuck

You can grab it here and try it for free:

👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/flashrecall-study-flashcards/id6746757085

Use Microsoft Office if you really want to, but let Flashrecall handle the actual learning.

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Is there a free flashcard app?

Yes. Flashrecall is free and lets you create flashcards from images, text, prompts, audio, PDFs, and YouTube videos.

How do I start spaced repetition?

You can manually schedule your reviews, but most people use apps that automate this. Flashrecall uses built-in spaced repetition so you review cards at the perfect time.

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