📖 Part 11: Add-ons — Extending Anki Safely
The Anki desktop app can be extended with community-made add-ons — extra features, statistics, editor tools, and integrations. They can be genuinely useful, but they're also third-party code running inside your collection, so this part is as much about caution as it is about capability. We'll cover what add-ons are, how to install them, and how to stay safe.
📚 What You'll Learn
By the end of this part, you'll understand:
- What add-ons are — and that they run on the desktop app only
- How to install one using its numeric add-on code
- The real safety considerations — add-ons are third-party code with full access
- How to recover with safe mode when an add-on breaks Anki
- The categories of genuinely useful add-ons (and that Image Occlusion is now built in)
- When you don't need add-ons at all
In This Part
What Add-ons Are
An add-on is a community-made extension that plugs into the Anki desktop app to add or change features. Add-ons can do a huge range of things: new statistics and charts, extra buttons and tools in the card editor, custom note types and templating helpers, formatting and hint tools, and integrations that let other programs talk to Anki.
📖 Definition
Add-on: a third-party Python package that extends the Anki desktop application. Add-ons are downloaded from the official listing at ankiweb.net/shared/addons and run on your own computer alongside Anki.
⚠️ Important: Add-ons run on the desktop app only — Windows, macOS, and Linux. They do not run on AnkiMobile (iOS) or AnkiDroid (Android). Some add-ons change data that gets synced (like new cards or fields), and mobile will then see that synced data — but the add-on's own features and interface exist only on the desktop.
Installing & Managing
Add-ons are installed by a numeric code, not a file download. Every add-on's page on AnkiWeb displays a long number — that's its install code. The flow is:
- Find the add-on on ankiweb.net/shared/addons and copy its code.
- In Anki, open Tools → Add-ons.
- Click Get Add-ons and paste the code.
- Restart Anki — most add-ons only take effect after a restart.
The same Tools → Add-ons dialog is your management hub. From there you can: check for and install updates, temporarily disable an add-on (via its checkbox) without removing it, delete one entirely, and open an add-on's config if it offers settings. Disabling is the safest first move when you suspect an add-on is causing trouble — you can turn it back on later.
✅ Tip
After a major Anki update, open Tools → Add-ons and check for add-on updates too. Add-on authors often ship a compatibility fix shortly after a new Anki release, so an update is frequently all that's needed to get a broken add-on working again.
Safety & Caution
This is the most important section in the part, so read it before you install anything. Add-ons are third-party code with full access to your collection and your computer. Anki doesn't sandbox them — an add-on can read and modify your cards, and in principle do anything a normal program on your machine can do. That power is what makes them useful, but it means trust matters.
⚠️ Watch Out
- Install only add-ons you trust, from the official listing, with good ratings and recent updates. Be wary of obscure, unmaintained, or oddly-permissioned add-ons.
- Add-ons can break when Anki updates. Each add-on targets specific Anki versions; a big Anki update can leave an old add-on incompatible until its author updates it.
- An add-on can stop Anki from starting. A broken add-on that runs at launch can crash the app before you can even open the add-ons dialog.
Recovering with safe mode
If Anki won't start after an update or a new add-on, don't panic — there's a built-in escape hatch. Hold down the Shift key while launching Anki to start in safe mode, which loads Anki with all add-ons temporarily disabled. From there you can open Tools → Add-ons and disable, update, or delete the culprit, then restart normally.
📖 Definition
Safe mode: starting Anki with add-ons disabled by holding Shift during launch. It lets you reach the add-ons dialog to fix or remove whatever is breaking Anki, without losing any of your cards.
⚠️ Important: Keep your add-ons minimal. Every add-on is another thing that can break, conflict with another add-on, or lag behind an Anki update. A lean set of trusted, well-maintained add-ons is far more stable than a big pile of them.
Categories of Useful Add-ons
Because specific add-ons come and go and their availability shifts over time, it's more useful to think in categories than to chase particular names. Here are the kinds of add-ons people find worthwhile once they've outgrown a specific pain point:
| Category | What it typically does |
|---|---|
| Review heatmaps & extra stats | Visualize your study streak and history with richer charts than the built-in stats |
| Editor enhancements | Extra formatting buttons, quick input helpers, and card-creation shortcuts |
| Note-type & templating helpers | Tools that make designing and managing card templates less fiddly |
| Hint & formatting tools | Cloze helpers, hint fields, and display tweaks for cleaner cards |
| AnkiConnect | Lets other programs talk to Anki over a local connection — the backbone of many language-learning and automation workflows |
AnkiConnect deserves a special mention: it doesn't add a visible feature so much as open a door. It lets external tools — browser extensions, dictionary apps, scripts — send cards into Anki automatically. If you've ever seen a "make an Anki card from this word" button in a language app, AnkiConnect is usually what makes it work.
✅ Good news: Image Occlusion is built in
Image Occlusion — covering parts of an image to quiz yourself on labels (great for anatomy, maps, and diagrams) — used to require a popular add-on. It is now built directly into Anki, so you likely don't need an add-on for it anymore. Check the built-in feature first before installing anything.
When You Don't Need Add-ons
Here's the honest truth that a lot of add-on lists skip: most people can do everything essential with vanilla Anki. Writing good cards, reviewing daily, organizing with decks and tags, and letting the modern FSRS scheduler manage your intervals — that's the whole core of effective Anki, and none of it needs an add-on.
🧠 Mindset
Add-ons are for specific pain points, not a starting requirement. If you catch yourself collecting add-ons before you've built the daily habit, that's usually procrastination wearing a productivity costume. Learn core Anki first; reach for an add-on only when you hit a real, recurring friction that plain Anki can't solve.
Beginners in particular are better off keeping things simple. A fresh Anki install with FSRS turned on is already a superb tool. Give it a few weeks of real use, notice where you actually feel friction, and then go looking for an add-on that targets exactly that. You'll install fewer add-ons, understand what each one does, and keep a more stable, trouble-free setup.
⚠️ Watch Out
An elaborate add-on setup can become a liability at exactly the wrong moment — the week before an exam, a big Anki update lands and three add-ons break at once. The fewer moving parts you depend on, the less there is to go wrong when you can least afford it.
🛠️ How To: Install an Add-on Safely
What you'll do: install a trusted add-on the careful way, confirm it works, and know exactly how to recover if it ever stops Anki from starting.
Step by step
- Find it on the official listing. Go to ankiweb.net/shared/addons and open the add-on's page. Avoid installing add-ons from random third-party sources.
- Vet it. Check the rating, the number of ratings, and the last-updated date. Confirm it lists compatibility with your Anki version. Prefer well-rated, actively maintained add-ons.
- Copy the numeric code shown on the add-on's page.
- Install it. In Anki, go to Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons, paste the code, and confirm.
- Restart Anki and verify the add-on works — look for its new button, menu item, or feature.
- If Anki won't start afterward, recover with safe mode: hold Shift while launching Anki to start with add-ons disabled, then open Tools → Add-ons and disable, update, or delete the problem add-on.
💡 Tip
Install add-ons one at a time and restart between them. If something breaks, you immediately know which add-on caused it — far easier than untangling five that you installed all at once.
Best Practices
✅ Do's
- Install from the official listing only — check ratings and recent updates before trusting third-party code with your collection.
- Keep add-ons minimal — fewer moving parts means a more stable, update-proof setup.
- Learn core Anki first — add an add-on only when you hit a real, recurring pain point.
- Remember safe mode — holding Shift at launch is your reset button when something breaks.
❌ Don'ts
- Don't install add-ons you can't vouch for — they run with full access and aren't sandboxed.
- Don't collect add-ons before building the habit — vanilla Anki plus FSRS already does the essentials.
- Don't install a stack of add-ons at once — you won't know which one broke things.
- Don't reinstall an add-on for Image Occlusion — it's built into Anki now.
💡 Pro Tips
- Before a big exam, freeze your setup — this isn't the time to add or update add-ons and risk a surprise breakage.
- After a major Anki update, check Tools → Add-ons for updates first; a compatibility fix is often already waiting.
📓 Learning Journal
Keep a journal as you work through this guide — digital or paper. After each part, jot down:
- Key ideas you learned
- Things that clicked for you
- Questions or confusion points to revisit
- Ideas you want to try
- Your progress and how you feel about it
✍️ This part's prompt: Name one workflow pain point you might want an add-on to solve later — a stat you wish you could see, a card-making step that feels slow, an integration with another app. Then, honestly: is it a real recurring friction, or would a few weeks of plain Anki serve you better first?
📝 Part Summary
🎓 Key Takeaways
- Add-ons extend the Anki desktop app only — not AnkiMobile or AnkiDroid, though synced data changes still reach mobile.
- Install them by pasting a numeric code into Tools → Add-ons → Get Add-ons, then restarting; manage, update, disable, and delete in the same dialog.
- Add-ons are third-party code with full access — install only trusted, well-rated, recently-updated ones from the official listing.
- Add-ons can break on Anki updates; if Anki won't start, hold Shift to launch in safe mode and fix them.
- Useful categories include heatmaps/stats, editor tools, templating helpers, hint tools, and AnkiConnect — but Image Occlusion is now built in.
- Most people don't need add-ons; learn core Anki with FSRS first, and add-ons only for specific pain points.
🎉 What You Can Now Do
You can extend Anki when it genuinely helps — finding, vetting, installing, and managing add-ons the careful way — and, just as importantly, you know how to recover with safe mode if one misbehaves. You also know the quiet truth that keeps setups healthy: vanilla Anki already does the essentials, so you can reach for add-ons deliberately rather than reflexively.
❓ Common Questions
Why don't my add-ons work on my phone?
Add-ons run only on the desktop app; AnkiMobile and AnkiDroid don't support them. What does carry over is any synced data an add-on created or changed — new cards, fields, or tags will appear on mobile after syncing. But the add-on's buttons, tools, and interface exist only on your computer.
Anki won't open after I installed an add-on (or updated Anki). What do I do?
Hold the Shift key while launching Anki to start in safe mode, which loads Anki with all add-ons disabled. Then open Tools → Add-ons and disable, update, or delete the add-on that's causing the problem, and restart normally. Your cards are safe throughout — this only affects add-ons, not your collection.
Are add-ons safe to install?
They can be, but they're not sandboxed — an add-on is third-party code with full access to your collection and computer. Stick to the official listing at ankiweb.net, favor add-ons with good ratings and recent updates, keep your set minimal, and avoid anything obscure or unmaintained. Treat installing an add-on with the same care you'd give any program you run on your machine.
🔭 Up Next
In the next part, we'll put everything together into real workflows — practical, end-to-end setups for learning languages, studying for school, and mastering material as a coder — so you can see how all these pieces combine in day-to-day use.
📚 Additional Resources
- ankiweb.net/shared/addons — the official add-on listing
- docs.ankiweb.net/addons — installing, managing, and troubleshooting add-ons (including safe mode)
🌟 Keep Going
Knowing when not to add something is a real skill, and you now have it. Your Anki can grow with you — a trusted add-on here and there when a genuine need appears — while staying stable and simple at its core. That's exactly the balance that keeps people happily using Anki for years.