How to Switch from Anki to Revu: A Complete Migration Guide

If you have been using Anki for spaced repetition, you already understand the power of active recall and spaced review. Revu builds on that foundation with a modern, native macOS experience designed to make your study sessions more effective and less tedious. This guide walks you through every step of switching from Anki to Revu, so you can keep your existing cards and start benefiting from what Revu adds.

Why Switch to Revu?

Anki is a proven tool, and there is nothing wrong with what it does well. But if you have ever found yourself wishing for a more polished experience, Revu addresses several gaps that Anki leaves open.

Coverage tracking is one of the biggest differences. In Anki, you create cards and review them, but there is no structured way to know whether your deck actually covers everything you need to learn. Revu lets you define learning objectives and track which topics your cards cover, so you can spot gaps before an exam rather than after.

AI card generation saves hours of manual card creation. Paste your lecture notes, drop in a PDF, or highlight a section of text, and Revu generates high-quality flashcards from it. You review and edit them before they enter your collection, so you stay in control of quality.

Daily planning gives each study session a clear structure. Instead of opening a queue of hundreds of due cards with no sense of priority, Revu helps you plan what to study today based on upcoming deadlines, weak areas, and your available time.

Modern UX matters more than many students admit. Revu is a native macOS app with keyboard shortcuts, smooth animations, and a Notion-inspired interface. If you spend hours each week reviewing cards, the environment should feel good to work in.

FSRS scheduling replaces Anki's legacy SM-2 algorithm. FSRS (Free Spaced Repetition Scheduler) is a modern, research-backed algorithm that adapts more accurately to your memory patterns. Revu uses FSRS by default, and your imported review history helps it calibrate from day one.

What Transfers from Anki

Before you start the migration, here is what you can expect to bring over.

Cards and fields transfer fully. Front, back, and any additional fields you have defined in your note types are preserved. Basic formatting, including bold, italic, lists, and code blocks, comes through cleanly.

Deck structure is maintained. If you have nested decks like "Biology::Cell Biology::Organelles," Revu converts these into its folder hierarchy automatically.

Tags are imported as-is and become Revu tags, which you can use for filtering and organization.

Media files including images, audio clips, and other attachments embedded in your cards are extracted from the .apkg file and stored locally alongside your cards.

Review history is imported to inform FSRS scheduling. Your past review timestamps and ratings are used to calculate initial memory states, so Revu does not treat your mature cards as brand-new. Note that the conversion from SM-2 parameters to FSRS is an approximation. You may notice slight differences in scheduling intervals during the first week or two as FSRS calibrates to your actual recall patterns.

What does not transfer: Anki add-ons have no equivalent in Revu, since Revu's built-in features replace most common add-on functionality. Custom card templates with complex HTML/CSS/JavaScript are simplified to clean text with standard formatting. Filtered decks and custom study sessions do not carry over, but Revu's daily planning feature provides a better alternative.

Step 1: Export from Anki

Open Anki on your computer and follow these steps to export your collection.

1. Go to File > Export from the menu bar.
2. In the Export dialog, set the export format to Anki Deck Package (.apkg).
3. Choose which deck to export. Select All Decks if you want to migrate everything at once, or pick a specific deck if you prefer to migrate incrementally.
4. Make sure Include scheduling information is checked. This preserves your review history so Revu can use it for FSRS calibration.
5. Make sure Include media is checked.
6. Click Export and save the .apkg file somewhere easy to find, like your Desktop.

The export file size depends on your collection. A typical collection with a few thousand cards and some images will be between 10 MB and 200 MB. Collections with extensive audio or image content may be larger.

Step 2: Import into Revu

With your .apkg file ready, importing into Revu takes seconds.

Option A: Drag and drop. Open Revu and drag your .apkg file directly into the app window. Revu detects the file type and starts the import process automatically.

Option B: Menu import. In Revu, go to File > Import and select your .apkg file from the file picker.

Revu will show you a preview of what is being imported: the number of decks, cards, and media files detected. Review the summary and click Import to proceed.

The import process runs locally on your machine. A collection of 5,000 cards with media typically imports in under 30 seconds.

Step 3: Organize After Import

Once your cards are in Revu, take a few minutes to organize them.

Review the folder structure. Your Anki deck hierarchy appears as nested folders in Revu's sidebar. You can drag folders to rearrange them, rename them, or merge them if your Anki organization was messy.

Clean up tags. If you used tags heavily in Anki, check that they still make sense in Revu. You can batch-rename or merge tags from the tag manager.

Archive what you no longer need. If you imported decks you have finished studying or no longer care about, archive them rather than deleting. Archived decks do not appear in your daily reviews but remain searchable.

Step 4: Set Up Coverage Tracking

This is where Revu starts to diverge from the Anki workflow. Coverage tracking lets you define what you need to learn and then map your cards against those objectives.

1. Open a deck and navigate to the Coverage tab.
2. Add your learning objectives. These might come from a course syllabus, textbook table of contents, or exam blueprint.
3. Revu automatically suggests mappings between your existing cards and the objectives. Review and confirm them.
4. Identify gaps where you have objectives but no cards, then use AI generation or manual creation to fill them.

This single feature eliminates the anxiety of "am I studying the right things?" that many Anki users experience.

Step 5: Try AI Card Generation

With your imported collection as a foundation, start using AI generation to expand it efficiently.

1. Open a deck or folder where you want to add cards.
2. Click the Generate button or use the keyboard shortcut.
3. Paste in lecture notes, a section of a textbook, or drop a PDF.
4. Revu's AI analyzes the material and generates card suggestions.
5. Review each suggestion, edit as needed, and accept the ones that meet your standards.

AI generation is especially powerful for filling coverage gaps identified in the previous step. Point it at the relevant source material for an uncovered topic, and you will have new cards in minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I lose my scheduling data? No. Revu imports your Anki review history and uses it to initialize FSRS memory states. Your mature cards will not be reset to "new." There may be minor interval adjustments during the first week as FSRS calibrates, but you will not lose progress.

Can I use both Anki and Revu at the same time? Yes, but we do not recommend it for the same material. Reviewing the same cards in two apps leads to scheduling conflicts since neither app knows about reviews done in the other. If you want to migrate gradually, move one deck at a time and stop reviewing that deck in Anki once it is in Revu.

What about my Anki add-ons? Revu's built-in features replace the most popular Anki add-ons. Image occlusion, heatmap stats, FSRS scheduling, and batch editing are all native. If you rely on a niche add-on with no equivalent, you can keep Anki installed for that specific use case.

Is Revu free? Revu offers a free tier with core spaced repetition features. Advanced features like AI card generation and coverage tracking are available with a subscription. Check the pricing page for current details.

What formats does Revu support besides .apkg? Revu also imports CSV files, Markdown, and PDF documents. CSV import is useful if you have card data in spreadsheets, and PDF import feeds directly into AI card generation.

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Ready to make the switch? Download Revu and import your first deck today. Most users complete the full migration in under ten minutes.