Does AnkiWeb work offline?

Does AnkiWeb work offline?

AnkiWeb does not work offline. According to the catalogue, AnkiWeb is marked free but neither offline-capable nor installable, and the live page itself displays nothing but a JavaScript is required notice — telling, since without a script executing over an active connection there's no cached deck and no queued review to show. AnkiWeb is described as the web companion to Anki, the reference spaced-repetition flashcard system, built so you can review decks from any browser and sync progress across desktop and mobile.

That companion role is the key to the confusion behind the question. AnkiWeb is one piece of a larger system: the site itself, the open-source desktop application, and mobile clients including AnkiDroid. The desktop app and AnkiDroid are separate installed programs, not browser pages, so they can hold your decks locally and let you review somewhere with no signal at all. AnkiWeb's job is different — it's the meeting point where a free account lets all of those pieces sync seamlessly, along with access to thousands of community shared decks.

That distinction matters because AnkiWeb and Anki get used interchangeably, but the site, the desktop program and the mobile clients behave very differently once the network drops. The rest of this page separates what needs a connection from what doesn't, and which one fits a given moment — reviewing on a commute, browsing new decks at a desk, or catching up during a break with unreliable wifi.

What does AnkiWeb need an internet connection for?

Every core function described in AnkiWeb's own listing depends on reaching a server: reviewing your decks from any browser, syncing progress across desktop and mobile, and pulling from the thousands of community shared decks that come with a free account. None of that is stored locally the way an installed app would store it — the browser tab is a window onto data that lives on Anki's servers, so closing the connection closes that window too.

The clearest evidence is on the page itself. Fetching ankiweb.net today returns no title, no meta description, and a body that reads only JavaScript is required, meaning the entire interface is assembled after the browser talks to the server — there is no static, cacheable page to fall back on if that exchange gets interrupted. That fits a tool built as a companion for sync and browsing rather than a portable study app you carry with you.

What works with no connection at all?

The Anki Manual states plainly that it documents the computer version of Anki, and that separate manuals exist for the mobile clients — the AnkiDroid Manual for Android and the AnkiMobile Manual for iPhone and iPad. Three different manuals for three different clients is itself a hint: Anki is not one web app with a mobile skin, it's a family of installed programs that happen to share the same decks and scheduling through sync.

Because the desktop application and AnkiDroid are installed locally rather than loaded from AnkiWeb's servers, your deck data lives on the device, and reviewing a card doesn't require the app to phone home first. That's what makes them the practical choice for offline study — on a train, on a flight, or anywhere the browser tab running AnkiWeb would simply stall at its JavaScript is required placeholder.

How does syncing reconcile offline reviews?

The description of AnkiWeb centers on exactly this handoff: a free account syncs seamlessly with the open-source desktop app and its thousands of community shared decks. In practice, that means the account created on AnkiWeb is the shared identity all the clients point to — reviews logged offline on the desktop app or AnkiDroid stay on the device until it reconnects, then get pushed up through that same account, with AnkiWeb acting as the meeting point rather than something you review through.

AnkiWeb also mediates access to the community shared decks mentioned in its own listing — importing one of those requires reaching AnkiWeb first, even if you plan to study the resulting deck entirely offline afterward in the desktop app. So the practical way to split the three pieces is: AnkiWeb for account, sync and deck discovery; the installed clients for the actual offline reviewing session itself.

Which one should you use — train, class, or exam?

If you already know you'll be somewhere without a signal — a train, an exam hall's waiting room, a classroom that blocks the wifi — the desktop Anki application or AnkiDroid is the only option that will actually open and let you review, since both are installed programs rather than pages served from AnkiWeb. Save the browser for later: once you're back online, opening AnkiWeb is how you'd pull in a new community shared deck or check progress from a machine where you haven't installed anything.

If you're already at a computer with a stable connection and just want to review without installing anything, AnkiWeb does that job as described — a companion you can open in any browser, tied to the same free account as your desktop and mobile decks. Other Education apps in the catalogue, like Keybr, share that same profile: free, but neither offline-capable nor installable, so the connection requirement here isn't unique to flashcards — Keybr simply has no desktop counterpart the way Anki does.

For the pricing side of the Anki family beyond what's covered here, see Is AnkiWeb free? Yes, with one exception; for how another Education app handles a similar offline question, Is there a Keybr download? walks through that case. Both AnkiWeb and Keybr sit in the broader Education category alongside the rest of the directory's browser-based study tools.

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