A better way for Anki to handle account deletion warnings

Anki Suggestions
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:sleepy_face: :sob::sob::sob::sob::sob::sob: I just realized my 4,000 self-made flashcards were deleted because I was not using the account. I missed the email saying my account would be deleted. It is very sad that it had to happen. My countless hours are gone.

Alternative:

When sending the account deletion notification, you could attach an exported file to the notification email. That way, if anyone misses the email, there will still be some form of backup. And since it would be sent to their email, it would be stored in the individual person’s inbox, not affecting the app server.

It looks like only one email was sent. There could be a few emails sent, along with the above solution.

The email subject line should contain some type of red emoji like :red_circle: :triangular_flag: :stop_sign: :warning:

If possible, instead of a 30-day period, a year-long period could be more useful.

The Anki app should give a notification if the app is not being used for 6 months to a year, warning about this situation. Many times, even though people stop studying, they do not delete the app right away when they pass an exam or something.

Updated edit: How about the ability to sync with personal Google Drive or other storage?

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If you still have the app installed, your cards should still be there. Only the server-side data is deleted automatically, not the data stored locally on your devices.

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On first thought, this seems to be a great idea. Though I doubt it will be technically possible. Users will want all of their cards (including scheduling and media) but the media alone might be several hundred megabytes or even a few gigabytes in size. The users email provider might not be able to handle this kind of size, e.g. due to account storage limits.

I’m not convinced adding emojis is a good idea; but that’s mainly because I’d consider the mail spam-like if it did that (due to its attention grabbing nature).

Btw, the last of your emojis isn’t red for me, so if you really want red icons, then you would have to find something that is available on all platforms and is red on all platforms (which is likely impossible, since there are hundrets of icon packs):
B

I assume just sending the info mail a few months earlier should suffice. Increasing the deletion delay itself will likely not happen, since the servers are free of charge and storage blocked by inactive users takes storage for active users away.

That would mean sending a notification only if the user is connected to an ankiweb account, while ensuring that it isn’t a custom sync server. Also, AnkiDroid on Android might be “put to sleep” by the OS if the app isn’t used for a long period of time, making sending a notification difficult. And the Desktop app (as far as I know) has no reliable, crossplatform way of sending notifications to the OS, especially not when the app is not running.

And of course the data will still be locally saved as @vaibhav pointed out.

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Well, something is better than nothing. How about without media, you know?

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I honestly wonder why anyone who doesn’t use Anki for 6 months even cares about their decks anymore


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Let’s start by addressing your account specifically. (I’ll respond separately about your suggestions.)

Yes, the data was removed from your AnkiWeb account in December 2025, after your account had been inactive for at least 6 months. We delete the data from accounts in our system that aren’t being used for syncing or studying, so AnkiWeb isn’t suitable for long-term storage of your inactive collection – AnkiWeb account removal - Anki FAQs .

However that policy only affects the data on our servers. If you still have a local copy of your collection on any devices where you used Anki / AnkiMobile / AnkiDroid, you can upload your collection to AnkiWeb and resume syncing.

Generally when data is removed from an account, that includes the server-side backups. However there is one that was retained in your account – from January 2025. [Just like a local automatic backup, that does not include any media attached to your collection.] I expect that version of your collection is older than whatever you have on your device(s), but if you want me to restore it to your AnkiWeb account, please confirm.

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Regarding your suggestions –

You’re correct, there is only one email. I don’t know if a follow-up email [perhaps 1 week before data-deletion] is feasible or desirable – but that’s at least an idea the devs could consider.

I pulled this one up to address it first – because the rest are non-starters.

Even without media, and even compressed, collections can easily exceed typical email attachment size limitations. We can’t take the chance that the automated notification email would bounce, because then the user would never get notice.

Regularly sending automated emails that we expect to bounce (or are careless about whether they will) also increases the likelihood that emails from ankiweb.net will trigger spam filters, making it even more difficult to reach users.

No. That accomplishes the opposite in most inboxes – instantly signaling the email as non-serious.

The notification is sent after 5 months of inactivity, with deletion slated for the 6-month mark. Tripling the inactivity period is not a reasonable suggestion.

Setting aside the infeasibility (or impossibility?) of issuing a notification from a closed app, and the annoyance factor – for the reasons already mentioned, that wouldn’t serve any purpose. If you still have the app, you still have your collection. If you don’t have the app, you’d never get the notification.

As a user, you can already make your own off-device backup manually whenever you like – Backups - Anki Manual – and that’s a great way to safeguard your collection if you’re going to be taking a lengthy break from studying. But other services are inadequate to handle collection syncing – Managing Files - Anki Manual .

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