# AnkiWeb decks have disappeared

**URL:** <https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/ankiweb-decks-have-disappeared/71425>\
**Category:** Syncing & AnkiWeb\
**Created:** [October 13, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/ankiweb-decks-have-disappeared/71425 "2026-10-13T16:23:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![13egarriganmattar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/85f322/32.png) [@13egarriganmattar](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/13egarriganmattar)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 4:23pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/ankiweb-decks-have-disappeared/71425/1 "2026-10-13T16:23:59Z")

</div>

Hi, I made a number of decks on my AnkiWeb account associated with this email address, last used around March 2026. I did not back them up on a device, which I understand now was wrong, but I didn’t know at the time that AnkiWeb gets wiped due to inactivity. I really need those decks back for an upcoming exam, and so I was wondering if there is anyway to possibly restore them. Thank you

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Danika\_Dakika](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/danika_dakika/32/17815_2.png) [@Danika\_Dakika](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Danika_Dakika)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/ankiweb-decks-have-disappeared/71425/2 "2026-10-13T20:19:42Z")

</div>

> [@13egarriganmattar](#):
>
> I did not back them up on a device

Your account shows history of syncing with desktop Anki on a Mac. Did that just start today?

> [@13egarriganmattar](#):
>
> but I didn’t know at the time that AnkiWeb gets wiped due to inactivity.

The data was removed from this account in August 2026, after it 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 Docs](https://docs.ankiweb.net/faqs/ankiweb-account-removal) .

However, I’m looking at your account right now, and I can see that there is a collection in it. Were you able to recover your collection already?

* * *

Other things you can do right now –

- Make sure the email address you’re using for your AnkiWeb account is one that you have permanent access to. If you lose touch with that email, you won’t get important emails from us – like notification that your data is pending deletion. And if you can’t re-verify your email address annually, you might not be able to access AnkiWeb at all.

- If you know you’re going to take a long break from studying, you can [create your own COLPKG backup](https://docs.ankiweb.net/backups.html#creating-1) of your collection and store that in a separate place (e.g., another device, a cloud storage account).