I am looking for desperate help retrieving my Anki cards as my exams are coming up in the next weeks.
The issue
I used the software ‘CleanMyMac’ to free some space on my Mac as the lack of storage meant I could not even open Anki. CleanMyMac has however deleted all my Anki files - all my flashcards in both the App version and on Ankiweb have all disappeared.
Things I have tried
I have checked the ~/Library/Application Support/Anki2 folder on my Macbook and there are no files there
I have checked backups within the Anki app by going to ‘Switch profile’ and ‘Open backup’ - there is only one backup that was produced 30 mins after the deletions happened.
My Mac trash file was emptied by CleanMyMac so the files are not in there.
I have logged into Ankiweb to check if the cards are there but there are none for some reason. I don’t think I have ever used Ankiweb before - is that why?
I would be very grateful for any support from your team. Is there anything you can see server-side that could help me retrieve my lost files?
I’m sorry to tell you this, but if you haven’t been regularly syncing your collection with AnkiWeb, we don’t have your collection, and we can’t help you.
You should definitely get in touch with that “CleanMyMac” app and find out if there’s any way to recover your Anki2 folder. Permanent deletion is extreme, if that’s what it did.
You can’t initiate a sync from AnkiWeb at all – only from the apps.
I don’t have a complete history of everything that has gone on in the account. Based on what I can see, it looks like (before today) the last time your account had any significant activity was in 2023. But there is 177 MB of media files in it, so that must have been added recently.
Oh that is strange as I always press the manual ‘sync’ button within the Anki application - should this have not gone to Ankiweb? Otherwise, where does the sync go? Could I try downloading the Anki app on my iPad and logging into my account on the app there and bring across a sync? Or would this be fruitless if there is nothing on Ankiweb?
What I said above was all based on you saying that you didn’t use AnkiWeb – but if you actually have been syncing – and it’s been completing successfully, and your account is active – then yes, AnkiWeb should have a copy of your collection as of your most recent sync.
Were you using a different AnkiWeb account than the one associated with the email address you used to post here? You should add that to your Forums account as a “Secondary Email” so I can see it and check that account.
The confusion is because, while I have been pressing sync within the Mac Anki app, I have not actually visited Ankiweb until the deletions happened.
The email address associated with this forum account is the same as my Anki accounts. I have tried all my other emails and none seem to be associated with an Anki account so this must be the only one. I have added 4 secondary emails as an “Alternative Email” just in case you can see something on your end! Grateful if you can confirm whether you can see all 4.
I can see all of them – none have AnkiWeb accounts associated with them.
The account that exists hasn’t had any regular syncing activity in recent years. The last time the account was active enough that a backup was created was in 2023, however the collection that the server backed-up then was empty.
It’s hard to imagine what you were seeing when you pressed Sync that made you think a sync with AnkiWeb was proceeding and successful – when it was not.
Did you use any add-ons that had their own Sync processes?
Did you use multiple Profiles and only have syncing set up on one of them (which was empty)?