I downloaded Anki, ran the installer in the terminal, and was prompted to install something terminal-related to allow to installation to complete itself (maybe Command Line Tools?). This installation went on alongside the Anki installation, which seems like it is possibly the source of the problem.
Since installation I have never successfully opened the app; it comes up on my dock and then eventually says not responding, without any window ever opening. I have deleted and redownloaded several times with the same result. The initial terminal window has never appeared again.
I recommend that you install either one of these newer, beta versions of Anki by downloading the .dmg file and replacing the older version you are currently trying to use.
26.05 Beta 2
And then, run this command in the Terminal app which simply renames a directory from ālibā to ālibsā: mv /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/Resources/app_packages/anki_audio/lib /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/Resources/app_packages/anki_audio/libs
Or, rename the directory using Finder.
Beta 2 is the most recent version, but it introduced a small bug that prevents Anki from playing audio. The issue can be fixed by simply renaming a directory. But, if you donāt feel confident in your ability to rename the directory, you can instead install the slightly-older Beta 1 which does not have the bug.
Both Beta 1 and Beta 2 use a different installer, allowing many users to bypass problems that can occur with the current version 25.09 installer.
(However, if you do not wish to use one of the Beta versions, we can try to troubleshoot your issue with 25.09, though the process might take longer. To start the troubleshooting, please run the Anki launcher from the Terminal app using the command /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/launcher. Doing so will allow you to see any error messages that might get printed.)
Both Beta 1 and Beta 2, when I attempt to install them, show an Anki app with a circle & cross through it indicating that this application can not be run on my Mac. Perhaps they are not designed to be compatible with Monterey.
Entering that command didnāt do anything (maybe I just donāt really know how to use the terminal) but I went into package contents, found the launcher and double clicked it, which brought up a terminal window containing the following:
The default interactive shell is now zsh.
To update your account to use zsh, please run `chsh -s /bin/zsh`.
Okay, running the intel variant for b1 allowed me to attempt to launch the Anki app, which now bounces, doesnāt open, but also doesnāt say not responding. Here is the terminal readout for launch:
2026-06-14 23:47:27.303 Anki[4860:381207] No Python NSLog handler found. stdout/stderr will not be captured.
2026-06-14 23:47:27.303 Anki[4860:381207] To capture stdout/stderr, add āstd-nslogā to your app dependencies.
Sorry, āAnkiā cannot be run on this version of macOS. Qt requires macOS 13.0.0 or later, you have macOS 12.7.6.
I have the same problem as in my first post with this version; terminal readout:
Anki startingā¦
Initial setupā¦
then nothing. Does anyone have a terminal script that will run the initial installation process again? I still think the problem might be that this process was interrupted.
Iām not sure what version of Anki you are currently trying to use or what steps you are performing.
If it is version 25.02.7 or earlier, the Anki app installs in the normal way Mac way, via the .dmg file.
If it is version 26.05b1 or later, the Anki app installs in the normal Mac way, via the .dmg file.
If it is a version in between, versions 25.07 to 25.09.4, the .dmg file installs just the launcher and then running the launcher installs the rest of Anki. The launcher can be run from the Terminal via the /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/launcher command.
(If you want to delete the Anki installation entirely, to be able to start the installation process again from scratch, you can delete the ~/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles directory and the /Applications/Anki app.)
Higher up in the thread we established the betas are incompatible with my OS due to issues with the compatibility of the UI toolkit. Using 25.02.7 or, as Iāve just tried, 24.06.3, yields the following in terminal:
Anki startingā¦
Initial setupā¦
and then eventually the application stops responding.
As far as reinstalling, I have at no point been able to find the Anki folder in Application Support; this seems like a potential problem.
The installation issue I was referring to is the terminal process that occurred without my prompting the first time I tried to open the app on first installation (which has not occurred on any subsequent attempt to launch the app). Iām not computer savvy enough to know whether that process had directly to do with Anki or was part of the setup for one of packages it uses.
I believe that with 25.02.7 or earlier, you can start the Anki app from the Terminal using the /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/Anki command. Does doing so result in any additional error messages being seen?
The process you are describing and the terminal installation menu screen that is shown in your linked post occurs in the āin betweenā versions from 25.07 to 25.09.4.
However, you say you are currently using 25.02.7 which is an earlier version. Your current version does not use that process, and you will not see that screen.
(If you initially tried 25.09 for your first install, then yes, you would have seen that screen. To see it again, re-install and run the 25.09 launcher. If you experience problems with the 25.09 launcher, try running it manually from the Terminal using the /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/launcher command, to see any error messages that might occur.)
Also, you previously posted that you saw a message suggesting that you change your account shell to zsh. If you havenāt done that yet, you might want to do so, by following the instructions in the message. (Unless there is a reason why you wish to keep your existing account shell setting.)
Running the 25.09 Launcher doesnāt yield anything in the terminal window, even if I open the launcher directly through the terminal using the command you gave. It does not bring up the install screen that came up on first attempt. It does change the title of the terminal window to "python -c import aqt, sys; sys.argv[0] = āAnkiā; aqt.run()
On the basis of this failure to rerun the installation process, I suspect the program is running as though it has already been properly installed, even though this doesnāt seem to be the case.
Did you change your account shell to zsh? Or, have you set the default Terminal shell to be zsh? Or, have you not done any of those things yet?
You previously said that you did not see any ~/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles directory. However, that is where Anki gets installed into when using the 25.09 launcher. Are you sure that directory doesnāt exist?
(And, remember that ~/Library/Application Support/ is an entirely different directory than /Library/Application Support/. Be sure you are looking in the right place. ā~ā maps to /Users/<your_username>, so the full path would be /Users/your_username/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles.)
Yes, I did change my shell to zsh.
Thank you for clarifying about the directory; now I have been able to get the installer to run again after deleting the directory.
I have now tried to use the terminal installer to install both 25.09 and 25.02.7, and in both cases the āThis may take a few minutes. Please waitā¦ā continues producing ellipses forever. Clearly the installation proceeds far enough to establish the directory, and future attempts to run the launcher no longer bring up the installer; however, the app remains incapable of opening.
Sorry if this is taking a while to troubleshoot. I have been having difficulty understanding some of the messages youāve posted because of discrepancies and contradictions. For example, as Danika_Dakika said, there is no terminal installer for 25.02.7. But, you say that you saw a terminal installer when trying to install 25.02.7 which is confusing because it doesnāt exist.
Perhaps you just meant messages you saw in the Terminal window? (Not everything you see in the Terminal is an āinstallerā.)
In the future, could you please just copy exactly what is shown in the Terminal window and paste it here in your responses, instead of trying to describe it in words? That might make it easier for us to understand what you are seeing. When you copy and paste, please also include the commands you enter.
Please install 25.02.7 by downloading the .dmg file, opening it, and dragging the Anki app icon into Applications.
Click on the Anki app icon to launch Anki.
If the icon just bounces in the Dock but nothing else happens, then try running Anki from the Terminal via /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/Anki
Copy what is seen in the Terminal window and paste it in your response.
When I said above that I used the installer to try installing 25.02.7, I meant that I used the option in the (25.09) installer that allows you to select the version you want to install, and then selected 25.02.7. I also tried to use it to install 25.09; neither worked, as described above. I have also, earlier (when 25.02.7 was first recommended) tried installing 25.02.7 through its own .dmg downloaded from the link provided, which, as I described, yielded:
user@Users-Air ~ % /Applications/Anki.app/Contents/MacOS/Anki
Anki starting...
Initial setup...
and nothing further, when I attempted to launch it via the terminal command you provided.
For versions before 25.07 and after 25.09.4 and when youāre starting from a non-working state, upgrading using the 25.09 installer should not be used. Installing via the .dmg file is more reliable.
Iām not sure what Anki is supposed to be doing after it prints the āInitial setupā¦ā message. Iām hoping that someone else who knows more about the previous behavior of Anki 25.02.7 can help. From the described behavior, Anki seems to be hanging after āInitial setupā¦ā but before āStarting main loopā¦ā.