# Importing a downloaded file to Anki desktop

**URL:** <https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/importing-a-downloaded-file-to-anki-desktop/42015>\
**Category:** Help\
**Created:** [March 5, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/importing-a-downloaded-file-to-anki-desktop/42015 "2024-03-05T16:13:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![samasrour](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@samasrour](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/samasrour)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2024, 4:13pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/importing-a-downloaded-file-to-anki-desktop/42015/1 "2024-03-05T16:13:32Z")

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Hi,  
someone send me an Anki file named: “collection.anki2” and “collection.anki21”  
I downloaded the file on my macbook, I’m trying to open it with Anki app macOS 12+ (23.12.1 Qt6), and I get “unsupported file type”.  
what should I do? How can I open the file with Anki app?

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**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:** [March 5, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/importing-a-downloaded-file-to-anki-desktop/42015/2 "2024-03-05T20:50:32Z")

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That’s just a bare database file. Tell your friend to use Export ([Exporting - Anki Manual](https://docs.ankiweb.net/exporting.html#packaged-decks)) to make a deck package (\*.apkg) file for you. Then you can import that.

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**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\
**Post date:** [April 4, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/importing-a-downloaded-file-to-anki-desktop/42015/3 "2024-04-04T20:51:31Z")

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