Hello! I’ve been using anki for a while, but recently I keep getting that long message saying my desktop deck is different than my ankiweb deck, so I either need to upload to or download from ankiweb. This happens almost every time I add new cards or unsuspend them on my desktop app. Any way to fix this?
Under normal circumstances, reviews and note edits can be merged, so if you review or edit on two different devices before syncing, Anki will preserve your changes from both locations. If the same card has been reviewed in two different locations, both reviews will be marked in the revision history, and the card will be kept in the state it was when it was most recently answered.
There are certain changes that Anki is unable to merge. These mainly relate to the format of notes: things like adding a new field, or removing a card template. When you perform an operation that can’t be merged, Anki will warn you, and give you the option of aborting the operation. If you choose to continue, you’ll be asked to choose whether to keep the local copy or the copy on AnkiWeb when your collection is next synchronized.
If certain problems are detected while syncing, it will also force a one way sync. If you find this consistently happens, please post on our support site.
When a one way sync is required, you need to choose whether you wish to keep the collection on your local device, or the collection on AnkiWeb. If changes have been made on both ends, only changes on one end can be preserved.
If you choose Upload, the content on your local device will be sent to AnkiWeb. You then need to sync your other devices, and choose “Download” to have them grab a copy of that content.
If you choose Download, it will replace any local changes you’ve made with the data that is on AnkiWeb.
Once all devices are in sync, future syncs will return to the normal behaviour of merging changes from both ends.
If you wish to force a full upload or download (for example, because you accidentally deleted a deck on one side and want to restore the deck rather than having its deletion synchronized), you can check the “On next sync, force changes in one direction” box in Tools>Preferences>Network, then sync as usual. (You’ll be given the option to choose which side you want to use.)
Forcing a one way sync only affects card syncing - media is synced as normal. If you have files that you want to remove from AnkiWeb, please ensure your client is fully in sync first. After syncing is up to date, any files you remove (e.g via the Check Media function) will be removed from AnkiWeb on the following sync.
Syncing with AnkiWeb - Anki Manual
TLDR: In your case, just Upload to Ankiweb
More specifically, upload from the device that has the state/progress you wish to keep, then sync any other devices you have, choosing Download.
It happens even when I’m only using one device, for example I’ll sync + upload to ankiweb, then add 20 cards, and then i’ll get the message again
Please try the steps on Troubleshooting - Anki Manual. After checking the database, please upload again.