A few days ago, I opened ANKI on my desktop - I usually use ANKIDroid - and I got a message that it should be updated, so I clicked on the link and went to a site with an option to download ANKI. I downloaded it and ran the .exe file. This version of ANKI is 25.02.4 (a5c33ad0) I got an error message saying something about not being able to read a file, but I was able to open ANKI. However, the decks I had were gone. Can I get my decks back by uninstalling this version of ANKI or by reverting to back-up on the file menu? I would just sync with my ANKIDroid version, but I have added quite a bit to the desktop version that I was hoping to sync to the ANKIDroid version.
Thank in advance.
Uninstalling wonât change anything, because the Anki program folder is completely separate from the Anki2 data folder
First, make sure youâre still looking at the same profile you were using before. When all the decks go missing, that usually means you are looking at a fresh database in a different profile. File > Switch Profile â if itâs the wrong profile, switch to the right one.
If something else strange is afoot, you should still be able to restore from an automatic backup in the correct profile â Restoring an Automatic Backup (Recovering from Data Loss) - Anki FAQs .
Thank you, Danika. I tried both of these. There is only one profile listed under File>Switch Profile. Then I looked at the link you sent and followed the directions, but none of my decks showed up.
Itâs very unusual for profiles/collections to just disappear, so Iâm trying to figure out where your collection might have gone.
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If you ever renamed your profile from âUser 1â â is the profile you have open now also renamed to that? Did you have multiple profiles before?
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How far back did the available backups go in this profile? Was it past the last few days?
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Does this profile have your
collection.mediafolder, with all your media still in it? Managing Files - Anki Manual -
Have you taken a look around look around on your computer for an older Anki2 (or Anki) folder in another location? Have you looked in your Recycle Bin?
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When was the last time (when you still had the right collection) you synced this computer with AnkiWeb?
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- If you ever renamed your profile from âUser 1â â is the profile you have open now also renamed to that? Did you have multiple profiles before?
- I never renamed my profile. I did not have multiple profiles.
- How far back did the available backups go in this profile? Was it past the last few days? The available backups go back to January 30th, 2025.
- Does this profile have your
collection.mediafolder, with all your media still in it? I canât find any âcollection mediaâ folder in %APPDATA%\Anki2. - Have you taken a look around look around on your computer for an older Anki2 (or Anki) folder in another location? Have you looked in your Recycle Bin? There are Anki2 and Anki folders in different locations. All the Anki backup files are in the same folder. There are no Anki files in my Recycle Bin.
- When was the last time (when you still had the right collection) you synced this computer with AnkiWeb? It has been a long time, many months, since I synced this computer with AnkiWeb. That has been one of my goals when I got time to focus on it.
Then this isnât a new profile, and one of those backups has what youâre looking for. If you donât know exactly when the issue came up, start checking backups and keep stepping back to the previous one until you find the right version of your collection.
collection.media is inside your profile in Anki2. Each profile is in its own folder.
Hopefully youâre able to recover your collection and this can be the less-unpleasant version of that lesson. If youâre not going to sync with AnkiWeb, you should make a backup somewhere else.
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And If you are going to sync with AnkiWeb, you should make a backup somewhere else. 
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Yes, I had gotten terribly behind on that. I plan to sync.
Touché! 
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