I lost all Anki data on desktop computer when desktop computer totally crashed. My attempt to retrieve data from AnkiWeb failed. AnkiWeb account is empty of data probably because of inactivity. I appreciate your help!
I’m looking at the account connected to the email address you used to post here. The data was removed from this account in January 2026 after it had been inactive for at least 6 months. We delete the data from accounts in our system that aren’t being used for syncing or studying, so AnkiWeb isn’t suitable for long-term storage of your inactive collection – AnkiWeb account removal - Anki Docs .
Generally when data is removed from an account, that includes the server-side backups. However there is one that was retained in your account – from May 2025. [Just like a local automatic backup, that does not include any media attached to your collection.] If you want me to restore it to your AnkiWeb account, please confirm.
Other things you can do right now –
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Make sure the email address you’re using for your AnkiWeb account is one that you have permanent access to. If you lose touch with that email, you won’t get important emails from us – like notification that your data is pending deletion. And if you can’t re-verify your email address annually, you might not be able to access AnkiWeb at all.
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If you know you’re going to take a long break from studying, you can create your own COLPKG backup of your collection and store that in a separate place (e.g., another device, a cloud storage account).