# What is the purpose of a Anki login account and Profile? **URL:** \ **Category:** Syncing & AnkiWeb\ **Created:** [January 11, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236 "2026-01-11T15:29:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gtate6997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@gtate6997](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/gtate6997)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:29pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/1 "2026-01-11T15:29:31Z")
Do you have to enter a username and password every time you want to Sync your Profile? Because i do What is the purpose of the profile, is it just to download your .apkg Flash Cards from your other devices? Is it to Put newly added cards in the correct deck? If you add a Deck to one Device, should it show up on another devices? Does your preferences follow…settings, card you’ve looked at…. Anki’s website doesn’t tell you that? I’m just trying to figure what to expect from the application. If its just a gloried file server for flash cards then so be it. ---
**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:** [January 11, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/2 "2026-01-11T16:36:55Z")
An AnkiWeb account allows you to sync your collection – all of your notes, cards, decks, review history, scheduling, deck Options, media, many Preferences, etc. – to the AnkiWeb servers, and from there to other devices where you use Anki – [Syncing with AnkiWeb - Anki Manual](https://docs.ankiweb.net/syncing.html) . You can also study your collection directly on AnkiWeb when you are away from your devices. Profiles allow you to have multiple collections on the same device that you can switch between. (Supported on desktop and AnkiMobile.) [Profiles - Anki Manual](https://docs.ankiweb.net/profiles.html) To answer your specific questions – > [@gtate6997](#): > > Do you have to enter a username and password every time you want to Sync your Profile? No. Anki remembers the AnkiWeb credentials you entered. > [@gtate6997](#): > > What is the purpose of the profile, is it just to download your .apkg Flash Cards from your other devices? Is it to Put newly added cards in the correct deck? I think I answered the 1st part above, but I’m not sure I understand the 2nd part. > [@gtate6997](#): > > If you add a Deck to one Device, should it show up on another devices? It will after you sync. You should sync when you open the app, and when you close/leave the app, on any device, every time. > [@gtate6997](#): > > Does your preferences follow…settings, card you’ve looked at…. Anki’s website doesn’t tell you that? If you sync, most study-related preferences will sync as well. Syncing definitely includes you review history. ---
**Author:** ![gtate6997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@gtate6997](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/gtate6997)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:19pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/3 "2026-01-11T15:19:10Z")
**Question about syncing Anki across multiple devices (single profile)** I’m trying to understand how Anki is supposed to sync decks, settings, progress, and right/wrong answers across multiple devices, and I’m having trouble finding clear documentation that walks through this end-to-end. I’ve seen articles about syncing multiple profiles, but that’s not what I want. I want one profile, because syncing the same deck across different profiles doesn’t make sense for my use case. **Here’s my setup:** - I purchased the full Anki app on both my iPad and iPhone from the Apple App Store. - I created an AnkiWeb (username and password). - In the Anki mobile app, I see an option related to creating my own synchronization server, which confused me. **What I expected was:** 1. To log into the Anki app on multiple devices using my AnkiWeb account 2. And have all decks, progress, and statistics sync automatically between devices However, I can’t find a clear login option in the app that does this, and I’m not sure if I’m missing something obvious or misunderstanding how Anki syncing works. **My questions are:** 1. Does Anki support syncing one profile across multiple devices using AnkiWeb? 2. Is creating a custom sync server actually required for normal personal use? 3. If not, what is the correct workflow to sync decks and progress between iPhone and iPad? To be clear, I’m not trying to create or sell decks, nor do I need multi-user sharing. I just want my personal study data synced across my own devices. There doesn’t seem to be email support, so I’m hoping the community can clarify what the intended setup is and what the paid app actually enables. Thanks in advance for any guidance. NOTE: Even when trying to post links from the Anki Website I kept saying a couldn’t even when giving me the option. ---
**Author:** ![Anon\_0000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Anon\_0000](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/Anon_0000)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:23pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/4 "2026-01-11T15:23:46Z")
> [@gtate6997](#): > > Does Anki support syncing one profile across multiple devices using AnkiWeb? Yes. That is the most used feature used by people that use sync. > [@gtate6997](#): > > Is creating a custom sync server actually required for normal personal use? No. > [@gtate6997](#): > > If not, what is the correct workflow to sync decks and progress between iPhone and iPad? You just login and sync. But here are instructions: [Cloud Sync - AnkiMobile Manual](https://docs.ankimobile.net/syncing.html?highlight=sync#cloud-sync). > [@gtate6997](#): > > NOTE: Even when trying to post links from the Anki Website I kept saying a couldn’t even when giving me the option. See: [How do you post a Topic - #2 by Anon\_0000](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/how-do-you-post-a-topic/68234/2) ---
**Author:** ![gtate6997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@gtate6997](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/gtate6997)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 3:49pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/5 "2026-01-11T15:49:07Z")
Ill dig into that link you gave me. Should I have re-enter my login information on my iPhone and IPad every time I want to sync between devices? If not, I’m doing something wrong and I can’t figure out what it is. ---
**Author:** ![abdo](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/forums.ankiweb.net/abdo/32/654_2.png) [@abdo](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/abdo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 4:14pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/6 "2026-01-11T16:14:12Z")
https://www.youtube.com/embed/YkiM4DPzSVc?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&list=PLGgmaKOIHykFoomqkBJAyGiDQ2kyiuTao ---
**Author:** ![BenJamesBen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/13edae/32.png) [@BenJamesBen](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/BenJamesBen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 5:16pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/7 "2026-01-11T17:16:37Z")
> [@gtate6997](#): > > Should I have re-enter my login information on my iPhone and IPad every time I want to sync between devices? If not, I’m doing something wrong and I can’t figure out what it is. No, when you login to your Anki account in the AnkiMobile app, the app remembers your login information and you don’t have to enter it again. (Unless you do something like manually log out.) For example, I logged into my account on the AnkiMobile app on my phone about 1.5 years ago, used the app almost every day since then, fully closing the app and re-opening it at times, fully powering off my phone and powering it back on at times, performing a few iOS upgrades over that period, etc., and I’ve never had to re-enter my Anki username or password since that initial time 1.5 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![gtate6997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@gtate6997](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/gtate6997)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2026, 6:17pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/8 "2026-01-11T18:17:50Z")
Your right, it does remember it now and everything else. I was trying to figure out how the program worked on 3 different devices at the same time and wasn’t syncing before I stopped using one device and went to another. That did the trick, thank you so much. ---
**Author:** ![gtate6997](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@gtate6997](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/gtate6997)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2026, 8:35pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/9 "2026-01-12T20:35:32Z")
That cleared everything up. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/anki2/original/1X/8f1279ababc5879d54e4838989f606cfe55af8c7.jpeg) [@system](https://forums.ankiweb.net/u/system)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2026, 8:36pm UTC](https://forums.ankiweb.net/t/what-is-the-purpose-of-a-anki-login-account-and-profile/68236/10 "2026-02-11T20:36:01Z")
Closed on February 11, 2026, 8:36pm UTC This topic was automatically closed 30 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.