[Windows] Anki crash when clicking import / export

Anki Help
24

@Spaghetti_420Blaze and everyone else,

Try installing the latest Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable for X64 and restarting your PC.

and updating a Fiery printer driver (if you have one) by downloading the latest driver from the official website.

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/1lxcbu7/recent_windows_updates_breaking_visual_c/

Recent Windows Updates Breaking Visual C++ (MSVCP140.dll)

The last several Windows updates seem to have been reverting MSVCP140.dll to an extremely old version, causing many apps to outright refuse to launch, or show an error regarding the DLL. Event Viewer logs an error with MSVCP140.dll as the faulting module

UPDATE: turns out a printer driver has taken it upon itself to copy its own bundled MSVCP140 DLLs to System32, overwriting any existing DLLs in its path, regardless of version, and will continue to do so as long as the driver remains installed.

3 Likes
[Windows] Anki crashes when adding images via clip icon
25

I recently found out about Anki and I was excited to try it out to help me study. When I open the app and try to import a file to create flashcards, it opens up my file explorer and I cant click or do anything. Then roughly 5 seconds later it crashes and kicks me out of the app. I tried to run it as a administrator and I tried to reinstall it and I tried to restart my laptop but I still couldnt fix the issue. Anytime I try to import or add files onto Anki this issue comes up. I made sure it is updated to the latest version to. Let me know any possible solutions.

26

Reported here: [Windows] Anki crash when clicking import / export. Everything that needs to open the windows file chooser dialog causes a crash. Edit: Not an Anki issue btw.

Try [Windows] Anki crash when clicking import / export - #24 by kelciour.

27

I do not have this issue.

Debug info 
Anki 25.09.2 (3890e12c) (ao)
Python 3.13.5 Qt 6.9.1 PyQt 6.9.1
Platform: Windows-10-10.0.19045-SP0

===Add-ons (active)===
(add-on provided name [Add-on folder, installed at, version, is config changed])
Advanced Copy Fields ['1898445115', 2024-01-08T20:01, 'v0.4.01', '']
AnkiConnect ['2055492159', 2025-11-09T22:40, 'None', mod]
AnkiWebView Inspector ['31746032', 2023-06-27T22:26, 'None', '']
Disconnected Review-Log Cleaner ['1067771610', 2025-06-10T16:28, 'None', '']
Local Audio Server for Yomichan ['1045800357', 2023-06-19T06:57, 'None', '']
The KING of Button Add-ons ['374005964', 2025-01-28T01:26, 'None', mod]

===IDs of active AnkiWeb add-ons===
1045800357 1067771610 1898445115 2055492159 31746032 374005964

===Add-ons (inactive)===
(add-on provided name [Add-on folder, installed at, version, is config changed])
No Distractions Full Screen Fixed by Shige ['1370336700', 2024-08-26T08:08, 'None', mod]
28

Windows 10 is not affected.

29

Also, maybe try running .NET Framework Repair Tool, since .NET Runtime was mentioned in the crash logs.

Actually, try the workaround mentioned by JetBrains first.

  1. Close Anki
  2. Open %LOCALAPPDATA%\AnkiProgramFiles\.venv\Lib\site-packages\PyQt6\Qt6\bin\ with File Explorer (click the address bar to modify it or press Win + R and paste it there)
  3. Rename msvcp140.dll to msvcp140.dll.old
  4. Open Anki

If the crash still occurs, also rename msvcp140_1.dll to msvcp140_1.dll.old and msvcp140_2.dll to msvcp140_2.dll.old in the same folder or open Event Viewer and check the most recent logs for the information about the crash, especially this part:

Faulting module path:
C:\Users\...\AppData\Local\AnkiProgramFiles\.venv\Lib\site-packages\PyQt6\Qt6\bin\MSVCP140.dll

Additionally, Process Monitor could be used to help troubleshoot the issue, at least to check for any errors or something.

  1. Open Anki
  2. Run Process Monitor
  3. Click Tools > Process Tree, scroll down to the bottom, locate anki.exe and with the right click add process and children to include filter
  4. Go to Anki and click File > Import (or File > Export) to reproduce the crash
  5. Go back to Process Monitor and check the last lines for any errors or anything
2 Likes