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Understand what each of your Anki deck options actually does

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What the settings control and why the defaults matter

Most people who open the deck options screen in Anki for the first time see a column of numbers and no explanation. The short version is that Anki deck options control how many new cards you see each day, how long a card waits between reviews, and how quickly its wait grows as you get it right. Learning them once saves you from either drowning in reviews or forgetting material you thought was locked in.

New cards per day defaults to 20 and maximum reviews per day defaults to 200.
Learning steps default to 1 minute and 10 minutes before a card graduates to review.
Starting ease defaults to 250%, and pressing Again lowers a card's ease by 20%.
Leech threshold defaults to 8 lapses, after which the card is tagged so you can rework it.

Example Anki deck options and their default values

Learning stepsDelays a new or failed card waits before it graduates to review, with defaults of 1m and 10m. · A card graduates after it passes its last step.

Graduating intervalDays until a card's first review after it passes all learning steps. · The default is 1 day.

Easy intervalDays until the next review when you press Easy on a new card. · The default is 4 days, and it skips the learning steps.

Starting ease and ease factorThe multiplier applied to a card's interval after each review, with a default starting ease of 250%. · Again lowers ease by 20%, Hard by 15% and Easy raises it by 15%.

Leech thresholdThe number of lapses before a card is tagged as a leech so you can rework it. · The default threshold is 8 lapses.

Generate the full set

Spaced repetition built in

Cards you find hard come back sooner and cards you know come back later, so review time goes where it helps most.

Works from your own material

Upload a PDF, DOCX, PPTX, plain notes or a photo of a page and get flashcards drawn from that exact content.

Export to Anki on Plus

Send your generated cards to Anki as a deck, then tune its options with the settings explained on this page.

How it works

Upload your notes

Add a PDF, slides, a DOCX file, pasted text or a photo of a page. No credit card is needed to start.

Generate your flashcards

DeckOwl creates cards from your material, and you study them in the browser with spaced repetition.

Export and adjust

On Plus, export to Anki and set new cards per day, learning steps and intervals using the guide below.

The three settings that change your daily workload most are new cards per day, maximum reviews per day and the learning steps. New cards per day sets how many fresh cards enter your queue, while maximum reviews per day caps how many reviews you face. If you raise new cards without checking whether you can keep up with reviews, the backlog grows faster than you can clear it.

The interval settings decide how a card's wait grows. Graduating interval and easy interval set the first waits after a card leaves learning, and the ease factor sets the multiplier applied after each successful review. Changing these in small steps and watching your review count for a week tells you more than any fixed recommendation.

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Frequently asked questions

What should I set new cards per day to?

The default is 20, which suits most people studying a few subjects. Raise it only if you can keep up with the reviews it creates, since skipped reviews build up quickly.

What do learning steps do in Anki?

Learning steps are the short delays, such as 1 minute then 10 minutes, that a new or forgotten card goes through before it graduates to a longer review interval. A card moves to review once you pass its last step.

Can DeckOwl export flashcards to Anki?

Yes, export to Anki is included on the Plus plan at $39/year or $7.99/month, which also gives unlimited generations. The Free plan includes 3 generations per month and lets you study in the browser without exports.

Does the Free plan include spaced repetition?

Spaced repetition is a Plus feature, while the Free plan lets you study generated flashcards in the browser with a limit of 3 generations per month. Upgrading removes the generation limit and adds exports.

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