How to move your flashcards from a language app to Anki
Language apps are good at capturing vocabulary but weak at long-term review. Anki gives you a proper spaced repetition algorithm. Whichever app you started in, the path is the same: export a file, upload it to 2anki, and download a .apkg deck you study on any device. Here is how each common app fits that path.
The pattern behind every language app
Almost every language app can export your saved words as a file — usually a CSV, a tab-separated text file, or a zip. 2anki reads that file and builds a deck: the target word on the front, the translation and any context on the back. You do not retype anything. Export from your app, drag the file onto 2anki.net, click Convert, and open the .apkg in Anki.
Language Reactor — phrases with images and audio
Language Reactor captures phrases from video with a screenshot and the sentence audio. Export the ZIP from the extension and upload it — the phrases become cards with the image and audio embedded, so each card keeps its screenshot and plays the original line. See the Language Reactor converter for the full export steps and a note on mobile thumbnails.
Pleco — Chinese vocabulary
Pleco exports your flashcards as a userdict. Use the tab-separated .txt export, not the XML one — the XML carries Pleco-specific scheduling metadata that does not map to cards. Each row becomes a card with the hanzi on the front and pinyin plus the definition on the back. Tone marks and traditional or simplified characters are preserved. See the Pleco converter for the in-app export path.
Lingvist and other CSV apps
Lingvist and most other apps offer a data download that includes a CSV of your vocabulary. Column A becomes the card front, column B becomes the back. Any app that gives you a two-column CSV — word and translation — converts the same way through the CSV path. Rename the file before uploading and the deck name matches.
What transfers and what stays behind
Card content transfers — the words, translations, and context. Review history, streaks, and scheduling stay in the original app, because each app uses its own algorithm; Anki reschedules the imported cards from scratch with spaced repetition. The free plan converts 100 cards a month, enough to move one course of vocabulary; Unlimited removes the cap for a full library.
Common questions
My app is not listed. Can I still move my cards?
Probably. If the app exports a CSV or a tab-separated text file with your words and translations, upload it — 2anki reads it through the CSV path. Column A becomes the front, everything after A becomes the back.
Will my images and audio come across?
It depends on the export. Language Reactor bundles images and audio in its zip, so those come across embedded. Most CSV exports (Lingvist, Pleco text export, and similar) are text-only — the word and translation transfer, media stays in the app.
Will my streak and review history transfer?
No. Content transfers; progress does not. Every app schedules cards differently, so Anki starts the imported cards fresh with its own spaced repetition algorithm. Your words are preserved — the review clock restarts.
Is there a limit on how many words I can move?
The free plan converts 100 cards a month. Unlimited removes the cap, which matters when you are moving a whole vocabulary library rather than a single lesson.