How to convert a PDF to Anki flashcards

Upload a PDF to 2anki and download a .apkg deck. Works with lecture slides, textbook chapters, and any PDF with a text layer.

What the converter needs

The PDF must have a text layer — most modern textbook exports, slide PDFs exported from PowerPoint or Keynote, and lecture notes do. Scanned images with no text layer will not produce cards. Run a scanned PDF through OCR in macOS Preview or Adobe Acrobat first.

How cards are built

Each heading becomes a card front, and the text under it, up to the next heading, becomes the back. A bullet with a space after its marker stays on the back; in a PDF exported from a Word outline, each top-level bullet fronts its own card. In a text slide PDF, where every page is landscape, each slide becomes one card, with the slide title on the front and its bullets on the back. The whole PDF becomes one deck named after the file. Diagrams come across as embedded images. Equations stored as images appear as images; LaTeX equations render if MathJax is enabled in your Anki card template.

Convert a PDF

Go to 2anki.net, drag your PDF onto the upload area, and click Convert. Download the .apkg file and open it in Anki with a double-click. Without an account a conversion can produce up to 21 cards; a free account raises that to 100 cards per month.

Large PDFs and textbooks

Large PDFs work — a whole textbook uploads fine. Big files take longer and create large decks. Uploading one chapter at a time keeps decks easier to review and share. The free plan covers 100 cards per month; the Pro plan has no card limit.