Best Way to Send Copied Text to Anki? My Workflow

If you're a serious Anki user, you know the struggle. You're deep in an article, a PDF, or a textbook, and you find that perfect nugget of information—a definition, a concept, a quote—that would make a fantastic flashcard. Then comes the friction. The workflow-killing, focus-shattering dance of `Alt+Tab`, `Ctrl+C`, `Alt+Tab`, `Ctrl+V`. It’s a tiny interruption that compounds into a major roadblock to seamless learning.

For years, I searched for the holy grail: a way to send any piece of copied text to Anki with a single, universal command, without ever leaving my current window. I've tried browser extensions, clunky scripts, and everything in between. Today, I'm sharing the workflow I've settled on—a system that has fundamentally changed how I learn.

The Familiar Grind: Why Manual Card Creation Fails

Let's be honest. The default method of creating Anki cards is a productivity nightmare. It looks something like this:

1. You're reading an interesting PDF.
2. You highlight a sentence you want to remember. `Ctrl+C`.
3. You switch to Anki. `Alt+Tab`.
4. You click "Add".
5. You paste the text into the "Front" field. `Ctrl+V`.
6. You try to remember the context to create the "Back" field.
7. You switch back to your PDF to find more context. `Alt+Tab`.
8. You switch back to Anki. `Alt+Tab`.
9. You finally finish the card and click "Add".
10. You try to remember where you were in the PDF.

This context-switching is exhausting. It breaks your reading flow and discourages you from creating cards for smaller, yet valuable, pieces of information. The activation energy is just too high. We can do better.

Exploring the Contenders: Common Anki Capture Methods

Before landing on my current system, I explored several popular options. Each has its pros and cons, and what's best for you might depend on where you do most of your reading.

Browser extensions are great, but they chain you to your browser. Mobile sharing is convenient, but not for heavy-duty desktop research. For me, the goal was a universal solution that worked everywhere on my computer—from my browser to my PDF reader to my code editor. This led me straight to system-wide hotkey tools.

My Ultimate Workflow: A System-Wide Hotkey Solution

My setup boils down to this: Highlight text anywhere on my computer, press a single hotkey, and that text is instantly sent to a new card in a dedicated Anki "Inbox" deck. No window switching. No distractions. Here’s how to build it.

The Tools You'll Need

1. Anki: The core application, of course.
2. AnkiConnect Add-on: This is the crucial bridge. AnkiConnect is an Anki add-on that opens up a local API, allowing other programs on your computer to interact with your Anki collection. Go to Tools > Add-ons in Anki, click "Get Add-ons...", and paste in the code: `2055492159`.
3. For Windows - AutoHotkey: A free, powerful scripting language for Windows that can automate anything, including hotkeys and sending web requests.
4. For macOS - PopClip: A fantastic paid utility for Mac that provides a context menu whenever you select text. It has a rich ecosystem of extensions, including several for Anki.

The Setup (Windows & AutoHotkey)

This is where the magic happens. Don't be intimidated by the code; it's simpler than it looks!

Step 1: Install AutoHotkey. Download it from the official website and run the installer.

Step 2: Create your script. Right-click on your desktop, go to New > AutoHotkey Script, and give it a name like `AnkiHotkeys.ahk`.

Step 3: Edit the script. Right-click the new file and choose "Edit Script". This will open it in a text editor. Paste the following code inside:

; =================================================================================
; Anki Quick Add - Send selected text to Anki's "Inbox" deck
; Hotkey: Win + C
; Requires Anki to be open with the AnkiConnect add-on installed.
; =================================================================================

#c:: ; This is the hotkey: Windows Key + C. Change it to whatever you like.
{
    ; Save the currently selected text to the clipboard
    A_Clipboard := ""
    SendInput, ^c
    ClipWait, 1 ; Wait up to 1 second for the clipboard to have text
    if (A_Clipboard = "")
    {
        Tooltip, "No text selected."
        Sleep, 1500
        Tooltip
        return
    }

    ; Prepare the JSON data for AnkiConnect
    SelectedText := A_Clipboard
    DeckName := "Inbox" ; <<< CHANGE THIS to your desired inbox deck
    NoteType := "Basic" ; <<< CHANGE THIS to your desired note type
    FrontField := "Front" ; <<< CHANGE THIS to the name of the field for the text

    ; Escape special characters in the text for JSON
    EscapedText := StrReplace(SelectedText, "\", "\\\")
    EscapedText := StrReplace(EscapedText, """, "\""" )
    EscapedText := StrReplace(EscapedText, "`n", "\n" )
    EscapedText := StrReplace(EscapedText, "`r", "\r" )

    ; Construct the JSON payload
    JSON := "{""action"": ""addNote"", ""version"": 6, ""params"": {""note"": {""deckName"": """ . DeckName . """, ""modelName"": """ . NoteType . """, ""fields"": {""" . FrontField . """: """ . EscapedText . """, ""Back"": """"}, ""tags"": [""quick-capture""]}}}"

    ; Send the data to AnkiConnect via a web request
    whr := ComObjCreate("WinHttp.WinHttpRequest.5.1")
    whr.Open("POST", "http://localhost:8765", true)
    whr.SetRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=UTF-8")
    whr.Send(JSON)
    
    ; Optional: Show a confirmation tooltip
    Tooltip, "Sent to Anki Inbox!"
    Sleep, 1500
    Tooltip

    return
}

Step 4: Customize and Run.

• Look for the lines with `<<< CHANGE THIS` and adjust the `DeckName`, `NoteType`, and `FrontField` to match your Anki setup. I highly recommend using a deck named `Inbox` for this.
• Save the file.
• Double-click the script file to run it. You'll see a green 'H' icon in your system tray.

Now, open Anki, ensure AnkiConnect is active, and try it! Highlight any text on your screen and press `Win+C`. You should see a tooltip, and a new card will appear in your specified deck.

The macOS Alternative: PopClip

For Mac users, the process is even simpler, though it requires a paid app.

1. Purchase and install PopClip from the App Store or their website.
2. Install AnkiConnect in Anki as described above.
3. Get the PopClip Extension. The easiest way is to visit the PopClip Extensions page and search for "Anki". There are several community-made options. Choose one that suits your needs (e.g., one that adds to a specific deck).
4. Configure the extension. Once installed, you can often click the PopClip icon in your menu bar and then the pencil icon next to the extension to configure settings like the deck name and note type.

Now, whenever you select text on your Mac, the PopClip bar will appear with an Anki icon. Just click it, and your text is sent.

Why This Workflow is a Game-Changer

This system has transformed my learning for a few key reasons:

• It's Universal: This works in your browser, PDF reader (a huge one for students and researchers), Word documents, code editor—anywhere you can select text.
• It's Frictionless: The barrier to card creation becomes almost zero. `Highlight > Hotkey > Done`. This means you'll create more cards and capture more knowledge.
• It Protects Your Flow State: By not forcing you to switch windows and engage with the Anki UI, you can stay focused on the material you're reading. Capture the idea now, perfect the card later.
• The "Inbox" Philosophy: Sending cards to a dedicated `Inbox` deck is critical. It separates the act of *capturing* from the act of *processing*. Once a day, or every few days, you can go into your Anki Inbox, and properly format your new cards: add context to the back, create cloze deletions, add tags, and move them to their final decks. This batch processing is far more efficient.

Final Thoughts: Reclaim Your Focus

The best productivity system is the one you actually use, and the key to consistent use is minimizing friction. By taking 20 minutes to set up a system-wide hotkey, you're investing in a more efficient, focused, and sustainable learning practice.

You're no longer interrupting your studies to be an admin for your flashcard collection. You're a reader, a learner, capturing ideas at the speed of thought. Give it a try—it might just be the single biggest upgrade you can make to your Anki workflow.