When Anki lags or starts slowly on a Mac, the causes people report are the wrong build for the chip, an add-on, the video driver, or a particular release. Anki's manual gives an order to check them in, starting with restarting and safe mode. If Anki is quick but the whole thing still feels slow, that is a different problem, and it is the second half of this page.
Start with the manual's order
Anki's troubleshooting page lists the steps in order. Restart Anki. Open it in safe mode by holding ⇧ while it starts, and see if the slowness goes. Check the version under Anki → About against the latest on the download page. Run Tools → Check Database. Restart the Mac. Then change the video driver. That is the official sequence, and it is the one to follow before trying anything from a forum.
As of November 2026 the Anki download page gives the current version as 26.09.3, with macOS builds for macOS 13 and up on Apple Silicon and Intel.
Add-ons are the first suspect
The manual's safe mode step exists for this. If Anki is fast in safe mode, an add-on is the cause. The manual's advice is to remove add-ons you do not need and disable half of the rest, then keep halving until you find the one, and to report it to the add-on's author using the Copy Debug Info button. Its add-ons page adds that updating Anki can break older add-ons.
The forum helpers ask for the same thing. In the thread titled 26.09 Performance Issues, where users on Apple Silicon Macs reported long opening times and lag between cards, helpers asked for a full troubleshooting pass including disabling all add-ons.
The wrong build for your Mac
A forum thread called Anki is slow and unresponsive at times has a Mac user on an M2 who had installed the Intel version of Anki by accident, because Terminal was set up to open apps through Rosetta. The thread suggests checking in Activity Monitor whether Anki runs natively or through translation. Other threads trace launch problems to Intel only files carried over from an older Mac with Migration Assistant, and suggest deleting the Anki install and downloading it again.
The manual's macOS install page says to download Anki from the official site, and notes the Qt5 builds of 24.11 and earlier supported macOS 10.14 and later. The forums need a free account to read in full, so open the thread yourself before relying on any single reply.
The video driver
Anki draws its windows through a video driver, and the manual says the one that works best "may vary" by machine, with software drawing tending to be slower. In Anki 23.10 and later, open Anki → Preferences, pick a different driver from the dropdown and restart Anki. Try each option. In the 26.09 thread above, one person reported only a marginal improvement from switching, so do not expect a miracle.
A new release can be the cause
The 26.09 thread has the original poster, on an Apple Silicon MacBook, saying the app took much longer to open and lagged between cards after the update, and going back to 26.08 to carry on reviewing. Another Mac user reported severe startup lag, and one M1 Mac mini user said they saw nothing. So it is not everyone. The release thread for 26.09.2 mentions a startup fix, and it could not be confirmed that it resolved those reports. If you are on an affected release, updating to the latest is the thing the manual tells you to try.
Advice about big media folders is left out. Neither the manual nor any thread that could be read says a large media collection makes Anki slow to show an answer, so it would be a guess.
The other kind of slow
A lot of people typing this are not talking about lag. They mean Anki takes hours: the evening spent making thirty cards, and the review pile that comes back every morning. That is not a bug and no setting makes it quick, but it is fixable by changing what you put in. The full version is on why Anki takes so long, so only the short version follows. Cards made later from a list are slow to build, and every new card returns as reviews.
LeafyApp goes at the building part. Press ⌥A in any app, box a word, and it is saved with its sentence, source and date, with no card to write. You send words to Anki when you want them, or review inside LeafyApp with fill-in-the-blank cards and FSRS-5. It is Mac only, Apple Silicon, macOS 14 and up, with no iPhone app. See the card maker page for how the export works, and Anki alternatives on Mac if you are weighing leaving.
Questions people ask
Why is Anki so slow on my Mac? The reported causes are an add-on, running the Intel build on an Apple Silicon Mac, the video driver, or a particular release. Anki's manual says to restart, try safe mode with ⇧ held, check the version, then Tools → Check Database.
Why is Anki slow to start up on Mac? Startup lag was reported on 26.09 in an AnkiWeb forum thread, and the 26.09.2 release thread mentions a startup fix. A leftover Intel build or an add-on can also slow it, so test in safe mode first.
Why is Anki lagging or slow to show the answer on Mac? Try safe mode to rule out add-ons, then change the video driver under Anki → Preferences and restart. If it started after an update, the version thread above has the details.
How do I tell if I have the Intel or Apple Silicon build? A forum thread suggests Activity Monitor shows whether Anki runs natively or through Rosetta. Another suggests reinstalling Anki if you have Intel files left over from an older Mac.
I mean slow as in Anki takes too much of my time. What then? That is mostly card-making and the review pile. This page covers it.
If Anki is fast and your evenings still are not.
Free while LeafyApp is in beta. One download, macOS 14 and up.
Anki, AnkiWeb and Anki's other product names are trademarks of their respective owners. LeafyApp is an independent app, not affiliated with or endorsed by Anki, and the name is used here only to describe compatibility and for comparison.