How to create a useful flashcard deck

A flashcard should ask for one manageable piece of knowledge. A long textbook paragraph is difficult to recall and even harder to mark consistently.

Create your first deck

Open Flashcards, choose the create action and give the deck a specific title. Add a short description and choose its colour. Enter a question or term on the front of each card and an answer or definition on the back, then save the deck.

Start with a few cards from a topic you recently studied. A small relevant deck is easier to maintain than a large collection of facts you have not understood yet.

Write a checkable question

Instead of “Geometry”, ask “How do you calculate the area of a rectangle?” Put the formula and a short explanation on the back. Avoid a front that gives away the answer or a question with several unrelated answers.

What belongs elsewhere?

Keep a long derivation or a worked solution in notes. Use cards for the definition or condition needed to start that solution, then practise applying it in a test.

What happens if I delete a deck?

The deletion confirmation warns that its cards and study progress will be removed. Read that confirmation carefully; deletion is not a way to temporarily hide a deck.