Media missing

[court_coconut]

I’ve tried resetting local changes and syncing media. Still have a ton of media missing and unsure what to do. I’ve looked at other posts from users with similar issues and followed recommendations. Nothing is working.

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

Thinking

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Found 0 results for ‘tags:official media missing AnkiHub deck reset local changes category: Support order:latest_topic max_posts:50 status:open’

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Found 0 results for ‘tags:official “Missing files: AnKing” media order:latest_topic max_posts:50 status:open’

It looks like Anki is reporting a lot of missing files from your collection’s media folder, and simply resetting local changes + syncing media hasn’t fixed it. Let’s narrow down what’s going on and whether this is an AnkiHub issue or something local to Anki/AnkiWeb.

First, a few clarifying questions (these really matter for next steps):

1. Which deck(s) are affected?

   • Is this happening with an AnkiHub-connected deck (e.g. AnKing/another shared hub deck), or with multiple decks?

2. Where are you seeing the “Missing files” list?

   • In Anki Desktop via Tools → Check Media…?
   • Or somewhere else (e.g. an add-on window)?

3. Have you checked AnkiWeb?

   • Log in to AnkiWeb, open the same deck, and see if the images/audio are missing there as well.
   • This tells us if the media is missing everywhere or only on your current device.

---

Things you can try now

Do these in order; after each step, run Tools → Check Media again and see if the “Missing files” count changes.

1. Make sure media is actually syncing

In Anki Desktop:

1. Go to Tools → Preferences → Synchronisation.
2. Confirm “Synchronize audio and images too” is checked.
3. Click OK.
4. Press the sync button (top right) and let it fully finish.
5. Then go to Tools → Check Media… again.

If this was off earlier, some media may be only on another device or only on AnkiWeb.

---

2. Re-generate media that Anki can create locally

If some of your missing media are LaTeX images or similar:

1. In Anki Desktop, run Tools → Check Media….
2. Let it finish; Anki will generate any LaTeX media it can and add them to the media folder.
3. Sync again so those get uploaded and merged.

Then check media once more.

---

3. Verify that media actually exists on another device / AnkiWeb

If you have Anki on another device (e.g. an older computer) where you know the images/audio used to work:

1. Open Anki there.
2. Sync fully.
3. Run Tools → Check Media… on that device.
   • If that device doesn’t report those files as missing, then the original media might still exist there and can be synced back to AnkiWeb, then to your current machine.

If every device and AnkiWeb all show these same files as missing, they’re probably truly gone and we’ll need to see if they were ever included in the AnkiHub deck to begin with.

---

AnkiHub-specific checks

Because you mentioned “resetting local changes,” I’m assuming this is for an AnkiHub-connected deck.

Please check:

1. Are these files supposed to come from the AnkiHub deck?

   • Many of the names in your screenshot (e.g. starting with random hashes / img_gallery) look like web image URLs or pasted images rather than the standard, cleaned-up filenames Anki creates when media is imported with a deck.
   • If you copied/pasted from websites or PDFs yourself, those might be personal edits that were never part of the original AnkiHub deck.

2. Compare with a fresh profile (test)

   • In Anki Desktop, create a new temporary profile: File → Switch Profile → Add.
   • Install the AnkiHub add-on in that profile and download a fresh copy of the same AnkiHub deck (don’t sync your personal account into it).
   • Sync that deck’s media and then run Tools → Check Media… in this new profile.
   • If the fresh profile does not show these files as missing, then the missing files are from your own edits, not from the shared AnkiHub content.

This will tell us whether the problem is:

• AnkiHub deck missing media → something we should escalate / check on the deck or server side
• Personal/local media that never synced correctly → we’ll focus on recovering what we can from your other devices / backups

---

If nothing above helps

To move forward efficiently, please reply with:

1. Answer to the 3 questions at the top (deck name, where you see “Missing files”, and whether AnkiWeb shows the same issue).
2. Whether a fresh profile + fresh AnkiHub deck also shows missing media.
3. Your operating system (Windows/Mac/Linux) and Anki version (Help → About Anki).

Once we know those, we can give more targeted steps (e.g. checking for older backups, specific AnkiHub deck issues, or whether any of these filenames match known official media).

[court_coconut]

I created a fresh profile and it’s showing even more media as missing.

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

Thinking

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Found 0 results for ‘tags:official “media missing” AnkiHub deck category: Support order:latest_topic max_posts:20 status:open’

Thanks for testing with a fresh profile—that’s really helpful.

Because a clean profile with a fresh download of the deck still shows lots of missing files, that strongly suggests this is not just your local collection, but that:

• either the deck itself is missing media (e.g., not all media was ever uploaded / is currently available), or
• there’s a problem syncing/serving media from AnkiWeb/AnkiHub for this deck.

At this point, you shouldn’t keep trying to “fix” it locally (resetting, deleting, etc.), because that won’t bring back media that doesn’t exist on the server.

---

Next useful details

To investigate / escalate this properly, could you please share:

1. Which exact AnkiHub deck(s) this is happening with?
   • Full name + link from AnkiHub if possible.
2. Your Anki version (Help → About Anki) and OS (e.g. macOS 14, Windows 11, etc.).
3. Roughly how you installed the deck in the fresh profile:
   • Downloaded from AnkiHub using the AnkiHub add-on?
   • Or imported an .apkg you had saved?

If you’re comfortable doing so, also:

4. In the fresh profile,
   • run Tools → Check Media…,
   • click “Save List”,
   • and attach the resulting text file here (or at least paste the first ~50 “Missing:” lines).

That lets us see if these filenames match patterns we’d expect from the official media package or if they look incomplete.

---

In the meantime (sanity check)

On the fresh profile:

1. Make sure Tools → Preferences → Synchronisation → “Synchronize audio and images too” is checked.
2. Sync once more, let it fully finish, then immediately run Tools → Check Media… again.
3. Confirm if the “Missing files” number stays the same.

If a fresh profile + fresh deck + full media sync still show thousands of missing files, this is almost certainly something we need to look at on the deck/AnkiHub side, not something you can fix alone. Once you post the deck info + sample of the missing filenames, we can check whether this is a known issue with that deck’s media and flag it for the AnkiHub/AnKing team if needed.

[court_coconut]

I got the following error

Before the error happened, I was…
[Replace this text.]

Error message (don't change this)

Anki 25.07.5 (7172b2d2) (ao)
Python 3.13.5 Qt 6.9.1 PyQt 6.9.1
Platform: macOS-26.3-arm64-arm-64bit-Mach-O

Traceback (most recent call last):

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/taskman.py", line 152, in raise_exception
    raise exception

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/taskman.py", line 148, in _on_closures_pending
    closure()
    ~~~~~~~^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/taskman.py", line 88, in <lambda>
    lambda future: self.run_on_main(lambda: on_done(future))
                                            ~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/operations/__init__.py", line 253, in wrapped_done
    self._failure(exception)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/1322529746/gui/media_sync.py", line 63, in on_failure
    raise exception

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/python/cpython-3.13.5-macos-aarch64-none/lib/python3.13/concurrent/futures/thread.py", line 59, in run
    result = self.fn(*self.args, **self.kwargs)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/aqt/operations/__init__.py", line 243, in wrapped_op
    return self._op(mw.col)
           ~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/1322529746/gui/media_sync.py", line 67, in <lambda>
    op=lambda _: self._update_deck_media_and_download_missing_media(),
                 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/1322529746/gui/media_sync.py", line 135, in _update_deck_media_and_download_missing_media
    missing_media_names = self._missing_media_for_ah_deck(ah_did)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/1322529746/gui/media_sync.py", line 211, in _missing_media_for_ah_deck
    referenced_media = self._media_referenced_by_notes(ah_did)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/Anki2/addons21/1322529746/gui/media_sync.py", line 200, in _media_referenced_by_notes
    media_names.update(aqt.mw.col.media.files_in_str(note.mid, flds))
                       ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/_legacy.py", line 201, in decorated_func
    return func(*args, **updated_kwargs)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/media.py", line 142, in files_in_str
    string = render_latex(string, model, self.col)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/latex.py", line 81, in render_latex
    html, err = render_latex_returning_errors(html, model, col)
                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/latex.py", line 104, in render_latex_returning_errors
    render_latex = col.get_config_bool(Config.Bool.RENDER_LATEX)

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/collection.py", line 936, in get_config_bool
    return self._backend.get_config_bool(key)
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^^

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/_backend_generated.py", line 625, in get_config_bool
    raw_bytes = self._run_command(9, 5, message.SerializeToString())

  File "/Users/courtstage/Library/Application Support/AnkiProgramFiles/.venv/lib/python3.13/site-packages/anki/_backend.py", line 171, in _run_command
    raise backend_exception_to_pylib(err)

anki.errors.InvalidInput: CollectionNotOpen

Sentry link (for developers)

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

Thinking

Read topic
Reading: Media missing

Thanks for sharing the error, that helps a lot.

This particular traceback is coming from the AnkiHub add‑on while it’s trying to scan your notes for media:

anki.errors.InvalidInput: CollectionNotOpen

That means Anki’s collection was closed (or is in the process of closing) while the AnkiHub media sync was still running. In practice, this usually happens if:

• Anki is closed or the profile is switched while the media operation is running, or
• another add‑on / action interrupts the collection.

This error itself won’t delete or fix any media – it just stops the AnkiHub “download missing media” process partway through.

---

What to do next

1. Restart Anki completely.

   • Quit Anki, wait a few seconds, then reopen it.
   • Open the profile you’re testing with and wait until everything finishes loading.

2. Run AnkiHub media sync again in a “clean” state:

   • Make sure you are not switching profiles, closing Anki, or starting big operations (like Check Database, importing, etc.) while it runs.
   • In the AnkiHub add‑on, use the option to update deck + download missing media for the affected deck.
   • Let it fully finish (even if it feels slow).

3. Then run Anki’s own media check again:

   • Tools → Check Media…
   • Note the “Missing files” count and, if possible, click “Save List” and attach it here (or paste the first ~50 “Missing:” lines).

4. Temporarily disable other add-ons that may interfere (especially anything dealing with LaTeX or media) and repeat step 2 once, to rule out conflicts.

---

For the AnkiHub team / escalation

Because:

• a fresh profile + fresh deck shows thousands of missing files, and
• AnkiHub’s media fetch is hitting an exception,

this is very likely not something you can resolve just by local resets. Once you reply with:

• The exact AnkiHub deck name/link, and
• The saved “Missing files” list (or a sample),

we can:

• Check if these filenames match the official media for that deck, and
• Forward this along with your Sentry issue ID to the developers to see if there is a deck‑side/media‑side problem or a bug in the media sync logic on Anki 25.07.5 + macOS.

For now, don’t delete anything or keep resetting; just run the clean media sync once as above and share:

1. Updated missing file count after that run.
2. Deck name/link.
3. The saved missing-media list (or sample).

[court_coconut]

Yes, the missing media still shows thousands missing. I am using the Anking deck. Audio and image sync too is checked.

[AnkiHub_AI_bot]

Thanks, that’s very helpful detail.

Since:

• You’re on a fresh profile,
• Using the AnKing deck,
• Audio and image sync is enabled, and
• You still see thousands of missing files even after running the AnkiHub media sync,

this is very likely not something wrong with your specific setup. It’s either:

• An issue with how AnkiHub is fetching media for AnKing on your setup, or
• A problem with the deck’s media package / mapping that needs dev-side investigation.

Also, the earlier CollectionNotOpen traceback confirms the error is coming from the AnkiHub add‑on’s media sync code, not from Anki’s core.

---

What I recommend doing now

To give the AnkiHub/AnKing team exactly what they need to debug this, please:

1. Confirm the exact AnKing deck variant + link

   • e.g. AnKing Overhaul, version, and (if you have it) the URL of the deck’s page on AnkiHub.

2. Attach a sample of the missing media list

   • In the fresh profile:
     1. Tools → Check Media…
     2. Click “Save List”
     3. Upload that file here, or paste at least the first 50–100 Missing: lines into your reply.
   • This tells us whether the filenames match known AnKing media or indicate something else is going on.

3. Run AnkiHub media sync once more and confirm behavior

   • Restart Anki first.
   • With only the AnkiHub add-on enabled (you can start Anki with shift and then enable just AnkiHub if needed), run:
     • Update AnkiHub deck + download missing media for AnKing.
   • Don’t switch profiles or close Anki during this.
   • Then immediately:
     • Tools → Check Media…
     • Report the “Missing files” count after this clean run.

---

What this means for you right now

• You don’t need to keep trying random resets or manual media fixes; they won’t restore files that AnkiHub/AnkiWeb isn’t currently providing.
• From what you’ve described, it does look like a bug or server‑side/packaging issue with the AnKing + AnkiHub media, not that you’ve damaged your collection.

Once you post:

1. The exact AnKing deck link/name,
2. The saved missing-media list (or sample), and
3. The missing files count after the clean AnkiHub media sync,

this can be escalated with your Sentry link so the team can inspect whether specific media bundles for AnKing are incomplete or if there’s a bug in how the add‑on is scanning/downloading media on Anki 25.07.5 on macOS.

[MarcosZan]

Hello,

Please follow this tutorial to resolve the issue with missing media: Why is my deck missing images?

If this doesn’t resolve the issue, please keep in mind a few things regarding missing media:

• Anki’s built-in Tools > Check Media tool can sometimes show a “missing files” report even when no media is actually missing from your AnkiHub decks.
• Broken image icons usually only indicate missing media if they appear in specific fields like Text, Extra, Sketchy, and Pixorize.
• For First Aid and B&B content, you will need a separate subscription to that resource. You can learn more about how this integration works here: McGraw Hill Integration FAQ

Please let me know how it goes and tell me if you run into problems in any of these steps!