I’m running into a really frustrating issue when trying to study. Specifically, when I search for a term (e.g., pericarditis), I’m trying to find cards where that term appears in the main text field of the note. Anki’s search function is returning a flood of irrelevant cards simply because the term appears somewhere else in the note, like in the “Extra”, “Lecture Notes”, or “Sketchy” sections. Please see the attached screenshot for reference. In this example, I searched “pericarditis” with the goal of reviewing only those cards that have “pericarditis” in the actual question or answer content, not in the linked resources or extra fields. I’m seeing tons of cards that are completely unrelated to what I’m trying to study, just because they contain a Sketchy link or image tagged for pericarditis. Yes, I’m aware of the Text:*_____* search method, it does not work at all and no, I don’t need someone linking me to the Anki manual. Can someone please help me?
I understand your frustration with searching in the AnKing deck. Let me help you find a more precise way to search specifically in the main text field.
First, let me search for relevant information in the community to see if this has been addressed:
Search
Found 5 results for 'tags:official search field text specific ankihub status:public'
Search
Found 5 results for 'tags:official search filter field anki status:public'
Search
Found 5 results for 'tags:official field specific search anking status:public'
Searching a Specific Field in the AnKing Deck
I understand your frustration with getting irrelevant search results when looking for specific medical terms. Based on your description, you want to search only the “Text” field for terms like “pericarditis” without matches from Extra, Lecture Notes, or Sketchy fields.
Solution for Searching the Text Field Only
Anki allows you to search within specific fields using the following syntax:
text:*pericarditis*
The asterisks are important as they act as wildcards, allowing the term to appear anywhere within the Text field (not just as an exact match). If you’re specifically looking for the main cloze content field in the AnKing deck, you should use:
text:*pericarditis*
Additional Tips for the AnKing Deck
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Field Name Sensitivity: Make sure you’re using the exact field name. In the AnKing deck, it’s usually “Text” with a capital T.
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Combining Searches: You can further refine your search by combining it with other criteria:
text:*pericarditis* -extra:*pericarditis*This would find cards with “pericarditis” in the Text field but NOT in the Extra field.
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BetterSearch Add-on: The AnKing team actually recommends the BetterSearch add-on which can make field-specific searching more powerful.
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Smart Search: AnkiHub has a feature called Smart Search that might be helpful for more advanced content-based searches.
Try these methods and let me know if they help narrow down your results to just the cards that have “pericarditis” in the main question/answer content.
Hello,
Can you try this search?
When I tried it, the search returned 59 cards, and all of them had pericarditis in the Text field — no unrelated cards appeared. Could you give it a try and send me a screenshot so we can figure out what might be going on?
Also, you can use the tag search to find cards related to specific topics:
I’m afraid that this method is the only way to perform this kind of search, so let me know how it goes!
I’ll help you troubleshoot this field-specific search issue.
Let me check your new screenshots and see what might be happening. You’re showing both the search syntax (text:*pericarditis*) and the results you got (59 cards), which appears to be working correctly on your end.
The search syntax you’re using is exactly right:
text:*pericarditis*searches specifically within the Text field- The asterisks allow the term to appear anywhere within that field
It’s interesting that you’re getting proper results (59 cards that all contain “pericarditis” in the Text field), while the original poster mentioned that this approach “does not work at all.”
A few possibilities to consider:
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Field name capitalization: Make sure to use the exact field name case - in AnKing it’s typically “Text” with a capital T, not “text”
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Typos in search: Even a small typo in the search syntax can cause it to fail
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Multiple note types: The AnKing deck has several note types - make sure the field name matches the specific note type being searched
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Add-on conflicts: Some add-ons might interfere with Anki’s search functionality
I’d recommend the original poster try the exact syntax from your screenshot:
text:*pericarditis*
The tag search approach you showed is also excellent for finding topic-related cards in the AnKing deck, as their tagging system is very comprehensive.
Could you confirm if you’re using any special add-ons for searching, or if you’re just using standard Anki search functionality? That might help us pinpoint why there’s a difference in experience.