Help / Core workflow

Look up your first word

Hold Ctrl (Cmd on Mac) and double-click any word on a webpage. The Anki Dictionary popup appears with a definition in context.

Anki Dictionary popup showing definition for 'gash' with Korean translation and Export to Anki button

How it works

  1. Open any webpage with text you want to read.
  2. Hold Ctrl (or Cmd) and double-click a word.
  3. The popup appears with the definition, pronunciation, and the sentence the word appeared in.

Other ways to trigger a lookup

You can also right-click any selected word and choose Look up with Anki Dictionary from the context menu.

Browser right-click context menu showing 'Look up gashed with Anki Dictionary' option

The default keyboard trigger is Ctrl+double-click, but you can change it. Open the extension settings (click the extension icon, then the gear icon) and pick a different option under Trigger key. Options include double-click only, Alt+double-click, and more.

Where it works

Anki Dictionary works on regular webpages: news sites, blogs, documentation, Wikipedia, forums, and most other sites with selectable text.

It does not currently work on:

  • Kindle Cloud Reader (read.amazon.com) — Amazon uses a custom rendering engine that prevents extensions from accessing the text.
  • Browser internal pages (chrome:// URLs, the Chrome Web Store).
  • PDF viewers built into the browser.

Page not responding to lookups?

  • If the page was open before you installed, it needs a refresh. See refresh pages after installing.
  • Make sure the extension is enabled — click the puzzle-piece icon in your toolbar and check that Anki Dictionary is toggled on.
  • Some sites with strict security policies may block the content script. Try a different page to confirm the extension is working.