How to Enable LaTeX in Anki (Generate LaTeX Images Setting)

To enable LaTeX in Anki, open Preferences, click the Review tab, and check the “Generate LaTeX images” box. The box is off by default. Anki turned it off in version 24.06 for security reasons, and it stays off in Anki 25.09.2.

What you need

• Anki 24.06 or newer. This guide uses Anki 25.09.2. Older versions do not have the checkbox — they always generated LaTeX images.
• A LaTeX distribution: MiKTeX for Windows, MacTeX or BasicTeX for macOS, or TeX Live for Linux.
• dvipng — it converts the rendered math into the image Anki shows on the card.
• Optional: dvisvgm — lets Anki create scalable SVG images instead of PNG.

Turn on the setting

1. Open Anki.
2. Open Preferences. Windows/Linux: Tools → Preferences. macOS: Anki → Preferences.
3. Click the Review tab. The checkbox sits near review settings like “Next day starts at” and “Show remaining card count.”
4. Check Generate LaTeX images.
5. Click OK.
6. If the setting doesn’t seem to apply, restart Anki.

Security note: Anki’s manual recommends leaving this off if you use shared decks or plan to import them. LaTeX code can read or write files anywhere on your computer, so a malicious deck author could reach your data. Enable the setting only if you write all your own LaTeX content or fully trust your deck sources.

Check it worked

1. Create a card with this in a field: [latex]\sum_{k=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{k}[/latex]
2. Preview the card. You should see the formula as a rendered image.

And LaTeX isn’t limited to formulas — with the right packages it renders full diagrams. This card draws vector arrows with TikZ and plots a parabola, all generated as images by the same setting:

Why the setting is off by default

Anki added this checkbox in version 24.06 (June 2024). Before that, Anki generated LaTeX images automatically and tried to block dangerous commands. The block list could not catch everything, so the developers switched to an opt-in model: the box stays unchecked until you turn it on yourself.

The setting only affects the [latex]...[/latex] tags and their shortcuts [$]...[/$] and [$$]...[/$$]. MathJax (\(...\)) keeps working either way, because it renders math in the browser and never runs system commands.

Can’t find the setting?

Your Anki is older than 24.06. Those versions have no checkbox because LaTeX generation was always on. Update to Anki 25.09.2 or later.

An add-on changed the Preferences screen. Hold Shift while starting Anki to disable add-ons for that session, then check Preferences again.

You only need standard math. Skip the setting and use MathJax: \(...\) for inline math, \[...\] for display math. No install, no configuration.

LaTeX is installed in a non-standard place. The “Edit LaTeX build process” add-on (ID: 937148547) lets you set custom paths to your LaTeX executables and change the build commands. It also supports other TeX engines like XeTeX or LuaTeX.

You already have the images. If another Anki install generated the LaTeX images before, copy them into your collection.media folder. They must keep Anki’s naming pattern: latex-[hash].png or latex-[hash].svg. Anki shows them even with the setting off — this is how shared decks work: the author generates all images before sharing.

Customize LaTeX for your note type

1. Go to Tools → Manage Note Types.
2. Select your note type and click Options.
3. Edit the Header and Footer fields. The Header holds the LaTeX preamble. The default loads amsmath and amssymb for math symbols. Add packages here — for example chemfig for chemistry, tikz for diagrams, or musicography for musical notation.
4. Optional: check Create scalable images with dvisvgm to get SVG images instead of PNG. SVGs stay sharp at any size and are usually smaller files. Note: AnkiDroid versions before 2.9 cannot show SVG.

Fix common problems

“Error executing latex. Have you installed latex and dvipng?” Anki cannot find your LaTeX install. Open a terminal and run latex --version and dvipng --version — both should print a version number. On Windows, run Anki as Administrator once so MiKTeX can fetch missing packages. On macOS, make sure /Library/TeX/texbin is in your PATH.

Your code works in a TeX editor but fails in Anki. Check where the [latex] tags are. They must be inside the field content, not in the card template. [latex]{{Front}}[/latex] in a template does not work — put the tags in the field itself.

Images don’t update after you change the code. Delete the old images from your collection.media folder (they are named latex-*.png or latex-*.svg), then run Tools → Check Media. Anki regenerates all LaTeX images.

Cloze deletions break your LaTeX. This happens when closing braces touch. Add a space before the closing bracket so [/$] and }} don’t collide.

Avoid:

{{c1::[$]\frac{1}{2}[/$]}}

Use instead (note the space before the closing bracket):

{{c1::[$]\frac{1}{2} [/$]}}

Next steps

• Browse more recipes in the Cookbook.
• Put pictures on your cards: How to Add Images to Anki Cards.
• AnkiMCP acting up? See Troubleshooting.

Disclaimer: “Anki” is a registered trademark of Ankitects Pty Ltd. AnkiMCP is an independent, community-built project and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Ankitects.