DecksAnki Hard vs Again: which one to press when you struggle
Press Again when you didn't remember the answer, or remembered it wrong. Press Hard when you did remember it, but only with real effort. Hard is a pass and Again is a fail; that's the whole difference, and it decides what happens to the card next. This guide compares those two; for all four buttons, Good and Easy included, see Again, Hard, Good, Easy explained.
What each one does to a review card
Take a card that is due every 10 days, with the standard ease of 250%, reviewed on its due day with Anki's default SM-2 settings:
| Hard | Again | |
|---|---|---|
| Next review | 12 days | 10 minutes, then 1 day |
| Ease afterwards | 235% (−15) | 230% (−20) |
| Counts as a lapse | No | Yes |
| Interval after that | Keeps growing from 12 days | Starts again from 1 day |
So Hard nudges the card forward a little, and Again sends it back to the start. Hard always gives at least one day more than the current interval. The 10 minutes after Again is the relearning step, and the 1.2 for Hard is a setting; see Hard interval and Easy bonus.
On new and learning cards
Before a card graduates, neither button changes ease or counts a lapse. With the default steps of 1 minute and 10 minutes:
- Again sends the card back to the first step (1 minute).
- Hard on the first step shows the card again in about 6 minutes, the average of the first two steps. On any later step, Hard repeats that step.
Anki learning steps covers this part in detail.
Why pressing Hard for a miss backfires
If you forgot the card and press Hard anyway, Anki schedules it further out than it was. You'll most likely forget it again, and you've also lost 15 points of ease. Do that repeatedly and the card ends up both failing and stuck at low ease. With FSRS turned on it's worse. FSRS treats Hard as a successful recall, so using it for misses makes all your intervals too long.
Why pressing Hard for "slow but right" also backfires
Hard costs 15 points of ease every time. If you got the card right, press Good, even if it took a few seconds. Using Hard as a habit for correct answers is the main way cards slide into ease hell.
A simple rule
- Didn't get it, or got it wrong: Again.
- Got it, but it was a real struggle: Hard.
- Got it: Good.
All four buttons are explained in Again, Hard, Good, Easy. Cards you keep pressing Again on eventually become leeches.
In Decks
Decks uses SM-2 with the same rules for review cards: Hard gives 1.2 times the interval and lowers ease by 15 points, Again resets the card to a 10-minute relearning step and a 1-day interval and lowers ease by 20. One difference: Hard in Decks isn't raised to one day more than the current interval, so on short intervals (under 5 days) it keeps the card where it is.
Published 2026-10-16. Updated 2026-10-24.