Free Flash Card Software - CueCard

After searching the Web for the best free flash card software program, I finally came across CueCard. CueCard is completely free.

Here's what a flash card looks like on the CueCard window. This example shows me in study mode reviewing vocabulary for the GRE Exam.

I imported a list of 1,162 vocabulary definitions into CueCard from Excel to create my GRE vocabulary flash card set.

Why is CueCard flash card software so useful? Because it has tons of features:

• Unlimited number of flash cards can be created
• Font and background color of the cards can be customized
• Each set of flash cards can be saved separately
• Print out the flash cards on paper if you want
• Quiz mode "times" you and keeps score
• Learn mode figures out which cards you are having trouble with
• Import from Excel, a scanner, or a digital camera
• Images or sound files can be attached to the flash cards

To download the CueCard flash card software to your PC, click the following link. This opens the CueCard download page on Cnet.com, where you can read user reviews about CueCard and download the software.

Download CueCard from CNET (free)

If you like CueCard, let me know - I'm thinking about adding some CueCard "how-to" instructions to this website. If you need help getting CueCard to work, send me an email.

Why Use Flash Cards?

Flash cards are one of the best tools to use when you want to review a lot of material. You can use them to study anything - from vocabulary definition to memorizing poems or speeches.

Flash cards work well because they provide a way to quickly go over material one item after another.

Testing yourself as you learn (by reciting the material) is very important for putting the information into long-term memory. Reciting without looking at the answers forces you to recall the information, and it "proves" that you really did memorize it.

Creating paper flash cards by writing out the information on index cards with a pen or pencil works well, but it takes time. And paper flash cards don't work well if you need to memorize images or sounds (such as foreign language vocabulary).

With CueCard, you can simply type the information on screen or import it into your electronic flash cards. You can still print these out if you want.

The best feature, though, is the quiz mode (study mode).

CueCard randomly shows you one flash card after another from a set. It shows the front of the card, and you have to think of the information on the back.

Then you click a button to indicate whether you got it right or not, which creates a "score" (getting a card correct 7 out of 10 times is 70%, for example).

As you go along through a set of flash cards, study mode automatically helps you identify the cards you need to review further since you can target your low-scorers for additional study.

There are flash card websites such as FlashCardExchange.com you can use in case you don't want to bother installing CueCard. But usually to get the advanced features of these sites you have to pay a fee of some kind.

This might be worth it to you for the convenience (it's up to you). CueCard, on the other hand, is completely free.

Why Is CueCard Free?

CueCard was created by programmer Wayne Brainerd, who made it available to the general public without charge. The download link above is through Cnet.com, which is a trusted source for software. (I've used Cnet for years.)

Published: 03/08/2010
Last Updated: 06/11/2020