How to Improve Your Memory for Studying: 12 Evidence-Based Methods

Last updated: 14 October 2026. Every study cited was re-read at its source that day. Written by Josh Hutcheson, OnlineCourseing editor. See our review methodology.

How memory works when you study

Remembering something for an exam takes three steps. You encode it when you first study it, your brain consolidates it over the following hours and nights, and you retrieve it when you need it. Most study advice targets only the first step. The methods below work because they also strengthen consolidation (sleep, spacing) and retrieval (self-testing).

Forgetting is fast at first. Ebbinghaus’s forgetting curve, which Murre and Dros replicated in 2015, shows a steep drop in what you can recall within the first day, then a slower decline. Each time you successfully retrieve something, it fades more slowly afterwards. That is the whole logic of spaced self-testing.

Working memory, the “desk space” you use while reading or solving a problem, is limited and temporary, as psychologist Nelson Cowan describes it. It is the bottleneck when a page feels overwhelming, which is why organizing material into chunks (method 6) helps.

12 ways to improve your memory for studying

These are ordered roughly by the strength of the evidence and how much difference they make for a typical student. The first three matter most.

1. Test yourself instead of rereading

Recalling information strengthens memory more than seeing it again. In a 2006 experiment by Roediger and Karpicke, students either reread a passage or took recall tests on it. On a test five minutes later the rereaders did better, but on tests two days and one week later the students who had practiced recall retained substantially more. That gap is why rereading feels productive and is not.

• Close your notes and write or say everything you remember about a topic, then check what you missed.
• Turn headings into questions and answer them before reading the section again.
• Use past papers, end-of-chapter questions or flashcards, always answering before you flip the card.

2. Space your study sessions out

Studying the same material in several sessions spread over days beats the same total time in one block. A 2008 study of spacing with more than 1,350 people found the best gap depends on how long you need to remember: about 20% to 40% of the time until the test when the test was a week away, falling to about 5% to 10% when it was a year away. For an exam in a week, review roughly every one to three days. For something you need in six months, gaps of a couple of weeks work.

3. Let an app schedule your reviews

Spaced-repetition apps show you each flashcard just before you are likely to forget it, so you spend time on what you are losing. Anki is the best-known: free on Windows, Mac and Linux, free on Android (AnkiDroid, built by volunteers), and $24.99 once on iPhone and iPad (AnkiMobile), which funds the project. Quizlet is easier to start with and has a free tier. Our guide to online learning tools for students compares them.

4. Mix different types of problems

When you practice one type of problem twenty times in a row, you never have to work out which method to use. Mixing types (called interleaving) forces that choice, which is what an exam asks of you. Dunlosky and colleagues’ 2013 review rated interleaved practice as moderate utility: promising, with less evidence than testing and spacing. It works best for math, physics and other subjects with distinct problem types.

5. Ask “why?” and explain it to yourself

Two techniques in the same review, elaborative interrogation (asking why a fact is true) and self-explanation (explaining how each step follows), were also rated moderate utility. Both work by linking new information to what you already know. When you read that a process happens, stop and ask why it happens; when you follow a worked example, say why each step is the next one.

6. Organize the material into chunks

Working memory, the part of memory you use to hold and handle information right now, is small. Psychologist Nelson Cowan describes it as holding a limited amount of information in an accessible state for a short time. You cannot enlarge it much, but you can pack more into each slot by grouping: learn a list of 20 terms as four groups of five, draw a one-page map of how topics connect, and learn the structure of a chapter before its details.

7. Use memory techniques for lists and names

Mnemonics are best for arbitrary material, such as lists, sequences, foreign vocabulary and anatomy terms. The strongest evidence is for the method of loci, or memory palace, where you place items along a route you know well. In a 2017 study in Neuron, people with no memory training practiced it for six weeks. Their brain networks shifted toward the pattern seen in 23 world-class memory athletes, and the closer the match, the larger their memory gains up to four months later. Simpler devices help too: acronyms, rhymes and linking a new word to a vivid image.

One caution: the 2013 review rated the keyword mnemonic and imagery for text learning as low utility for general studying. Use these techniques for lists and vocabulary, not for understanding ideas.

8. Sleep after you study

Sleep is when new memories are stabilized. A 2013 review in Physiological Reviews concluded that sleep actively consolidates memories, with slow-wave sleep especially important. That makes an all-nighter doubly expensive: you lose the sleep that would have locked in what you studied the day before. The CDC recommends 8 to 10 hours a night for teens aged 13 to 17 and 7 or more for adults aged 18 to 60. Studying a topic in the evening and testing yourself the next morning is a good habit.

9. Stop cramming

Cramming works for a test tomorrow and fails for anything after it. The forgetting curve that Hermann Ebbinghaus measured in the 1880s, which Murre and Dros replicated in 2015, shows most forgetting happens in the first day or two after learning. A single late session puts all your effort on the steep part of that curve. Two or three shorter sessions spread out cost no more time and keep far more.

10. Exercise regularly

Aerobic exercise is good for the parts of the brain involved in memory. In a randomized trial of 120 older adults, aerobic exercise training increased the size of the hippocampus by 2%, which the authors say effectively reversed one to two years of age-related loss, and improved spatial memory. The study was in older adults, so treat it as evidence that exercise supports memory over time, not as a study trick. A walk between study sessions is also a useful break.

11. Use caffeine carefully, not more of it

An earlier version of this page told readers to increase caffeine. The evidence supports something narrower. In a 2014 study in Nature Neuroscience, 200 mg of caffeine taken just after studying improved performance on a memory test 24 hours later, and the effect followed an inverted U: more caffeine was not better. The FDA cites 400 mg a day, about two to three 12-ounce cups of coffee, as an amount not generally linked to negative effects for most adults, and sensitivity varies a lot. Caffeine in the afternoon or evening can cut into the sleep that does the real work, so it is a poor trade before an exam.

12. Keep alcohol away from study days

Alcohol interferes with moving memories from short-term to long-term storage in the hippocampus, according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Heavy drinking can block that process entirely, which is what a blackout is. If an exam matters, keep the nights before it dry.

Which study techniques work best? The evidence at a glance

The table summarizes Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan and Willingham’s 2013 review in Psychological Science in the Public Interest, which graded ten techniques by how well their benefits hold across learners, materials and real classrooms.

Learning How to Learn on Coursera turns these findings into a short, practical course, including memory techniques and how to beat procrastination.

Try Learning How to Learn on Coursera →

What students say works

We read the most-viewed memory threads on the r/GetStudying community on Reddit (14 October 2026). Three points came up repeatedly, and they match the research above:

• Start with flashcards, then move to a blank page. Several students said “free recall”, writing everything you remember with no prompts, works best but feels discouraging at first. Cued recall with flashcards is an easier way in; switch to blank-page recall as the exam gets closer.
• Put review dates on your notes. One student writes 1-2-4-7 at the top of each set of notes and reviews them that day, the next day, three days later and a week later, then moves the hardest material into Anki. It is a simple, paper version of a spacing schedule.
• Practice questions beat summaries. A nursing student described moving from 60s to 80s by switching from rewriting notes to answering application questions and writing down the correct answer for each mistake.

Some students also ask an AI chatbot to write practice questions from their own notes. That can save time, but check the answers against your course material and your school’s rules on AI use. We left out advice from the same threads that has no good evidence behind it, such as special drinking water for brain performance.

What does not work as well as people think

Brain-training games

Apps that promise a better memory through daily puzzles mostly make you better at the puzzles. A 2016 review of the brain-training research found extensive evidence that training improves the trained tasks, less evidence for closely related tasks, and little evidence that it improves unrelated tasks or everyday thinking. For studying, practice the subject itself.

Rereading and highlighting

Both feel like work and leave you feeling familiar with the material, which is easy to mistake for remembering it. Use highlighting to mark what you will turn into questions, then test yourself on those questions.

Supplements and “brain foods”

We do not review or recommend memory supplements, and no single food will improve your recall for an exam. Eat regular meals, stay hydrated, and talk to a doctor before taking anything marketed for memory. If you are worried about your memory beyond normal studying, that is also a question for a doctor.

Studying to your “learning style”

Matching study to a visual, auditory or kinesthetic “style” is not supported by research. Our online study tips guide explains why and covers the habits that help you finish a course.

Can you improve working memory?

Not much directly. The same 2016 review found little evidence that working-memory or brain-training exercises improve performance outside the trained tasks. What you can change is how much you ask of working memory at once:

• Write intermediate steps down instead of holding them in your head.
• Learn the vocabulary of a topic first, so later reading uses fewer slots.
• Close other tabs and put your phone in another room; switching tasks uses the same limited space.
• Break large problems into stages and finish one before starting the next.

How to improve your memory while reading

1. Skim the headings and turn each into a question before you read.
2. Read one section, then look away and say or write its main points from memory.
3. Ask why each main claim is true, and how it connects to something you already know.
4. At the end of the chapter, write a summary from memory, then check it against the text and mark what you missed.
5. Make flashcards only for the points you missed, and review them over the next week.

A two-week plan to remember more for an exam

This plan applies spacing, self-testing and sleep to a typical exam with two weeks to go. Adjust the topics per day to your syllabus.

If you are taking an online course rather than sitting a single exam, our online study tips show how to build the same habits into a weekly routine.

Tools that make these methods easier

See our guide to online learning tools for students for focus timers, note apps and planners.

A course if you want to go deeper

Learning How to Learn, taught by Barbara Oakley and Terrence Sejnowski on Coursera, covers these ideas in four modules: What is Learning?, Chunking, Procrastination and Memory, and Renaissance Learning and Unlocking Your Potential, including illusions of learning and memory techniques. On 14 October 2026 Coursera showed 4.8 stars from 93,270 reviews and more than 4.19 million learners, and estimated about two weeks at ten hours a week. It is short, practical and built on the same kind of research cited here.

See Learning How to Learn on Coursera →

If speed matters as much as retention, our speed reading courses guide is honest about what those courses can and cannot do. Jim Kwik’s Superbrain program on Mindvalley also teaches memory techniques; read our Superbrain review before paying for it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best way to improve memory for studying?

Test yourself and space your study out. A 2013 review of ten common study techniques rated only two as high utility: practice testing and distributed practice. In practice that means closing the book and recalling what you can, then repeating that a few days apart, rather than rereading the same notes.

Does sleeping after studying help memory?

Yes. Research reviewed in Physiological Reviews in 2013 found that sleep after learning helps the brain consolidate new memories, with slow-wave sleep playing a central role. Studying late and then sleeping short works against you. The CDC recommends 8 to 10 hours for teens aged 13 to 17 and 7 or more for adults.

Is caffeine good for memory?

A little may help, and more does not help more. In a 2014 study, 200 mg of caffeine taken just after studying improved performance on a memory test 24 hours later, and the effect followed an inverted U, so higher doses were not better. The FDA cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally linked to negative effects for most adults. Caffeine late in the day can cost you sleep, which matters more.

How can I improve my memory for an exam in two weeks?

Turn your material into questions, test yourself on all of it in the first few days, and then retest the parts you missed on a shrinking schedule: a few days later, then every day or two in the final week. Keep your sleep regular, especially the last two nights. The two-week plan on this page sets it out day by day.

Can working memory be improved?

Not much, as far as the evidence shows. A 2016 review of brain-training programs found they improve the trained tasks but found little evidence that the gains carry over to other tasks or everyday life. You get more from reducing the load on working memory: write steps down, break material into chunks and work on one thing at a time.

Are memory techniques like the memory palace worth learning?

For lists, names, numbers and vocabulary, yes. In a 2017 study, people with no memory training who practiced the method of loci for six weeks shifted their brain networks toward the pattern seen in memory champions, and the size of that shift predicted their memory gains up to four months later. For understanding concepts, testing yourself and explaining ideas in your own words do more.

Do memory supplements or “brain foods” work for studying?

We do not recommend any, and we do not review supplements. Eat regular meals, drink water and talk to a doctor before taking anything marketed for memory. Sleep, spacing and self-testing have far stronger evidence behind them.

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