How to Get Duolingo Hearts Back and Remove Ads: Guide
Search "how to get Duolingo hearts back and remove ads" and you'll find posts promising a hidden switch or workaround. There isn't one. Duolingo has been phasing out Hearts in favor of a new resource system called Energy, and ad-free access shows up in Duolingo's own materials only as part of a paid subscription.
Here's the short version: you can recover Hearts or Energy through several documented free options, but the sources cited in this guide don't describe a free way to disable the ads that appear at the end of lessons. There's also no confirmed way to switch an Energy-based account back to Hearts on your own.
Duolingo describes Energy as a "learning-power" system meant to replace Hearts, the old setup where free users lost one heart per mistake (Duolingo blog, July 2025). At the time the company announced it, Energy was only live for "a small number of users," so Duolingo itself wasn't claiming a finished rollout (Duolingo blog, July 2025). In the Duolingo materials cited here, ad-free learning is documented as a Super or Max benefit (Duolingo blog, December 2024).
This guide covers how to check which system your account has, the legitimate free options for stretching your lessons, and what's actually confirmed about removing ads.
Do you have Hearts or Energy right now?
Open a lesson and look at the meter at the top. A Hearts-based account shows a small heart icon capped at five, while an Energy-based account shows a longer bar, since a full Energy bar equals 25 units instead of five hearts (The Verge, May 2025).
That size difference matters because Energy doesn't drain the way Hearts did. Under Hearts, only mistakes cost you anything. Under Energy, completing an exercise costs one unit on its own, and a mistake costs an additional unit on top of that (The Verge, May 2025). It's a different math problem, not just a rebrand.
As for who has which system, the available reporting suggests access was assigned through a staged rollout rather than anything tied to your device or settings. As of May 2025, The Verge reported the change rolling out on iOS first, with Android planned for later that year, and noted that the same person could see Hearts on Android and Energy on iOS at the same time, with no syncing between the two (The Verge, May 2025). That's a snapshot from over a year ago, and nothing in the record confirms the rollout finished. Check your own app instead of assuming your operating system decides anything today.
Can you switch Duolingo Energy back to Hearts?
Duolingo described Energy as a replacement for Hearts, but the cited materials do not document a user-controlled opt-out or reversal process.
You'll find posts online claiming that reinstalling the app, rolling back to an older version, or changing your account's region brings Hearts back. The supplied sources don't document independent testing of those methods. If you try one and it appears to work, that's not proof it will work for anyone else, since staged rollouts can vary by account for reasons Duolingo hasn't published.
How to get Duolingo hearts back (or Energy) for free
Three refill options are documented for both systems, though your app may not surface every option for every account:
- Watch a rewarded ad to earn back some Energy or Hearts when you're running low (Duolingo blog, July 2025; The Verge, May 2025).
- Spend Gems, Duolingo's in-app currency, for an instant full refill instead of waiting (Duolingo blog, July 2025).
- Wait it out. Both Hearts and Energy recharge fully in roughly a day (Duolingo blog, July 2025).
Duolingo's public materials don't spell out today's exact tap sequence for reaching these options, and app interfaces shift between versions. Skip hunting for a specific button and instead tap your resource meter at the top of a lesson, or watch for the low-resource prompt that pops up once Hearts or Energy run low. Either one is the most reliable way to see which refill options your account currently offers, rather than following instructions written for an older version of the app.
If your account is still on the Hearts system, one more mechanic applies specifically to it: after five mistakes, you have to complete a practice lesson before earning a heart back, rather than just waiting or watching an ad (Duolingo blog, December 2024).
If you're on Energy, two additional levers apply, and the sourcing behind them is worth keeping separate rather than treating them as one confirmed mechanic. Reviewing your missed answers at the end of a lesson doesn't cost any Energy, so it's free practice no matter what your meter shows (Duolingo blog, July 2025). Beyond that, Duolingo says consecutive correct answers can restore Energy, while The Verge reported separately that completing multiple lessons correctly in a row earns extra Energy at a randomized rate (Duolingo blog, July 2025; The Verge, May 2025). Those two descriptions may be the same mechanic seen from different angles, or two distinct reward triggers; neither source ties them together explicitly.
Duolingo's stated reason for the switch is that beginners were twice as likely to run out of Hearts mid-lesson under the old system, and that internal data shows Energy helps more learners finish lessons (Duolingo blog, July 2025). A Duolingo senior staff engineer told The Verge that engagement metrics rose "a lot more" under Energy, framing the shift as rewarding correct answers instead of punishing mistakes (The Verge, May 2025). That's company-reported data, not an independent audit, so weigh it accordingly.
Can you remove Duolingo ads for free?
In the Duolingo materials cited here, ad-free learning is documented as a Super or Max benefit, and none of the sources describe a free setting or workaround that disables the standard ads at the end of lessons.
Watching a rewarded ad restocks your Energy or Hearts. The cited sources distinguish those refill ads from the end-of-lesson ads that Super subscribers get to skip (Duolingo blog, December 2024). Those are two different ad experiences serving two different purposes, easy to conflate if you're only skimming for a shortcut.
What the paid tiers confirm is more concrete. Super Duolingo subscribers skip the ads at the end of lessons and get unlimited Hearts or Energy, depending on which system their account runs (Duolingo blog, December 2024; The Verge, May 2025). A Duolingo spokesperson told The Verge that both Super and Max subscribers get unlimited Energy the same way they previously got unlimited Hearts (The Verge, May 2025).
Duolingo Max has been described as Super's benefits plus two AI features, Video Call and Roleplay (Duolingo blog, 2023). That description predates the Energy rollout by roughly two years, so confirm what Max currently includes and costs in your own app before comparing it to Super.
Family plans and free trials have existed for Super in the past. Duolingo's 2022 launch announcement mentioned a family plan allowing up to five people on one Super account and a two-week free trial before billing started (Duolingo blog, 2022). Those specifics are several years old, and pricing, trial length, or member limits can change. Check your app's subscription screen for what's currently offered rather than relying on either of these older figures.
Hearts and Energy options at a glance
The details above boil down to four questions readers usually search for. Here's what the cited evidence actually supports for each one:
| Goal | Documented option | Limitation |
|---|---|---|
| Restore Hearts | Rewarded ad, Gems, natural recharge, or a practice lesson after five mistakes | Applies to the Hearts system described in the cited Duolingo materials |
| Restore Energy | Rewarded ad, Gems, natural recharge, or reported gameplay rewards | Exact reward triggers differ between Duolingo's and The Verge's reporting |
| Switch Energy back to Hearts | No documented user-controlled method | Reinstall, downgrade, and region-change claims are unverified |
| Remove standard ads | Super or Max subscription | Current pricing and terms must be checked in-app |
What to do now
Open the app and check your resource meter before doing anything else. A small heart icon capped at five means you're still on the old system; a longer bar out of 25 units means you're on Energy.
To keep learning for free, use the documented refill options above rather than searching for a workaround: watch a rewarded ad, spend Gems, or wait roughly a day for a full recharge. If ads at the end of lessons are the real issue, the sources reviewed here don't document a free method for disabling them. Check your app's subscription screen for current Super and Max pricing, trial terms, and family-plan details, since those figures have changed before and can change again.
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