Take Control of DEVONthink 4

Version 1.4, updated June 30, 2026

DEVONthink 4 offers a slew of features for defeating information overload, but mastering its power is easier with real-world advice from DEVONthink power user Joe Kissell. He helps you understand the best ways to put information into DEVONthink and how to organize it so you can find it later. He also covers syncing DEVONthink databases among your Apple devices and using DEVONthink To Go for iPhone and iPad.

DEVONthink 4 is an incredibly powerful information-management app that can function as anything from a simple snippet keeper and note-taker through a massive database for a complex research project. It has a wealth of document processing, organization, and searching tools that go far beyond the Mac's Finder, and it can create many types of documents from scratch as well as importing data in numerous ways. All these features give you unprecedented control over your data. They also mean DEVONthink is a lot to wrap your head around!

This book—created in partnership with DEVONtechnologies—helps you get started with DEVONthink by acquainting you with not only its interface and major features but also its philosophy. You'll learn how to approach the tasks you may want to accomplish, which features might serve you best (and which you might want to ignore), and how to develop a workflow that makes sense given your needs and preferences. 

You’ll also learn how to extend your DEVONthink experience beyond your main Mac with detailed coverage of the many ways you can sync DEVONthink databases to other Macs, and to iPhones and iPads using the DEVONthink To Go app.

The book covers newly added DEVONthink 4 features, such as versioning, revision-proof databases, PDF bookmarking, and (optionally in the Pro and Server versions) extensive support for generative AI, plus user interface changes (including significantly reworked inspectors).

After covering essential DEVONthink vocabulary and concepts, Joe helps you start using DEVONthink effectively. You'll learn how to:

• Decide how many databases you need and set them up

• Determine whether to input or index data

• Import data from many different apps

• Import data from a scanner, including OCR options

• Use grouping and tagging to organize data

• Add and work with DEVONthink 4's extensive metadata capabilities

• Use simple (and sophisticated) techniques for searching

• Create smart groups that automatically gather newly imported data

• Use smart rules and AppleScript or JavaScript to automate countless activities within DEVONthink

• Create documents in plain text, HTML, Markdown, and more

• Edit documents in DEVONthink (or externally)

• Find the best way to sync DEVONthink data with other devices

• Work with reminders, smart templates, and other sophisticated tools

• Convert documents between formats

• Chat with your documents using your favorite large language model (LLM)

• Effectively use the DEVONthink To Go iPhone/iPad app

• Share DEVONthink documents with other people

• Export documents from DEVONthink

• Back up and maintain healthy databases

Questions answered in the book include:

• What is DEVONthink good for, and what should be left to other apps?

• What kinds of data can I import? (Short answer: Nearly everything!)

• How can I display my data in a way that works well for me?

• When I import documents from different sources, where do they end up, and why?

• Is it better to sort imported documents right away, or leave them for later?

• Should I group my data, tag it, or both?

• What are duplicates and replicants, and how can I tell them apart?

• Which types of data can be created or edited within DEVONthink?

• How do I make my DEVONthink database accessible via the web using DEVONthink Server?

• How do I move documents out of DEVONthink using the Share feature?

• How do I use DEVONthink To Go on my iPhone/iPad?

• How excited/skeptical should I be about these new AI features?