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The DEVONtechnologies Blog

Articles in the category Tips

How to Clip Better in DEVONthink

September 1, 2026

Reader view of a bookmark in DEVONthink

We all spend a lot of time on the Internet and clip content into our DEVONthink databases regularly. But web clipping is not trivial, especially as technologies change. In DEVONthink 4.4 Tycho we made this a lot better. (more)

How to Use DEVONthink's Dock Icon

August 25, 2026

Screenshot showing the context menu of DEVONthink's dock icon.

An application’s icon is typically considered as just something to click on to launch it. However, many developers add information and commands to the context menu of an app’s Dock icon, and DEVONthink is no exception. Here is a quick overview of what you’ll find there. (more)

How to Use a 3-2-1 Backup

August 18, 2026

Screenshow showing Time Machine in the macOS menu bar, displaying backup progress and schedule.

One of those topics we often talk about in support and on our forums is being diligent about backups. At a minimum, an external hard drive and Time Machine are much better than no backups. But a more robust option is the 3-2-1 backup strategy. Here we explain what that is and how you could do it. (more)

How to Replace Text with a Batch Process

August 11, 2026

Screenshot showing the find and replace action in a batch process configuration in DEVONthink.

Batch processing is a simple type of automation in DEVONthink that you can use to quickly make changes to multiple items at once. One useful action is text replacement. Here’s how you can use that. (more)

How to Use a Conditional Automation

August 4, 2026

Screenshot showing the input field for the Chat - Continue if smart action in the batch process editor in DEVONthink.

The Pro and Server editions of DEVONthink have a specialized action for smart rules and batch processes called Chat – Continue if, that uses external AI to determine if a process should continue. Here is how to create conditional automations with it. (more)

Comparing Apple Vision and OCR

July 28, 2026

Screenshot of the Data menu in DEVONthink, where the OCR action is selected.

When creating searchable documents from images or PDF documents in DEVONthink Pro or Server, there are two mechanisms that process them: Apple’s Vision framework or traditional OCR. While seemingly similar in output, there are important differences between them. (more)

How to Use Zen Mode in DEVONthink To Go

July 21, 2026

View Options in DEVONthink To Go highlighting Zen mode

If you frequently read in DEVONthink To Go and prefer reading in fullscreen view, things just got better with its new distraction-free Zen mode. We show you how to use it. (more)

How to Use Local AI in DEVONthink To Go

July 14, 2026

Screenshot showing the server settings of LM Studio, so it can be accessed on the network.

When using AI on mobile devices, you typically access cloud services like. You can’t run a full local model on an iPhone today, but you can run one on your Mac and connect DEVONthink To Go to it. Here is how that works. (more)

How to Create a New Account on Your Mac

July 7, 2026

Screenshot showing the macOS dialogue for creating a new user account.

When you get a new Mac, your user account gets set up for day-to-day use. But adding a second user account has some real benefits. And while it may sound complicated, it is straightforward to do. Here we show you how to do this and why. (more)

How DEVONthink Keeps You in Control

June 30, 2026

Screenshot showing DEVONthink’s smart rule editor, showing a smart rule that uses the On Demand event trigger.

You might assume that apps will do certain things automatically. However, many decisions are yours to make, not the app’s. We prefer clear opt‑in controls rather than hidden opt‑outs. Here are a few optional things that are up to your control in DEVONthink or DEVONthink To Go. (more)