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General

Use the General tab to set the general behavior for the application, e.g., whether to check for updates automatically or keep groups on top when sorting..

General: Set the options for duplicate detection or to enable alarms for reminders.

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    Stricter recognition of duplicates: Check to have DEVONthink mark files as duplicates consider the file type and size, as well as the content, when determining duplicate files.
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    More compatible naming of files: Replaces the characters |<>%?&*" when naming files to improve the compatibility with other filesystems and platforms, e.g., Dropbox or OneDrive. Forward slashes and colons are always replaced as these are reserved by macOS.
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    Enable reminder alarms: Enables or disables using DEVONthink Reminders. This can be set on a per-machine basis.

Annotations: Controls where to save annotation files and whether the annotation file should be moved when the referred file is moved, e.g., when moving the source file to another database.

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    Location: Choose to save newly created annotation files In shared group or In same group. The shared group is an Annotations group in the root of the current database.
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    Move annotations automatically: Enable this to cause annotation files to "follow" their referred files. For example, if you move the source file to another database, the annotation file will be moved to the new database as well

Search scope: Controls where new searches begin searching and the behavior of the Search inspector.

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    Scope Location: Set where toolbar searches should look when a new search is initiated. The options are: Last scope, Current Database, All Databases, and Current Selection.
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    Automatically select search inspector: Enable this to switch to the Search inspector if the view/edit pane and inspectors are already visible when doing a search. This option is enabled by default.

Alerts: Click Reset to make DEVONthink show alerts again that you previously dismissed with "Don't show again" checked.

Check for Updates: Change the settings in this tab to define when you want DEVONthink to check for new versions: never, on startup, daily, weekly, or monthly. DEVONthink only performs checks for updates when the computer is connected to the Internet.

Click Check Now to immediately check for a new version.

Interface

The options control interface behaviors including some of the Navigate sidebar.

Interface: These options control the behavior of the interface, e.g., when double-clicking documents.

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    Double-click opens groups in a new window: This option allows you to open a new window when you double-click a group. If unchecked, the group will be selected and its contents will be replace the file list being currently viewed.
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    Double-click opens documents externally: Check this if you'd like documents to open in an external application when double-clicked. DEVONthink uses the application set as the default application for the file type in the operating system, e.g., TextEdit for RTF documents. If unchecked, any document that can be edited in DEVONthink will be opened in its own window.
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    Click on links opens them externally: Enable opening links in document text in the system default application. Use ⇧-click to open and activate the default application. Note ⌘ or ⌥-clicks can be still used to open links in new tabs or to add them to the Download Manager, respectively.
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    Keep groups on top when sorting: Always display groups at the top of the item list, independent of the sort method, e.g., by Name, by Date Added, etc.
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    Retain view: When enabled, the view settings in the current main window, e.g., Icons in Widescreen, override the view settings of other groups or databases. If a change is made to the current view, that change will persist when switching. If no changes are made, the previous view settings will be restored after disabling this option.
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    Document windows prefer fullscreen: When enabled, while viewing a fullscreen main window, document windows opened from it will be opened in fullscreen as well.
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    Automatically reveal items: Enable this to reveal the currently displayed item in the item list, for example when switching between document tabs in a main window.
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    Enable tabbed browsing: When checked, click with ⌘ Command pressed a link in web, PDF or text views to open it in a new tab. When unchecked or the ⌘ modifier key isn't pressed, documents are opened in the same view, in the default application or in new windows. Check Always show tab bar if you'd like to view the document title in a tab bar when only one document is open.

Sidebar: These options toggle the unification of items in the Navigate sidebar as well as the ability to navigate it via keyboard.

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    Automatically expand & collapse: Check this to automatically show the sidebar when revealing an item or opening a group in a new window.
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    Keyboard Navigation: Enables keyboard navigation with typing selection, and arrow key hoisting of groups in the Navigate sidebar.
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    Unify Databases: When enabled, navigate the groups of the root of all open databases in the Open Databases section of the Navigate sidebar. When disabled, the groups of the root of the active database are displayed in an active database section in the sidebar. This allows isolating the groups of a database. The active database will have an asterisk to the left of the name.
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    Unify inboxes: Display the inboxes of open databases only in the Globals section of the Navigate sidebar. When disabled, the inbox will be displayed in the item list for the current database.
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    Unify tags: Display the Tags group of open databases only in the Globals section of the Navigate sidebar. When disabled, the Tags group will be displayed in the item list for the current database
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    Dock: Specify what items to count and display on the badge on DEVONthink's dock icon: Number of new items, Number of unread items, or Number of unread news.

Appearance

These options control the look of some parts of the interface.

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    Alternating row colors in views: Check to color every second row in item lists differently.
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    Display number of items inside groups: Check to show the number of documents in groups. In the sidebar, the total number of items in the group is shown. News feeds will show the number of unread items. In the item list, this shows the number of unread and total documents contained in a group. For example, "2/10" shows there are two unread documents out of ten total documents.
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    Highlight Internet links in views: Check to show bookmarks in the item list and links in documents marked in blue and underlined.
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    Mark duplicates and replicants in color: Check to highlight duplicates marked in blue and replicants marked in red in most views. When unchecked, duplicates and replicants display a property icon to the right of a document's name.
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    Show filename extensions: Check this if you prefer to see the file type's extension at the end of filenames.
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    Use dark background for documents: When enabled, compatible documents, e.g., rich text, will display white text on a black field when using macOS' dark mode. When disabled, documents will display normally.

Labels: Choose how you would like labels to be shown in lists.

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    Classic: Tints the group/document icon (like on Mac OS 9).
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    Modern: Puts the group/document name in a colored bubble (like on older versions of OS X).
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    Dots: Shows a colored dot in the list (like on macOS).
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    As flags: Displays a colored dot in the Flag column of the item list in List or Columns view or to the left of an item's name in Icon view.

View Text Size: set the font size used in the item list and the contents of sheets in table view.

Sidebar Text Size: Set the font size DEVONthink uses in the sidebars.