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DEVONthink's menus are full of powerful commands. But many of them are also found in its context menus, shown when you Control-click certain elements in the application. This provides quicker access to certain functions, streamlining your experience. As the name implies, the commands are contextual so the available functions depend on what is selected or clicked on. For example, the OCR commands are only shown if an image or PDF document is in your selection. Below is a list of common menu items available in the context menus for documents and windows. Item List These context menu items are commonly shown when you Control-click in an item list. As other interface elements, e.g., the AI > See Also have item lists, you will find many of these commands when you Control-click in them too. New Documents: You will see the Data > New and New from Template commands when using the context menu in the item list of a main window. Add To: Commands in this submenu add the currently selected documents to your Favorites or the Reading List. Apply Rules: Runs a chosen smart rule on selected items matching the location and criteria of the rule. Batch Process: Choose an existing batch processing configuration or open then Batch Process window. Classify to: Classifies the selected item to the best matching group shown in the See Also inspector. If multiple items are selected, this changes to Classify. Convert: This submenu displays options for converting from one file type to another. The options shown here are dependent on the type of file selected. Copy Item Link: Copies a link to the current item. Copy URL: Copies the URL of the selected document to the clipboard. This only appears when one document is selected. Duplicate To: Duplicates the selected item to the group you select from the submenu. Get Info: Opens a popup containing more detailed information about the currently selected file or group. Group Items: Groups multiple selected items in an item list. Label: Changes the label of the selected item. Launch URL: Opens the URL in the selected item's URL field. Hold the ⌥ Option key to choose Launch URL in Background. This keeps DEVONthink in the foreground. Mark: Change the flagged, locked, or read status of the selected item. Merge n Documents: Merges the selected documents. This command only appears when more than one document is selected. Hold the ⌥ Option key to use Merge & Delete n Documents Move Into Database: Moves an indexed item into the database. Use this command with caution as it moves the file from its current location into the internals of your database. It does not copy the file. Move To External Folder: Moves a non-indexed item, e.g., imported or created in DEVONthink, out to an indexed folder in the Finder if located in an indexed group in your database. Move To: Moves the selected item to the group you select from the submenu. Move to Trash: Moves the item to the Trash. Holding the ⌥ Option key changes this to Move All Replicants to Trash to clean up unwanted replicants. Open: Opens the selected item in a separate main window or document window. Open in Tabs: Hold the ⌥ Option key to access Open in Tabs. If the view/edit pane is visible, this opens the selected items in new tabs. If the pane isn't visible, a new document window opens with each selected document in its own tab. Open With: Opens the selected item in an external application. Put Back: Moves an item back to its previous location, if possible, e.g., after trashing, moving, or classifying a document. Rating: Allows you to set a rating, from no stars to five stars. Replicate To: Replicates the selected item to the group you select from the submenu. Remind Me: Adds a due date or clears a reminder from the selected document. Reveal: Shows and selects the selected item in its location in DEVONthink. Send by Email: Attaches the selected item into a draft email, if supported by your email application. Share: Opens the Share menu. Show in Finder: Shows the selected item in the Finder. Be cautious when using this command with imported items. Tags: This submenu offers special commands for automatically adding or removing tags. See the Tagging > Tagging Sources section of the manual for more information. Thumbnails: This submenu allows you to Create, Update, or Remove the thumbnail for a file. Ungroup Items: Ungroups a group, leaving its contents behind. The group is not preserved. PRO Group Similar Items: Groups selected documents into contextually related groups when holding the ⇧ Shift key. Imprinter: Choose an imprint you've defined in Settings > Imprinter to apply it to the current image or PDF. OCR: Choose the output file type and convert to the chosen format via OCR. Recognition: Use AI to process images, including barcode detection, or transcribe media files to text.
Note: These specific commands are only shown when a selection contains files that can be processed by them: Imprinter, OCR, and Recognition. This includes selected groups containing these documents.
Navigate Sidebar New Databases: No matter what section of the Navigate sidebar in which you open the context menu, you will see these commands: New Database, New Encrypted Database, New Revision-Proof Database. This makes it easy to spin up a new database at any time. The commands listed alphabetically below may be seen when opening the context menu in the various sections of this sidebar. Again, the commands are contextual so where you open the menu or what is selected dictates the available commands. For example, the Add to Favorites command logically isn't shown when Control-clicking an item in the Favorites section.
Note: Context menu commands for the other sidebars as well as the inspectors are covered in their respective sections.
Add to Favorites: Add the selected item to the Favorites section. Copy Database Link: Copies the unique URL for the selected database. Close Database: Closes the chosen database. In the case of encrypted databases, the encrypted volume will be ejected as well. Copy Database/Item Link: Copies the unique URL of a selected item or database.. Database Properties: Opens the Database Properties popover for the selected database. Delete Database: Deletes a database. This doesn't have to be the active database. This command also requires confirming the deletion. Empty Trash: Empties the Trash of all open databases. Expand/Collapse All: Opens or closes all the subgroups within a selected group. Get Info: Opens the Generic Info popover for the selected group, including inboxes. Label: Applies a color label to the group, not its contents. Mark: Sets the locked, flagged or read state of the contents of the group. Move to Trash: Moves the selected group to the database's Trash. New Database/revision-Proof/Encrypted: Create a new database of the chosen type. New Feed: Create a new RSS feed in the selected group or database. New Group/Tag: Creates a new group or tag, relative to the selected item. New Smart Group/Smart Rule: Create a new group or Smart rule. New Window: Opens the selected item in a new main window. Rename: Change the name of the chosen database. This can also be done in the Database Properties. Reveal: Display the location of the item and select it in the item list. Show in Finder: Reveal the data in a Finder window. Document Contents The context menu is shown in the view/edit pane for documents provides commands based on whether there is a selection or not. Some commands are also only available when a limited number or words or links are selected in the text. Also, some are relative to the file type, e.g., shown for PDF documents. Format-specific commands are described in their respective sections in the Documents chapter. This includes special item links, like page links. The following alphabetical list covers context menu commands you may see when working with documents in the view/edit pane.
Note: Proprietary formats viewed via QuickLook won't display a context menu unless they support the View > Document Display > Text Alternative view.
Add Link to Reading List: Adds a link to the Reading List. Add Link: Allows you to enter a URL for the selected text, converting the text to an active link. Add tag [word]: Tags the document with the selected word (only available if the word is not already a tag of the document). Capture with Source Link: Opens the Sorter with the selected text and a link to the document. Convert to Item Link: Converts a selected WikiLink into an item link. An alternate command, available when holding the ⌥ Option key, Convert All to Item Links converts all WikiLinks in the current document into item links. These commands only apply to plain text, rich text, and Markdown documents. Copy Link: Copies a clicked link to the clipboard (only available for selected links). Edit Link: Edit or remove the URL of a selected link. Insert Link To: Inserts a link to an item you select in the submenu when no text is selected. Insert Placeholder: Inserts a predefined placeholder or one specified as custom metadata in Settings > Data. Highlight: Highlights the selection with the current highlight color. Using this command on a selection again removes the highlighting. Link To: Converts selected text into a link to a group or document you select in the submenu. Look Up [word]: Looks the selected text up in macOS's Dictionary. Make Link: Converts selected piece into a WikiLink. The destination of the WikiLink is a document with the same name as the selected text. If no document with that name exists, clicking the created link creates it using the template you have set in the Settings > WikiLinks. Open Link in Browser: Opens the selected link in the default browser or application. Open Link in DEVONagent: Opens the selected link in a DEVONagent Pro browser window. Open Link in New Tab: Opens the selected link in a new tab in DEVONthink. Open Link in PhotoStickies: Opens a link in PhotoStickies. Open Link: Opens the selected link. Quick Look Attachments: Opens a QuickLook window for both item links and WikiLinks in plain text, rich text, and Markdown documents. Selecting a text block with multiple links opens a QuickLook window for all detected links. Remove Link: Use this to remove the link status of selected text. Search with Google: Searches for the selected text in Google. Search [word]/Selected Phrase: Searches for the selected word or phrase in your open databases. See Related Text: Displayed like search results, this shows a list of documents related to the selected text passage. This option is only available when more than one word is selected. See [word]: Opens a drawer with documents related to the selected word. Set Name As: Sets the name of the document to the selected piece of text (needs to be less than 256 characters). Services: Displays the macOS Services menu. Share: Shares selected text via the available sharing extensions. PRO Add Link to Downloads: Adds a link to the Download Manager. Summarize via Chat: Opens the Summary and Transform popover for the selected text.