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Quick links: |  | Missing Files Orphaned Files Step 1: Verify & Repair Step 2: Restore from Backup Step 3: Rebuild Your Database Step 4: Recover or Manual Rebuild Step 5: Contact Support

|  |  | Repairing a defective database

DEVONthink databases are packages containing of your files and the supporting AI-based index. In rare cases this index can get corrupted or out-of-sync. But as your files are stored separately, this is not the end of the world. If your database starts behaving strangely, or if DEVONthink finds inconsistencies during start-up, it is time for some housekeeping. First we'll deal with the two common terms you'll see in a repair process: missing and orphaned files. Then we'll give you steps to try and restore some order in your databases. Missing Files All documents in a DEVONthink database have a path the file system where their content file is located. This path is stored for every document, imported or indexed. If DEVONthink can't find a file at a path stored in its index, it will be reported as missing. The most common cause of missing files is indexed files being moved in the Finder, or the indexed parent folder being renamed. In the first case, the file isn't in the location it was indexed from. Moving the file back into place will resolve this issue. In the second case, the path no longer exists as the names in the path have changed. Changing the name back will resolve this. The second most common cause of missing files is people modifying the internal contents of a database. Some Finder replacement applications, like PathFinder, allow you to access package files like normal folders. The internals can also be accessed by other methods, like the command line or the Finder's contextual menu. If you delete or reorganize anything, you can easily cause missing files. Dealing with missing files: Missing files are reported in DEVONthink's Window > Log. To deal with these files, Control-click the item in the Log window and choose one of two options: Reveal: Reveals the item in the expected location in the database. If the View/Edit pane is visible, the expected file path is shown beneath a document thumbnail. This path is especially useful when dealing with missing indexed files as it shows the path in the Finder from which the file was indexed. If the path shows the file inside a Files.noindex directory, you may use the following option if the file is of no concern or contact our support team. Move to Trash: If the missing file is of no value to you, this command moves the file to the database's Trash. Then choose the DEVONthink > Empty Trash command to completely remove the file from the database. Orphaned Files Just as with any database application, controlling the data flow in and out is a critical process. DEVONthink should be the gatekeeper of the files in its databases. If an external agent, whether and application or a user, adds files outside DEVONthink, they will cause an internal inconsistency and lead to orphaned files when following the steps below. The most common cause of orphaned files is a simple and common one: attempting to create revisions. Say you open a file, a Word document, in an external application. As you are reading it, you decide to make some changes. You type your edits, and select File > Save As (or File > Duplicate the file first). The application most commonly will open the Save dialog in the location of the original file, in this case, inside the internals of the database. You have just created an orphaned file DEVONthink knows nothing about. So the question becomes, how do I create a revision without causing this issue? Duplicate: Duplicate the item in DEVONthink first. Rename: Rename the duplicated item. This can be quickly done by immediately pressing ↩ Return, typing the change, then pressing ↩ again. Open and Edit: Now you can open the new file and make your edits. The other common cause is the same as with missing files: getting into the database package and adding files manually.
Note: Modifying the internal contents of a database outside DEVONthink is unsupported behavior and can lead to broken or inconsistent databases. You should only get into a database's internals when instructed to by our support team.
Step 1: Verify & Repair As a first step, use > File > Verify & Repair Database to check your database's consistency and allow DEVONthink to take all necessary steps to repair any discovered problems. This check will include reporting any missing files, as discussed above, and importing any orphaned files. If Verify & Repair Database was able to repair your database, use File > Optimize to optimize your database and have DEVONthink create an internal copy of the index.
Note: Verify & Repair isn't just for emergencies. Running this command on an occasional basis is not a bad idea. In fact, if you're a fairly heavy user of DEVONthink, running it weekly or bi-weekly does no harm. It's just a routine checkup.
If Verify & Repair was not successful or your problems are not resolved, proceed with the next step. Step 2: Restore from Backup DEVONthink keeps up to two copies of the index files in case that the index is damaged beyond repair. To restore the index file(s) from a previously saved internal backup, hold the ⌥ Option key and select File > Restore Backup. DEVONthink presents you with a list of all available backups. Choose the latest one and click Open. This swaps the current set of index files with the chosen backup metadata (the current set of index files becomes the backup, the backup becomes the current set) so that data is never overwritten. Run File > Verify & Repair to check the consistency of this index version and if everything is in the right order use File > Optimize to optimize your database and have DEVONthink create a fresh internal copy of the good index. If the backed-up index files are also defective, try the other backups, if available. If all backups are broken or corrupted, proceed with the next step. Step 3: Rebuild Your Database Since your files and DEVONthink's index are stored independently within the database package, the index can be rebuilt at any time without you losing metadata. However, we generally only suggest this when troubleshooting a database issue. To rebuild the database from scratch, use File > Rebuild Database. During the rebuild process, the index is completely recreated. Your actual files are not touched. Any problems that occur during this process are logged. Also, a new backup metadata set will be created at the beginning of the rebuild. Step 4: Recover or Manual Rebuild If everything above failed, your database is severely damaged. You have basically two options: Time Machine: Restore your database from your Time Machine backup or whichever backup medium you use. If you don't use Time Machine, we strongly advise you to do so. External hard disks are cheap, and Time Machine makes backing up your important files quick and simple. Manual Rebuild: If you find yourself in the unfortunate situation where you have no backups, it may be possible to rebuild your database manually, following these steps: Locate the database (`.dtBase2` file) in the Finder. Rename the file by adding, e.g., an `x`to the beginning of the name. Control-click the database and choose Show Package Contents in the contextual menu. Copy the most recent `backup` folder where your database is located. Copy the `Files.noindex` folder into the copied `Backup` folder. Rename the copied `Backup` folder to the previously used name and add the file extension `.dtBase2`, okaying the extension when prompted. Double-click the new database file to open it in DEVONthink. Use File > Verify & Repair to ensure that the database is operating properly. Step 5: Contact Support If none of the above steps helped solving the problems you have with your database, please contact us with a precise-as-possible description of your problem.
Note: In a worst case scenario, if you do not have a current backup of your documents and a manual rebuild didn't work, you can rescue your files manually, but you will lose any group structure. To manually copy your files from the defective database, show the database package in the Finder, Control-click it, and choose Show package contents from the contextual menu. Copy the files in the `Files.noindex` subfolder, which are sorted by kind, to a safe location, e.g., the desktop. If you want, you can create a new database, re-import the files, but you will have to rebuild the database's structures, tags, etc.