I believe this is a bug, but I could very well just be missing something so I apologize in advance if I’m just being thick.
I’ve got an iMac at work and I’m syncing my Work database via iCloud. All is working well, and that database is syncing to my iPad, iPhone, personal MacBook Pro, etc., however my iMac’s inbox is not syncing to the other devices, nor are files I place in the iMac’s inbox showing up in my global inbox on any device.
Am I just misunderstanding how inboxes work? Do they not sync the same way a database does? I’ve ticked the “iMac Inbox” checkbox in the app settings under Sync and on iCloud, but when I go to any other device and try to find that iMac Inbox to sync via iCloud, I only see my Work database, but no iMac inbox.
I hope I’m making sense. Thanks in advance for anyone’s help!
Is anything logged to Windows > Log? Are you able to verify the iCloud sync store successfully (see contextual menu in Preferences > Sync)?
The Global Inbox syncs just as any other database does.
You will not see a separate iMac Inbox. The Global Inbox (or merely Inbox) is always available to sync and is Local in both DEVONthink To Go and DEVONthink on the Mac.
The log is empty:
Yep, everything looks good, I believe:
I’m seeing everything on my iMac, but the “iMac Inbox” just isn’t showing up on other devices under the iCloud sync store:
I did rename the inbox that was on my iMac initially to “iMac Inbox” to differentiate it on different synced devices, but I wonder if that messed it up? Did I accidentally rename my actual “Global Inbox” and now it’s all messed up?
Thanks again for everyone’s help!
Again, the iMac Inbox is not going to show up as a separate importable database on the other devices. The Global Inbox - by whatever name you use - is going to sync to any sync data for other devices’ Global Inboxes.
And if you change the name of the Global Inbox on a Mac and sync to other devices, yes it will propagate to other devices. Here is an example of a name changed in DEVONthink 3 synced to DEVONthink To Go…
Ah, gotcha - makes sense.
So, out of curiosity, why does it allow me to check the box next to it, and then indicates that it “synced”? Is it a local-only inbox?
Why does what allow you to check the checkbox?
Why am I allowed by the DT app to check the checkbox to the left of “iMac Inbox”? Then, the subtext to the right of it says it was synced? Synced with what?
I don’t understand the question.
It allows you to check the checkbox so you can sync the inbox between devices.
And it’s synced to the sync location.
Sorry, I’m terrible at explaining myself. When you said,
I thought you meant that the “iMac Inbox” doesn’t sync at all, and the “Last Synchronization” text below the “iMac Inbox” meant that it was syncing.
Where do the contents of that “iMac Inbox” synchronize to? How do I get access to the “iMac Inbox” on other devices connected to the same sync store in iCloud?
I also tried to sync the global inbox from my iPad, thinking they’d all end up in the same spot, but this is the error I got:
Wait, I’m sorry, I’m an idiot. I figured it out. The Global Inbox syncs everywhere, including the name – and is stored locally on any sync device (other than iOS and iPad OS devices.) You can sync the contents however you choose to any device, but each device doesn’t have it’s own inbox that syncs seperately to all the other devices. I was thinking I’d have to name each inbox like “iMac Inbox”, “MacBook Inbox”, etc. but now I get the point of the Global Inbox! 
Thanks for your patience!
The Global Inbox syncs everywhere, including the name – and is stored locally on any sync device (other than iOS and iPad OS devices.)
“everywhere” as in any sync location you are actively syncing it to.
each device doesn’t have it’s own inbox that syncs seperately to all the other devices.
Kind of… but every copy of DEVONthink or DEVONthink To Go has its own Global Inbox. However, you can choose to sync them to the same location and they will merge their contents (and name).
No worries and you’re welcome 
