Devonthink takes up 2GB of RAM at idle

I have a database of mostly email imports that consists of a total count of 171k items at about 9.1GB in size. Just having DT open this db makes it sit at 2GB of ram with no operations.
My ideal was to be able to import all of my data into DT and search whenever I needed it but this is unworkable. Is there anything I can do to optimize this?

You might check whether Tools > Backup & Optimize or emptying the cache will reduce the memory usage. But don’t expect any significant improvement as DEVONthink’s index is quite complex and therefore requires a lot of RAM.

Confirming Christian’s advice - backup and optimize can significantly reduce the memory footprint of DT, and also reduce pace of the constant upward creep in memory that DT seems to do even if idle for hours.

If feasible, consider breaking your database into multiple smaller databases, and opening only the databases that are relevant to the immediate tasks at hand. I have dozens of databases “favorited” in the sidebar and keep all but a few closed.

Backup and Optimize did not reduce it. The only problem is I frequent this data quite a bit so I need access to all of it. The whole point of using this product would be to have a single search identify items across files/emails etc. It would defeat the whole purpose if I had to open and close multiple databases and repeat my search. I would be better off using spotlight.

Is it possible that if I broke up the single db into 4 smaller db’s but kept them open it would help reduce the memory usage?

Breaaking up a single large database into smaller databases, then opening all of them concurrently, will not reduce the memory footprint.

However, I do find it advantageous to break up my collections of references into topically=designed databases. That lets me maintain free RAM headroom for the databases that I normally keep open, so that procedures run quickly. Also importantly, that improves the focus of searches and See Also suggestions in most cases.

I can assemble sets of open databases for any purpose, rather like information Lego blocks.

And, of course, I could run a Sportlight search that would cover the entire set of databases.

So I get the benefits of working in the richer DEVONthink environment, which unifies the information content of documents with differeing filetypes, and provides assistance for classifying new content and helps me explore ideas via See Also.

Or possibly a product designed specifically to manage mail archives that’s capable of handling larger ones like yours (and ideally integrate with DT, if necessary for your purposes).

How do you list the databases in the favorite section in the sidebar?
thanks
Kim

Open the database, right-click on a database in the Sidebar (under ‘Open Databases’) and select ‘Add To Favorites’.

Thanks Greg
Kim