Hello, I am a longtime user of Devonthink. Due to an error on Apple’s part, my iCloud purchases and media account has been disabled. As a result, I am unable to pay them for my iCloud storage. I am trying to retrieve all of my data so that I can transfer it to a new Apple ID I have set up.
My question is: Where are our iCloud databases located? I am trying to download them but I cannot find them. And if they are “stuck” in iCloud limbo, is there any way of retrieving them? I am afraid I have lost the past two years of my research data, ever since I stopped syncing with Dropbox and switched to iCloud, and I am panicking.
Thank you,
AMAngelo
Why are you trying to download your databases? They aren’t stored in the cloud of any kind. Your databases are local to the device, both Mac and mobile.
Also, do you not have proper backups?
Thank you for your reply. I’m very confused. I thought they are synced for backup to iCloud. Where on the device would I locate them? I go into my home folder–> databases and there is nothing there.
You’re welcome.
It is well known and often discussed, sync is not a backup.
Do a Spotlight search for kind:database name:dtbase2.
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When I do that search, all that comes up are databases that were backed up to Dropbox in 2022. My ‘current’ databases, even ones that are open in the DEVONthink program right now, do not appear.
If the databases are “open in DEVONthink” why would you be trying to download them?
Also, you can see the location for open databases via the File > Database Properties for each one.
I take that back. The only database that is open right now is the Inbox.
I may not have phrased it well to start with as the issue is evolving and it’s upsetting, but: I am trying to locate my DEVONthink databases on my computer, and I cannot locate them. I believe that this may be related to an ongoing loss of iCloud access. If it’s not, then that’s great, but if it is I need to figure out an urgent solution. I thought they were normally located in the Databases folder in my home folder but there is nothing there.
I thought they were normally located in the Databases folder in my home folder but there is nothing there.
That is the default save location but you can save to other locations, including external drives.
I believe that this may be related to an ongoing loss of iCloud access.
Is your Mac now signed into a new Apple ID?
My Mac is signed in to the old Apple ID, but I did recently remove my DEVONthink license (as I was preparing to move all my apps to my new Apple ID), but I then reinstated the license in order to back up the databases, which now do not appear.
Good to know but it actually wouldn’t have any real bearing on the situation. Many people may not know it but there’s no requirements to be signed into any Apple ID at all.
And not finding your databases would have nothing to do with the Apple/iCloud situation. Your databases do not – and could not – be stored in iCloud. So there are no “iCloud databases”.
What is shown in the File > Open Recent menu?
Firstly, thank you so much. What appears are my recent databases, but when I click on any of them, my computer dings in error and nothing happens.
Thus my thinking that it might be related to my ongoing iCloud issue, as I can’t think of any other reason why they would just disappear. At any rate, I’ve tried searching Spotlight and cannot find them. I don’t know if I should perhaps reindex Spotlight, or if there’s some other way to find their location.
Thankfully I have now located my most recent backups on an external drive, which are from December, but I’m not sure where any updates I had made since them were saved.
I am in fact getting notifications that this has to do with cloud storage (attached).
You’re welcome!
Those errors have to do with syncing, not your databases. And they’re almost certainly due to the issues you have with your old Apple ID.
Did you have your databases stored on another external drive?
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No, I do not use an external drive in daily use, only for backups (and sadly I’ve learned my lesson that I need to back up much more frequently than I had been doing). But it’s odd that I had those databases open without the external drive plugged in. It suggests that they were also saved somewhere on my Mac’s hard drive, but for the life of me, I can’t locate where.
Hold the Option key and choose Help > Report bug to start a support ticket.
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