How to restart from scratch without loosing documents

DEVONthink
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Hello,

I’ve been using Devonthink for years and my databases are more than messy : ill specified groups, wrongs tagging, etc…

Is there a way to “copy” only the files and documents of a database without the groupings and other unwanted “enrichments” and start adding these according to a new “plan” ?

Thank you

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You could make a smart group set to find Kind is Any Document. That would give you a flat list of all your documents.

Click any file in that new smart group, Command-A, right click and duplicate to a your new database. That would get you a list of files.

Devonthink works fine with duplicate file names, so that wouldn’t be a problem.

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Thank you, I will have a go on one of my smaller database to check how this works for me :+1:

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Considering just copying all the documents into a new database will lead to the need to locate and group things in the receiving database, as well as weed out unwanted documents, I recommend this approach …

  1. Make sure your primary local backups are current. (This is a general admonition as well.)
  2. Create a new database.
  3. In the existing database, locate something you know you want, whether that’s a group or documents.
  4. Move them into the new database, carefully curating the new one from the contents of the old. In the end, you will have a much more well-formed database with much fewer extraneous items. And yes, you could copy them as well. That’s your decision.
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Before you attack this problem, especially with the move rather than copy approach, I suggest that you duplicate your existing (cluttered) database. Rename the duplicate to indicate it as an ARCHIVE. As needed, put the database into a ZIP archive, and put a copy of the ZIP archive on an external drive.

Consider the archive as your read-only safety net.

–
JJW

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Even before before, I’d ask myself “this is a mess, but does it really matter”. Search in DEVONthink is so excellent that if something exists in the database, it can be found. Personally, i think going back to the beginning with an old database that has grown hairy is a waste of my time.

(We seem to have a lot of readers here recently who want to redo old databases. Is this a sign of the times?)

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I’ve noticed same. There is something in our DNA I guess which just makes us want our 21st Century computer filing system be just like paper file drawers and cabinets which for eons we lived with, made careers with, et. al. Probably how the project management teams for the Pyramids did it. Have no other explanation.

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Indeed, similar discussions have come up on this forum many times—and I completely understand the sentiment. I used to be (and to some extent still am) one of those people who felt the urge to “restart” or reorganize everything: databases, folders, documents. If things weren’t in perfect order, I would even feel a subtle sense of guilt. More often than not, this turned into a form of productive procrastination.

A key realization for me came from Atomic Habits by James Clear: organizing and researching is “being in motion,” whereas producing something meaningful is “taking action.” And ultimately, it’s action that matters.

Looking back, I can clearly see that I often spent more time organizing my system than actually using it—for reading, writing, or thinking. Recognizing this pattern helped me step away from the need for constant restructuring.

Another important insight was that I could easily spend my entire life trying to perfectly organize all the digital information I encounter—and it would still never be enough. There will always be more to capture, refine, and optimize.

So my approach shifted. Inspired, in a way, by Alan Watts, I’ve tried to let go of the need for total control. Instead of forcing a rigid structure, I now rely more on DEVONthink’s strengths—search, AI, and flexible organization—to support me when I actually need something.

Rather than continuously maintaining a “perfect” system, I focus on using the tool to produce meaningful outcomes in real life. And paradoxically, that shift has made the whole system feel much lighter—and far more useful.

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A very mature, healthy, and mind-easing methodology we would also encourage. :heart: :slight_smile:

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Well done, @anton . Should be posted on the DEVONthink box top. (The virtual one :slight_smile: )

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Quoted for truth.

Digital storage space is cheap. Digital search tools are powerful. Reorganizing “current” files sometimes helps me understand how they relate to each other, but reorganizing archives is rarely worth the bother.

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Je ne pensais pas que ma question susciterait autant de remarques…:wink: et commentaires. Une de mes motivations vient de ce qu’au cours du temps je n’ai pas porté mes documents de façon consistante, que je sais que je conserve des éléments qui n’ont plus aucun intérêt mais qu’une recherche sur date simplement ou des éléments de contenu ne donne pas la réponse. Donc tout remettre à plat me semble une solution de départ pour certaines données, mais je ne prétendrais pas que ce soit une solution pour beaucoup.

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If you do not get the search results you expect (that’s what I understood from your French post), it would perhaps be beneficial to attack that problem. Instead of starting over again and perhaps running into the same issue later on.

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