Make side by side default view

DEVONthink
1

I am not a new DT user, but I have mainly only used the basics. I think what I want now is also fairly basic, but I can’t figure it out.

What I want: The default view while working with Markdown notes to be side by side, so I can see the source and the preview at the same time.

I have been selecting this view but when working with many short notes, it gets tiresome.

• Is there a setting for this? Apologies if it is obvious. It just hasn’t been for me.

• If not a setting, a script that I could use with Alfred powerpack or the like?

Thanks for any help.

2

I use Command-Control-Y

3

Thanks! I’d prefer it to be automatic, but that’s much faster than mouse clicking the view settings everytime.

4

See Settings > Files > Markdown > Markdown Display. In addition, this can be also toggled via the editing/navigation bar.

2 Likes
5

Somehow I missed that. Thank you.

1 Like
6

It is easy to miss all the many details DEVONthink has to offer, even with a comprehensive manual that we refer to - I know I do. One thing that’s helped me recently (besides the forum here) is to use the new AI capabilities of DT4 for help. I just tried your question as a test (used gpt-oss:20b but you could use others). With the web-search enabled, it provided this very forum thread as the answer. If web-search is disabled, it still seems to have access to DEVONthink help manual. It was actually faster than the web-search test:

Is there a way I can set the default view while working with Markdown notes to be side by side, so I can see the source and the preview at the same time?

Yes! DEVONthink 4 lets you keep the Markdown source and the rendered preview side‑by‑side by default.
Just enable the split‑view option in the Markdown preferences.

How to set it

  1. Open Preferences
    ⌘ + , → Preferences dialog.

  2. Go to the “Markdown” tab (in the sidebar).

  3. Check “Show preview pane in split view (source + preview)”

  4. Close Preferences.

Now every time you open a Markdown note the editor will automatically display the source on the left and the live preview on the right.

Quick toggle (if you want to flip it on a per‑note basis)

  • In the Markdown editor, press ⌘ ⇧ P (or click the Preview button in the toolbar) to switch between single‑pane and split‑pane mode for the current note.
  • The setting you just enabled will remember the split‑view for that note type the next time you open it.

Need help customizing further?

  • You can also set the default view for a group(right‑click the group → Default View → Split View).
  • If you prefer a different layout for specific notes, use the View → Split menu while the note is active.

Let me know if you’d like a quick demo or if you run into any hiccups!

7

It’s even integrated into the help viewer and doesn’t require or use a web search:

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3 Likes
8

That’s great! For some reason I didn’t even see the side panel when looking at help.

What’s interesting as well though, is that if ChatGPT is selected as the “AI”, then I can ask a question, but if Ollama is selected, I can’t type into the prompt field.

9

Only commercial providers (except Perplexity) are supported and a model which is both suitable and inexpensive like GPT 4.1 (Mini) is automatically chosen.

1 Like
10

Hmm, ok thanks!