Problem with duplicates when syncing

I have an indexed folder (in iCloud and indexed by DT on my iMac) which is then synchronised to my MB Air.

It seems to be duplicating files and folders on the Air, which then of course syncs back and replicates the duplicates on the iMac.

If I delete the second version of the duplicate in DT, it doesn’t affect the original iCloud folder or file.

Am I right in assuming that the indexing only takes place on the iMac and is not also done on the MB Air (because the same iCloud folder exists on the Air)?

Any ideas what I might be doing wrong, or can change to prevent the duplicates?

No, that is not correct. If the database is indexed on one machine, the other Mac also has indexed files.

  • What version of DEVONthink and macOS are you running?

  • What is your Preferences > Sync > Conflicts set to?

Hi - thanks for replying.

Re the indexing on another machine, I probably phrased that incorrectly :upside_down_face: I meant does the indexing ‘rule’ itself get replicated if the indexed folder also exists on the other machine (i.e. iMac I index Folder A in iCloud. MB Air also has the folder in iCloud - does DT on the Air index that folder?)

My version on the Macs is 3.8.5, and Monterey on both, v12.5

I think the question re DT sync prefs might help - I’ve now changed all to ‘Latest’ rather than ‘Duplicate’…

Yes, on both machines the “pointers” to the indexed files will be to the location on the local disk where the iCloud files exist. Remember iCloud is a sync service. DEVONthink does not point to the iCloud server locations–points to the local location. So if the local location (full path name) is exactly the same on both machines and the file exists (i.e. not “online-only”), then when you click in a file in DEVONthink on either machine, it will load the file. When you update the index on either machine, DEVONthink looks to the local location, not the server in the cloud.

Synching just “syncs” the databases between the connected devices, including the indexed “pointers” to the files on the “local” (not server) versions of the files.

Hope I’m explaining this adequately.

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@rmschne covered things nicely!

Let me know if the change to Latest clears up the issue.

Hi. I thought I had cleared the issue by using the suggestions here (i.e. ensuring every device used latest document when syncing, rather than duplicating), but it seems that my MB Air database isn’t doing that (I’ve checked and the latest document option is checked).

I created a folder on my iMac. Syncs everywhere fine, but on my MB Air, it creates it twice (see screenshot). Any help appreciated :slight_smile: