Hi, am having a bit of bother getting the sync accurate… Im syncing multiple databases using iCloud (I know…!), and a few files and one group just won’t sync. I can create new items in DTTG and they appear on DT3, but the group I created on DT3 didn’t appear in DTTG. Nothing in log either. How do I reset it and force a sync on both? There may be other inconsistencies Im unaware of, so keen to ensure I have an accurate sync across both. Do you think iCloud could be the cause? If I were to move to another cloud sync what would be the first choice for reliability? I was using bonjour, but quickly realised that it didn’t work for me as devices usually in different locations… Grateful for any pointers. Thanks.
Anything in the “DEVONthink Manual” for Troubleshooting sync of use? What suggestions there have you tried that did not help?
Thanks. I had read through, but couldn’t get it to work. Then I thought I would enable the bonjour as well as CloudKit Sync… That sorted it all… Just hope that when Im away from the network cloudKit sync will keep it all in order.
I presume Bonjour syncs all open databases only? Hence the option to open closed databases automatically?
Thanks
That is my understanding. I have never been sceptical enough about the setting to test it, though.
As reported here by other users of Apple’s CloudKit for synching, some experience the gamut of working perfectly all the time, to some of the time, or never able to get it working. I suspect only Apple knows for sure why this the case, but many theories are discussed “on the internet” about CloudKit unreliability for many other apps. Sigh.
Unless there is someone at the location of the “server” (home or office) needed the synced data, I find this not an issue. All changes I make while “on-the-go” catch up when I return. Or I also have running Dropbox for just one database to be possible to retrieve something not downloaded. That a rare need for me, actually. My iOS devices do not have unlimited space and sometimes using download bandwidth is expensive.
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To clarify: DEVONthink will not sync all open databases just because they’re open. And DEVONthink will never sync a closed database.
Hence the option to open closed databases automatically?
That setting just tells DEVONthink whether to open a database when a device needs to sync with it. If it’s disabled, the client device will see Log messages about the specific database being unavailable.
Do you think iCloud could be the cause?
Based on you saying (I know…!), I’d suspect you know the answer to this.
If I were to move to another cloud sync what would be the first choice for reliability?
As has been discussed often, there is no 100% bullet-proof solution. We also don’t advocate for any cloud service, but Dropbox has been more reliable over time.
I was using bonjour, but quickly realised that it didn’t work for me as devices usually in different locations
The devices being in different geographic locations does not mean you need a remote sync option unless…
- The two Macs are in separate locations with no (real) possibility of being in the same geographic location. For example, you may have mountains or an ocean between the locations. Or if you have two desktop Macs, it’s not likely you’d unplug and transport it to another location.
- You have a person in the other location needing frequent updates to the database.
- You are using a shallow sync. While you’re off your network, you’d need to access the contents to download them on demand.
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After years of flawless sync via iCloud, I’m also experiencing trouble in the last few days, very similar to what is described here. New files added to DEVONthink To Go sync to the Mac and iPad, but not the other way around. Since I do all my adding on DTTG and sorting in DT for Mac, I did not notice for a while, but now it’s all messed up.
On my iPhone I deleted the DTTG app and downloaded everything from scratch and this resulted in the same non-synchronized state that DTTG was before. So this makes me think that DTTG is up to date with iCloud and DT on the Mac is not syncing properly, just getting new files from DTTG, but not propagating changes to DTTG.
Curiously, the last DevonThinkToGo Update mentioned something in this direction:
“in race circumstances old sync configurations from DEVONthink To Go 2.x were surfaced again”, but maybe that’s a coincidence and it’s just iCloud having an issue.
Just wanted to say that I logged into this discourse for the first time since long ago to find your 4d old thread. You are not alone.
I don’t want to setup bonjour again, but if that’s what it takes… it’s painful and I don’t have time for this. 
Edit: So I went ahead and synced the Mac and iPad via Bonjour once which did work (but also created many duplicates due to merge sync, but this was expected as the databased had diverged). Now Mac and iPad were in sync. Disabling bonjour again, enabling iCloud brings me back to the old problem. Changes from iPad are synced to Mac but not the other way around. It seems like the Mac can’t write to the iCloud storage.
Edit2: Further experiments confirm that changes from DTTG sync to other instances of DTTG and to DT but no changes from DT sync to iCloud at the moment. It works via Bonjour, so it’s an DT to iCloud problem that is not in DTTG.
Glad you are going now. Meantime, for others who might need a pointer to make Bonjour simple to setup, see:
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Let me clarify: bonjour sync is simple and efficient. It would be the go to method if the 4 devices that I sync would not constantly move around. In my case it is way to much manual intervention necessary.
Now I’m just curious what the behavior is, if both iCloud and bonjour are active. 
One more update. I am now back to my second Mac which shows the same behavior.
My next step will be to back up everything from the first Mac which I declare to hold the truth now and then clean out the iCloud sync store and start from scratch.
At this stage if you need internet sync services consider another sync service. Like so many others have reported here and with other software products elsewhere sometimes Apple’s iCloud does us no favors.
The moving around bit doesn’t necessarily eliminate Bonjour. Define the scenario more precisely, e.g, moving around where, etc.
Also, you’re not using all four at the same time, unless you were an actual octopus (which would be interesting). I regularly use two Macs, an iPad, and an iPhone all syncing via Bonjour with the Mac as the Bonjour server. Since I am not shutting down DEVONthink or the Mac when I turn my attention to another device, it is available and syncs with no real issue. In fact, when I switch to another device the changes are typically already or immediately synced with no interruption.
Yes, if you’re on a public or corporate network, Bonjour can be inhibited. However, sync-by-wire can be used in these instances. I’ve used it in restaurants, hotels, and coffee shops all over the US.
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We’ve been here. I think you can stop explaining bonjour to me. I’ve tried it, and it is not for me. As I wrote, it involves too much manual intervention like plugging in a cable to sync once. And yes, I’m in a corporate network or 5G most of the work day. If it does not “just work” most of the time I’ll switch to a different product. And in my adventures here, I’ve hit the password thing again…
Coming back to the original thread. I have solved the issue “Resetting iCloud sync” for me as follows:
- Use Bonjour to sync everything to one machine that you deem to contain the truth.
- disconnect all other devices from the cloud sync
- Use the main machine to run “clean location”. This will delete everything that is on iCloud.
- Start syncing from the main machine to iCloud.
- reconnect the other devices.
In my case, the mobile devices DTTG I could just switch sync back on and it would work magically. The second Mac was still stuck. There I deleted the local copies of the databases and downloaded them from the new sync store. Then it worked again.
I will give iCloud another chance. I know, in this forum everybody hates it and I come here only to be recommended Bonjour again and again, but it works for me. I think the other options like webdav all have their issues, at least they had for me when I decided to go with iCloud a few years ago.
New information. Yes, plugging in wires all the time is a pain. And Bonjour networking inside a corporate network probably difficult due to IT policy and all that, and perhaps is interfering with Apple iCloud. Dunno. Bypassing the corporate network with 5g sounds hopeful.
I don’t get what you had to do to reset everything, but glad that you got things going.
Hi, I am a longtime, but not very technical, DEVONthink user having a sync issue between DT and DTTG. Wonder if it is related to what you guys are discussing. Started several weeks ago.
Operating Systems
- Mac: MBP 16", Sonoma 14.5, Apple M2 Max chip
- iPhone: iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS 17.5.1
- iPad: iPad Pro 11", 3rd generation, iPadOS 17.5.1
DEVONthink
- 25.58 GB, 7959 items in 4 databases
- Mac: DEVONthink 3.9.7
- iPhone: 3.8.6
- iPad: 3.8.6
- Syncing using Cloud Kit
Issue:
- Items captured to DTTG global inbox on iPhone sync fine to Mac
- On Mac, I move from these items from the global inbox into the appropriate database and group (using a manual rule)
- Result on the Mac is that the global inbox is empty
- Following sync, result on iPhone and iPad is that the items appear to still in the global inbox, but also in the appropriate database and group in DTTG (i.e., the ones I moved them into on the Mac).
- This requires me to manually move the duplicates in the global inbox on the iPhone and iPad to the trash.
Question
- Nothing in the manual seemed pertinent to this. Items are “syncing” but the sync coming from DT to DTTG doesn’t seem to eliminate the item originally in the database which is in the global inbox.
- On the iPhone, both the original item and the correctly filed item have the same Item Link URL, so they indeed appear to be duplicates that aren’t being eliminated in the sync process.
- What would you do in this case?
- Thanks for any help!
I would initially suspect CloudKit / Apple server misbehavior but hold the Option key and choose Help > Report bug in DEVONthink to start a support ticket. We can look at the logs and take it from there.
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Thank you, @BLUEFROG. Just submitted. Appreciate the help.
You’re welcome 
The problems with iCloud described in this thread came back later. I finally decided to switch away from iCloud a few weeks ago, even if it has been reliably serving me for long time and still does in many many other apps.
Anyway, now I’m syncing my DTs and DTTGs all with WebDAV and I’m very impressed. It is fast and has been absolutely reliable so far.
And it is good that you can access a webdav store with other means to do some basic sanity checks. With iCloud debugging is impossible since there is no way to access the store whatsoever. With webdav you can at least see what’s there (lot’s of encrypted files) and what has changed when. It’s better than nothing should things ever go wrong in the future.
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Good that you moved on. Wise choice.
Curious: Where does your WebDAV server reside? Local NAS or a third party WebDAV service provider?
It’s a Nextcloud instance run by my University.
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