Four Hour Setup: How I use DEVONthink
The Offline Archive That Powers My Creative Life
Welcome to Workbench Wednesday — the weekly behind-the-scenes look at the systems, gear, and tools that make Four Hour Freedom possible in just four hours a day.
This week, we’re talking about a tool that rarely gets the spotlight but quietly runs my entire creative archive: DEVONthink.
It’s not my second brain (that’s Obsidian). But it is my external brain — a rock-solid archive for everything I didn’t write.
If you’ve ever thought “I know I saved that somewhere,” this one’s for you.
Why I Use DEVONthink (And Not Google Drive or Dropbox)
Most people treat their cloud storage like a digital junk drawer. PDFs, receipts, tax letters, scanned books, research papers — all lumped together. All unsearchable. All forgotten.
I used to do that too. Then I found DEVONthink.
Here’s what makes it different:
No subscription. No data mining. No forgetting what you saved.
Where It Fits in My System
I use Obsidian for thinking, journaling, and writing.
I use DEVONthink for storing, organising, and referencing everything created by others.
It holds:
PDFs and white papers
Health reports
Bank statements
Client proposals and contracts
Research articles
Scans from my iPad
Anything I might need to refer back to — now or five years from now
Think of it as your offline personal internet. Everything valuable, all in one place — and completely searchable.
How I’ve Set It Up
1. Smart Inbox With Auto-Filing
Everything lands in DEVONthink’s inbox — either via drag-and-drop, the web clipper, or automatic folder syncing.
Then I use Smart Rules to:
Auto-tag PDFs from clients
File tax docs by year and category
Group content into folders like Medical, Legal, Business, and Reading
Colour-label anything untagged, so I don’t miss it
“If title contains ‘invoice’, tag as ‘finance’, move to ‘2025/Q2’ folder.”
2. Full-Text Search (With OCR Magic)
DEVONthink automatically runs OCR on all scans and images. That means I can search:
A medication name inside a hospital letter
A quote inside a 100-page PDF
A book reference I underlined two years ago
Even notes scribbled on a napkin and scanned from my iPad
📌 Real-life example: I once needed a copy of my hospital discharge notes for a form. Searched “ward F10” — it popped up instantly.
3. AI That Finds What You Forgot You Had
The “See Also” feature in DEVONthink is where the tool quietly becomes genius.
If I open a file on content strategy, it might recommend:
A white paper I saved in 2022
A newsletter from someone else’s Substack
A case study PDF tagged “email funnels” that I forgot existed
It’s not just matching keywords — it’s doing conceptual clustering. The AI understands topics, not just titles.
4. Obsidian Integration (Without Bloating Your Vault)
Obsidian is my creative studio. But it hates big files.
So instead of importing PDFs, I:
Store the file in DEVONthink
Generate a unique x-devonthink-item:// URL
Paste that link into my Obsidian note
That way, I can link to a 30MB scanned report without slowing anything down.
📌 Bonus: If I click that link on iPad or Mac, the exact file opens in DEVONthink — like magic.
I reciprocate this by placing the link of the relevant Obsidian note into DEVONthink so that I can open Obsidian directly from my file management system.
Mini Setup Guide: DEVONthink in 10 Minutes
Want to try it? Here’s how to get started fast:
Create a database called Personal Archive
Drop in a few PDFs or scanned documents
Create Smart Groups: Invoices, Medical, Clients
Add one Smart Rule: If title contains “invoice”, tag as finance
Run a search for any phrase inside one of your files — marvel at the OCR
Optional: Paste a DEVONthink URL into Obsidian and test it
You’ll go from “What’s this for?” to “Where has this been all my life?” by step 3.
💡 Power Tips for Nerds (Like Me)
Use labels for triage: I colour-code by urgency (red = needs attention, grey = archive)
Create a “Read Later” group: Like Pocket, but with PDF support
Sync via iCloud: DEVONthink syncs your database across Macs + iOS without paying extra
Use DEVONthink’s Templates: Pre-fill client folders or recurring content structures
Web Clipper is gold: Grab whole pages or simplified text directly into your archive
Pricing: A One-Time Investment
Unlike most power apps available to creators, DEVONthink has no subscription.
You pay £65 (approx.) once for the standard Mac version. That’s it.
No monthly fees. No usage limits. And it’s yours for life.
For something that stores your financials, medical history, client archive, and more - that’s a steal.
Why It Works So Well for Me
I live by a simple principle:
“If I don’t have the energy to remember something later, I need a system that will.”
DEVONthink isn’t where I think. It’s where I don’t have to.
It handles the documents, references, and raw material created by others — so I can focus on what I’m creating next.
Try it for yourself
If you want a single place for:
Admin that never gets lost
Research that resurfaces when it’s relevant
Seamless search across your digital past
DEVONthink is it.
👉 You can find out more on the DEVONthink website.
Or if this was helpful and you’d like to say thanks:
👉 Buy me a coffee — I really appreciate it ☕
Next Week: How I Use Obsidian
DEVONthink is my archive. But Obsidian is where everything happens — my journaling, my thinking, my writing, my reviews.
Next week, I’ll show you the full system:
Daily notes
Weekly reviews
Book highlights
My idea generation workflow
And how it all stays connected in under four hours a day
Until then, may your archive be calm and your files be found instantly.
— Simon