How To Do A Digital Deep Clean For Your Devices

The real digital deep clean takes place on our devices.

We spend so much time on our phones, tablets and laptops. Through all that time spent we end up accumulating a lot of digital clutter, from photos to apps, it all adds up. A few days before the new year I decided to deep clean my digital spaces — a process that was a bit overdue.

If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry, we got this. I like to spread this out over a few days, as this is a deep clean and it can take a significant amount of time. Grab your cellphone and your laptop, lets get to work!

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Cellphone

One of the greatest benefits of the smartphone is how functional it is. As someone who spends a lot of their time on the go, I am glad I have access to the tools I need at my fingertips.

The challenge: keeping it all organized. 

Photo by Andy Makely

Apps

Delete apps you no longer need or use.

Take a look at the ones you most frequently use. Once you have a good idea of what those apps are next look at what’s left. There may be a few apps that you no longer use at all. My rule of thumb is that I can delete the app if I haven’t used it in the last year. 

Now, there may be some apps that you have used in the last year but you don’t use frequently. In my experience these tend to comprise of apps I only downloaded as part of a free trial or for one time use. In that case I am comfortable with deleting those apps as well. 

You know I am all about the data, so I hope you didn’t think I would have you trying to guess your app usage. Nope, not at all. If you have an iPhone or iPad you can check the last time you used a particular app. Go to Settings > then General > then iPhone storage. This page allows you to see the last date of usage, the size of the app and potential recommendations for ways to save storage.

Email

Unsubscribe from mailing lists you no longer want to receive.

If there’s one thing that makes me feel free after a digital deep clean, it is email organization. It is such a gratifying feeling when your email notifications aren’t reaching three digit levels. While I try to keep my inbox manageable week to week, I have found that on some occasions it can balloon out of control. Email subscriptions can easily fill your inbox, especially during busy shopping seasons like Fourth of July or Thanksgiving. 

Unsubscribing from mailing lists that you no longer need or want to be a part of is an effective way to reduce clutter in your inbox. You can organize your email from your cellphone or laptop, however I prefer to do this process on my cell. You’d be surprised how much you can get done during a long train commute or while sitting under the dryer at the hair salon.

Each email should have an unsubscribe button at the bottom of the email. If you can’t find one, you can look for a link that will direct you to Manage Settings. Only keep yourself on mailing lists that you want to support or places where you regularly shop.

Related: Email Organization For Project Management … and Life

Computer

Photos

Delete unwanted photos.

Now this process may not be one you can do during your morning commute… well not entirely. You can start by reviewing your photos and remove old screenshots, dozens of copies of the same photo and blurry images. 

Organize the photos you want to keep.

Next I recommend backing up your photos to an external hard drive. You can also back up your photos using a cloud storage platform like iCloud or Google drive. Whichever method you choose is up to you. Most importantly, reducing photo clutter will optimize the space on your phone. 

The first time you back up your photos it may take a while depending on how many photos you have. It can be helpful to do this on a weekly or monthly basis so that your important photos don’t get lost.

Let me know which of these tips you will be trying during your next digital deep clean.

Live abundantly,

Bethany

Hi! I'm Bethany

Bethany is a data analyst and the founder of Styles and Script. She holds a Master in Public Health and has years of experience in data management and statistical analysis. She is a visual storyteller based in NYC that focuses on sharing narratives related clothing, curls and code. Bethany is focused on cultivating a space that encourages her community to embrace technical and creative skills in a way that is purposeful and impactful.