I have many documents, apps, music, movies, and images on my computer. Every so often, especially when I upgrade software or hardware, I like to go over the files and see if there are files that can be deleted. Here is the process of clearing the digital clutter I use.
Steps to clear the digital clutter
I started out with my desktop files and deleted any file I wasn’t using or didn’t want. I then moved the files I wanted to keep into a folder that would describe the data.
I then went to my documents folders. Folder by folder and file by file, I went through all the files to see what to keep and what to get rid of. If there were files I wanted to keep but didn’t need on the computer, I would put them on a thumb drive and store somewhere else.
I moved on to the image files that took up the most space on my computer. I went through and deleted any duplicate photo files, blurry photos, and any photos I didn’t want to keep.
Then, I went to my control panel, software installed, and looked for applications that I didn’t use and deleted them as well.
I moved on to My iTunes and deleted apps (lots of them), podcasts and music (from when my kids were little) and old movies and TV shows I didn’t watch. Though, sometimes iTunes would download them again since they are available to download from the cloud.
I cleared out my browser’s cookies as well. Though, by doing this, I needed to go through the security procedures for some sites. Annoying but worth doing to clear the browser.
Microsoft Outlook emails were next. I restructured my email folders and deleted any emails that were irrelevant anymore and cleared my deleted emails about a day later.
Below is a checklist you can use to help with clearing Digital Clutter. Please share.
Wow, that took some time. It took me about one month. Though I am glad, I cleared my digital clutter.
About a month later, I went back, I emptied my trash can. I allowed a month, just in case I mistakenly deleted something I didn’t want to remove. I then conducted a Disk Cleanup, and Disk Defragment tasks on my computer and restarted my computer.
By clearing my digital clutter, it helped me free up space on my computer. And, clear out items that related to tasks I am not doing any more in my life, which resulted in me looking more closely and determining what I wanted to do with my life.
Will you be taking on this task? What have you determined is the most important to clear? Please leave a comment and share with your friends.
