How to Declutter your Smartphone (and your iPad)

How to Declutter your Smartphone (and your iPad)

The benefits of simplifying your life and decluttering your home are well-known but one area that is often missed is the digital clutter. Digital clutter doesn’t take up much physical space, but it eats into our digital storage and affects how organised we can be. Messy phone, messy brain.

Organised technology can also positively impact our mood, improve our online security, and of course make us more productive. Take some time to declutter your smartphone, and your iPad if you have one, to help you enjoy another simplified and organised area and all the benefits that come with it.

• Apps

Look through all your apps and delete any that you don’t use. If there are some that you use occasionally, you can still delete them and just get them again when you need them. They’ll be available to re-download from the cloud. So many of us download apps and just use them once and then forget about them or don’t need them anymore. Only keep the ones you use on a regular basis and keep them updated. Also check whether you have any ongoing subscriptions with apps and cancel any you don’t use.

• Photos

Next up – photos, videos, and screenshots. If you have many, this will take some time and might have to be done in chunks. Start with screenshots as this is usually easy as many screenshots are only needed for a short period of time. The photos and videos that you have backed up elsewhere don’t really need to be stored on your phone too but if you have some favourites that you want to have access to all the time, then leave them there. Work through your photos and videos and get rid of any that you no longer need and delete any duplicates. If there are many from the same photo moment, just keep the best one.

If you have images of different genres – like family, work, recipes, receipts, travel etc., create folders so that you can easily and quickly find what you’re looking for.

Last, but not least, permanently delete the contents of the Recently Deleted folder.

• Messages, Chats & Notes

Another area that people tend to not minimise is messages. This is usually quite a quick job. Simply delete all the text messages and WhatsApp chats that you no longer need. There will be chats to organise events and trips that have already happened and old text messages about deliveries etc. There are always things to delete in this category!

Also check your Notes and Reminders to delete anything you no longer need.

• Software Updates & Passwords

Always keep your devices up to date and do any software updates as they become available to keep your device working well and as secure as possible. Another security check to do regularly is to check your saved passwords as there might be notifications about weak passwords and any data leaks. Update the passwords as needed and remember to update your other passwords every now and then too even if they’re more secure.

• Social Media & Emails

If you use social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, these accounts could probably do with a decluttering session too. Stop following people you’re no longer interested in or who don’t make you feel good, remove friends who you are not actually friends with, delete any content and photos that you no longer wish to have online, and delete any DMs and chats that you no longer need.

Decluttering your email inbox is a task that will most likely take quite some time. You don’t have to go through all your old emails but you can start organising the new ones coming in. Delete things you don’t need and put important things in folders. Unsubscribe from newsletters that you no longer want and reduce spam by blocking them as they come in and setting up spam filters.