Blog Feature

By: Jennifer Devitt on March 29th, 2015

Give your devices a refresh by tackling our checklist of the top 6 ways to declutter your tech devices.

Winter is finally winding its way down. In the upcoming weeks we will start seeing more buds on trees, birds returning and flowers sprouting. We will also inevitably see April showers as well as a surge in the presence of landscapers. You will also probably be venturing outside more and begin to do some outdoor yard clean up. As we all know, winter can leave a lot of dirty crud behind. You can find trash in random bushes, leaves clustered around decks and just some general disarray. Well, this winter muck doesn't just occur outside your home or business. It also occurs with technology.

In February, we discussed dusting off your technology to prepare for upcoming seasons. Today, let's discuss some quick chores you can do in a matter of minutes to clear away the winter muck. Below are 6 ways you can refresh your daily tech gadgets and platforms to start fresh for spring,

1. Declutter. Check out your devices. Take a look at programs and or applications. I bet you will find some you haven't touched in some time. Clear out some space on the device and uninstall those not in use.

2. Update all systems. Frankly, this should be done on a regular basis, but if you're a slacker, get on it. Check out your App Store if you are on a Mac or search for other updates on your desktops, laptops and mobile devices. In order for the programs to function properly and be the most secure, they need to be updated. In most cases, you can set your systems up for auto-update if you so choose.

3. CCleaner. Take some time to clear out clutter and unwanted cookies and files from your machine. Run this little gem periodically to clear out some space on your system. It is available for free from many reputable sources, such as CNET. CCleaner removes unwanted cookies, empties trash and more.

4. Social Media platforms. With the infiltration of Bots on all platforms, it doesn't hurt to go through your connections periodically to clear out dead accounts, bots or those who simply were not what you were expecting. If you have a clogged up news feed from connections who post spam, an overabundance of self-promotion or just information you are simply not interested in you could miss the updates you want to see. You can use services like FriendorFollow, Qwitter or Untweeps, to name a few.   These services can tell you if someone follows you, has unfollowed you recently or if it's an inactive account.

5. App access. Another item to review on social media sites or other apps you may use it so review who and what app you have authorized to connect.  You may have granted access to an app that you no longer use anymore. Say you signed up for a blogging comment system through Twitter that you don't use anymore, revoke the access. Simply log in to your social media accounts and check under account settings and review any and all authorized connections.

6. Backup. In the day and age of smartphones, most of us utilize the cameras on the devices. Do you regularly back up the photos or videos and or purge old photos?  With access to cloud storage, there is no reason to store every last photo on your device. Same with music. Are you guilty of having multiple playlists backed up to your device to use when you are not on wifi?  Take a few minutes to clean house on your digital media stored on your device as well.

None of the items listed above will take you long to do. In fact, if you set up a reminder to do them regularly, the process is even faster. Tie the tasks together to aid in remembering. Just like it is recommended to change your smoke detector batteries when you change the time for daylight savings time. Do you have any tips for how you keep your devices running at optimal speed as well as making the most of your device memory?  Feel free to share.  Now, before you complete any of these steps take a minute to check how much memory/storage space you have in use versus available and then check again when you have completed the checklist. You will be amazed at the space you have saved.

 

 

 
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