Six Reasons to Spring Clean Your Digital Life

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While many people associate spring cleaning with tidying up their homes, it's likewise important to extend this ritual to the digital realm, specifically to our smartphones and computers. Spring cleaning them can bring about numerous benefits, ensuring that your digital life is organized, efficient, and secure.

It’s worth noting that a cluttered phone or computer can contribute to mental clutter. Unnecessary notifications, unused apps, and disorganized files can be distracting and overwhelming. By spring cleaning your phone, you create a more focused and streamlined digital environment, reducing distractions and promoting a sense of order and clarity.

Here are 6 tips how to spring clean your digital life.

1. More storage space

Over time, our smartphones accumulate lots of files, apps, and data, leading to a decrease in available storage space. Spring cleaning your phone provides an opportunity to declutter by deleting unnecessary photos, videos, and unused apps. This not only frees up storage but also enhances the performance of your device, making it run more smoothly.

How to do it:

Upload photos and videos you want to keep to a cloud or external storage. Then, delete the ones you don’t want to keep. If you haven’t done this step before, you must go through them one by one.

2. Improved performance and enhanced battery life

A cluttered device can suffer from decreased performance, slower response times, and lagging apps. By spring cleaning your phone or computer, you can optimize its performance by removing redundant files and apps that may be running in the background. This results in a snappier and more responsive device, making everything you do on it a bit faster and more fun to do.

Unused apps running in the background can also contribute to battery drain. By uninstalling unnecessary apps and disabling background processes, you can extend your phone's battery life. Spring cleaning ensures that only the essential apps are active, reducing the strain on your device's battery.

How to clean:

Delete apps you don’t need anymore. And don’t worry, you can always install them again if you need them later. Then, go to your phone’s memory settings and clear cache. Some phones also offer handy features for memory optimization. Take advantage of these features if available.

3. Organized digital life

Spring cleaning is not just about deleting files; it's also an opportunity to organize and categorize your digital content. Create folders, sort photos, and organize apps into relevant categories. A well-organized phone and desktop not only look aesthetically pleasing but also allow for quicker access to essential apps and information.

How to do it:

You can group apps on your phone by tapping on an app, then holding it and moving it on top of another app. You can create different categories, for example based on the purpose, importance or any other reason that suits you.

4. Improved privacy and security

Regularly reviewing and updating your phone's security settings is crucial for protecting your personal information. Spring cleaning your phone provides an opportunity to audit app permissions and review privacy settings. Deleting unused apps also minimizes potential security vulnerabilities and unwanted data collection.

How to do it:

Go to your security settings and review what permissions apps have. Remove any that seem unnecessary.

5. Stronger password protection

If you have only one or few passwords in use, change them to improve your security. A stolen password can lead to account takeover and even identity theft – and the amount of data breaches grew over 20% in 2023 compared to 2022. You can create strong passwords and save them for quick access to all devices with a password manager, like the one is provided with TalkTalk SuperSafe.

How to do it:

Install TalkTalk SuperSafe, then create and save passwords. Sign into your online accounts and change passwords from account settings.

6. No more viruses and malware

There were over 100 million new malware strains in 2023 according to AV-TEST. It’s crucial that you check that none infected your device. So, scan your devices with antivirus like TalkTalk SuperSafe. Not only does it remove all existing malware, but it also prevents any future infections, keeping your device clean for good.

How to do it:

Install antivirus software and run a scan. Active antivirus checks new apps and files automatically, preventing future malware infections.

Make spring cleaning easy with TalkTalk SuperSafe.

This complete security app protects your family’s devices against malware and keeps all passwords safe and secure. With SuperSafe you can protect up to 10 devices keeping all of the family’s smartphones, tablets and computers safe. Go to My Account and add SuperSafe to your account. SuperSafe online security is just £5 per month. Once you’ve selected SuperSafe in My Account, you will receive an email to install the app onto your devices.

And don’t worry, taking all the steps mentioned in this guide is not as time-consuming as it may first appear. Just like cleaning your home, you don’t have to do everything at once – you can do bits and pieces here and there. So, grab your digital broom and dust off your virtual shelves when you have a moment – your device will thank you.

Prices correct at time of publishing