Digital Declutter

A systematic session to clear photos, files, email, browser tabs, the desktop, and downloads — leaving your devices fast and searchable.

Photos

• Use Google Photos or Apple Photos 'Duplicates' feature to delete duplicate photos in one pass
• Delete blurry, dark, and accidental photos — be ruthless; if you didn't save it when you took it, you probably won't view it later
• Download all photos from your phone to a computer or external drive before deleting anything from the cloud
• Create albums or folders by year or event — Photos apps support this without duplicating files

Files

• Set a timer for 45 minutes and go through your Documents folder top-level — move, delete, or archive each item
• Purge your Downloads folder completely — either file items into proper folders or delete; nothing should live in Downloads permanently
• Empty the Trash or Recycle Bin when done to free disk space
• Use DaisyDisk (Mac) or WinDirStat (PC) to find large files eating disk space — sort by size and delete dormant archives

Email

• Search your inbox for 'unsubscribe' and unsubscribe from every newsletter you haven't opened in 3 months — use unroll.me as a shortcut
• Create 3 folders: Action, Waiting, Archive — drag anything from the inbox that requires more than 2 minutes
• Archive or delete anything older than 1 year in the inbox — Gmail's search operator 'older_than:1y' filters these in bulk
• Set up a filter to auto-archive newsletters and receipts so they skip the inbox going forward

Browser

• Save any open tabs you actually need to a reading list (Safari) or Reading List bookmark folder, then close all tabs
• Audit browser extensions — remove any you haven't used in 30 days; extensions have access to all your browsing data
• Clear browser cache and cookies for sites you no longer use: Settings > Privacy > Clear Browsing Data

Desktop & Desktop Apps

• Move everything off your desktop — the desktop is not a storage location; it slows rendering on some systems
• Uninstall apps you haven't opened in 6 months — Mac: use AppCleaner to remove all associated files, not just the app bundle
• Review your phone's app library — delete any app you haven't opened since it was installed