How to clean your devices at the end of the school year

Technically speaking.

Spring cleaning isn’t the most glamorous thing in the world, but it’s an aspect of the seasonal changes that occur when we shift our focus to organizing our digital spaces.

In the age of our lives being played on a loop on our computer screen, we seldom think to clean up. If you spill water on the floor, you can clean it up with a mop. But cleaning out our online life takes time, patience and understanding.

As students, we have access to so many digital resources. Random emails clog our inboxes. Screenshots are all over your desktop, making a mess. There are so many other aspects, but a digital cleaning isn’t just a virus scan on your digital being.

As we approach the end of the school year, here’s some advice on how you can declutter your tech.

Group chat

An animated image of a cartoonish character reading a cell phone with the text above "reading the chat like..." — *Via GIPHY*

Regardless of the platform, group chats are a way of life. They connect us to different networks of people, but we have so many obligations trying to stay current. Between message after message, sometimes we forget how to prioritize.

Which group chat takes precedence? Work? Friends? Schoolmates? After projects are done and classmates have moved on with their lives, this is the perfect time to clean up unnecessary group chats.

You have to assess what group chats you’ll still need. Don’t think you’ll ever talk again to the random classmate who was part of your group project? Well, that’s a sign to delete that chat. Assessing your group chats also helps you to stay organized and makes it easier for you to find important information in the future.

Digital deep dive

An animated image of cartoonish characters swimming. They have masks on and are surrounded by fish and other sea animals. — *Via GIPHY*

Go through your computer and start purging those school files and documents that no longer have any use for. Many of us use a cloud-based storage system and hard drives, which hold a lot of storage, but it isn’t prudent to save every little thing.

Even with the ability to search for files, an assignment from a class that you took four years ago may no longer have any relevance. An unnamed document with no importance to your current life can simply disappear into the ether.

Physical clutter

An image of an animated dog sweeping. — *Via GIPHY*

Your digital devices may also have physical components such as charging pads, headphones and even cables at home. This is a great opportunity to clean and declutter those too.

Get into your AirPods and use a thin, soft cloth to clean out the earwax that has built up. Wipe and clean your charging pad regularly to prevent dust buildup. Make sure your laptop screen is in tip-top shape and guard it from cracks and chips. Remember, your laptop has your whole world stored in it, and replacing it isn’t always the most prudent financial decision.

The biggest issue? Cords. They come in many forms, for many functions, but wrapping them up if you don’t need them and safely storing them away will ensure you don’t trip over one and fall. Be careful and make sure you’re ready for a clean spring.

Delete and refresh

Uninstall apps that you don’t need, which can free up space, improve your device’s performance speed and help you avoid the apps you feel compelled to continuously check.

Think about the apps you only downloaded for school. Did you install that life-changing note-taking app? Had to download that annoying scanning app to upload an assignment? Chances are you won’t need them during the summer.

Delete them for now and download them again next semester. For now, your phone stays less cluttered and easier to manage.

Also, take some time to cancel email subscriptions that are simply weighing you down. This includes that random sign-up you saw on social media. In addition, delete duplicates of files that are no longer relevant and cut down on unused digital services you no longer require.

The season of change

An animated image of pair of hands making a heart sign with the spelling "2nd chance" — *Via GIPHY*

Spring into action and make note of all of the tips above. We need to declutter our minds by first noting both the limitations of technology and the benefits it offers. Cleaning digitally is a way of streamlining and organizing, which allows us to make room for what is new and what is next.

If you really want to declutter, organize by naming each file properly with a format that is consistent, so you have the ability to later identify them. Easy access later is predicated on having a system that works for you.

Information is never expunged, but rather it can be altered and changed if you do your due diligence and clean up this spring.

Feature image courtesy of Clint Patterson via Unsplash.

Is your tech all cleaned up? Why not grab some friends and play with it!