Having too much clutter on your computer means that instant cleanup becomes vital, else you will encounter performance issues. Freezing programs, difficulty finding documents, FPS drops or failure to launch an app while gaming, slow internet, and productivity delays are some of the aftermaths that you have to deal with.
So, it is inevitably important that you should clean your computer regularly, at least once every month. In this article, we will understand some efficient ways to clean the clutter from desktop and laptop computers.
Uninstall Apps & Programs
No matter how old or new your device is, there are several apps on the hard drive that you never use. Some of them are pre-install, and some are downloaded by you. But over time, these apps seem to become redundant as they have served the purpose, and you are not using them anymore.
Removing these apps from the computer is the only way to keep things organized and optimized on the storage media. Apps that don’t add value to your work must be deleted to make space for other useful items.
Delete Unnecessary Files
Mostly, computers are efficient in the ways they use the hard drive space to store data. But several file formats are hard to organize as they don’t fall under any defined category. In such cases, you should detect the large volume files and delete them from your computer.
However, do not delete any system files accidentally as they can lead to computer breakdown. For example, you can delete junk files and clear cache on a mac stored under ~/Library/Caches to speed up your computer. If you have a lot of large and junk files stored on your computer, use cleaner apps for detecting and deleting these files automatically.
Discard Temporary Files
When you visit a website, an array of files is stored on your computer in the form of images, cookies, text to accelerate your web browsing experience. If you are concerned about your privacy and don’t want to store any cookies locally, you can delete the web files that your computer stores locally.
The browser you use may deal with temporary files in a different way, so refer to your browser documentation to avoid any mistake. You may use in-built tools to deal with the temporary files and remove them for immediate effect on browsing speed.
Handle Downloads Seamlessly
Suppose your computer performs slower than usual. The browser is sluggish, web pages take longer to load, and the browser freezes abruptly, navigating to the Downloads folder. You might be storing a lot of files on your computer that come complimentary with each download.
Scroll through the Downloads folder to check the videos, images, music files, and PDFs that you might have transferred from online sources or a USB. All this data needs to be deleted to speed up your computer.
Move Data to Cloud
Cloud storage has become more popular than ever. All-time availability and enhanced accessibility are the reasons that make Cloud the better place to store data. If you wish to make some extra space on your computer’s hard drive, move your files and apps to the cloud drive. You only have to sign up for a Cloud service to be able to move data successfully.
On signup, you get a minimum of 2 GB of free storage space, which you can upgrade anytime in the future as and when the need arises. You can subscribe to paid plans for storing large volume data.
Why Do You Need to Clean Up Hard Drive?
Optimizing the hard drive is not a one-time activity; you have scheduled it for each month for regular computer maintenance. The more you free up disk space, the less time it takes to organize things quickly and the better your system will perform.
Make sure to delete apps and programs permanently from your computer if you do not use them. However, when you delete a file, make sure to delete it permanently from the Recycle Bin (in Windows) or the Trash Can (in Mac), based on the operating system you use.
If you experience a system slow down while cleaning up your computer or doing any other task, make sure that your computer is free from viruses. Install an antivirus application and run a deep scan to detect and delete the virus from the computer.
To resolve common computer problems or technical glitches, you can shut down your computer and try to start it in safe mode. Running a hardware diagnostics check can also help detect the hardware problem and rectify it.
It’s important that you take good care of your hard drive to keep your computer up and running for longer. Make sure to back up data before you clean any apps or files so that you can restore data in the event of process failure.