Wednesday, October 11, 2017

How To Free Up Space On Your Phone and Computer

How To Free Up Space On Your Phone and Computer
You guys. I just 'cleaned up' my digital world in the past few days and can I just say how refreshing it is?! Overall, my Macbook/Hard drive/iPhone/etc. is pretty tidy, but this was a total sweep of everything. 

I thought I'd do a post on this because sometimes it's hard to know where to start. I'd suggest choosing one project per day/night and go with it until you're finished... then start another one. By taking on too much, you risk not doing the best job/ not taking the time the task deserves. So here are the steps I took (you'll notice this is all iPhone/Mac related as that's what I have and use!)....

Phone
Back It Up// This is going to be my suggested first step in anything you do digitally. Back it up. Always. Daily. Back. It. Up. 

Get rid of apps you don't use// this one is pretty quick and easy- but getting rid of apps you never use will free up space and get rid of app clutter. 

File and Sort Your Apps// Everyone has a system as to how their apps are sequenced or grouped... or do they? 

Get Rid of Your Red Notifications// I have the red notifications turned off for a lot of my apps. The 'red' drives me nuts and makes me feel scatter brained! Either turn off some of your badges or go through and check messages/e-mails/etc. to get rid of the red. When I updated my phone to OS 11, it automatically turned on notifications for news. I went in and turned it off! 

Delete photos// I'd say if you don't want to technically get rid of everything, you can move your entire photo library to a hard drive or cloud storage system. But.... then, start deleting. Delete doubles, triples, etc. Delete old images, clean out your screenshots and more. Depending on how many photos you have, this could be quick or could be time consuming. For me, this took FOREVER. But so worth it. I'm no longer scrolling for minutes looking for a photo from last year and it freed up a lot of space, too! 

Delete Voicemails// I loathe voicemails. I never delete them.. until now. I just deleted a ton and it took all of 3 minutes!

Update Your Software// I typically update my iPhone a few days or a few weeks after the software is released. I let a few days pass so Apple can workout the kinks. But, if you haven't, try it! Your phone will likely run faster.

Computer
Back It Up// Duh. I use this hard drive to backup my computer manually. I basically work off of it and don't really keep anything on my Macbook. You'll notice it is only 2TB. Which is a TON of storage. But I don't like to buy anything larger than that because I like to get a new one every once in a while. I then file 

Protect Your Hardware// You want to make sure you're properly storing your hardware and have cases for all sorts of things. I've been known to toss my computer right into a tote without anything to protect it. But, I know better than that! I also use this to protect my hard drive.... it's great for storage while at home, but the best for travel! I've had mine for a few years, so if you want to spend $2 or $3 more, I would definitely get this case since it's considered 'shock proof'. Callie uses a hard case to protect her computer- which is on 24/7. I personally don't like that, so I leave my computer bare while at home and then use a padded sleeve for travel. 

Clean Up Your Desktop// As I said before, I have almost nothing on my desktop, but if you're one of those people that has everything on your desktop, consider creating folders to stay more organized. I never let a file 'float' without a home... basically every single file has a home in a folder somewhere. 

Clean Up Your Applications// Do you have apps on your hard drive that you never use? Chances are they're taking up a ton of space. Get rid of them so you can free up space and your computer will likely run faster!

Name Your Files Appropriately// If you're like me, you have a TON of files. If you want to find a paper you wrote back in 10th grade (I still have those!), then make sure you are naming things appropriately. Even if you have a really good filing system down, sometimes things can get lost in the cracks and that's when search really comes in handy! 

Clean Up Your Hard drive// I have an app called 'disk doctor' which is amazing. It scans my computer for things taking up space that I don't necessarily need. I run it weekly and let it delete items that are just sitting there taking up space. 

Clear Your Download Folder// I'm constantly uploading and downloading, but do you just let your download folder fill up? Definitely take a look and sort through things that you want to keep or get rid of. I suggest removing everything from your download folder and sorting/filing it away at least weekly!

Update Your Software// Just like I mentioned for your iPhone, do this for your computer. I just updated to High Sierra and it was such a welcome change. I hadn't done an update in a long while and once it updated, there was a ton of space freed up and my computer started running like new again! 

So there you have it- some of my tips! If you have any great tips, leave them in the comments below!

6 comments:

Bricks and Mortar Design said...

This post was much needed because I'm starting to get the notification that I have very low storage! You have great tips and I'm definitely doing all of them, haha.

XO Alyson | My Life as Alyson

Sarah said...

Thanks for the post, Sydney! I have to recommend Google Photos for photo storage. I have it as an app on my iPhone and it automatically saves every picture that you take with unlimited storage, plus it syncs up with your gmail account so you can access all of your pictures via the internet! It also makes the cutest movies and you can search things like "dog" and every picture of a dog that you've ever taken will come up. And best of all, it's completely free! I'm a picture hoarder so it's nice to know that even if I delete something from my phone, it's not gone forever. Thought you might like it, too!

Sydney Carver Snyder said...

Sarah, thank you SO much for this recommendation! It sounds amazing! Definitely going to check it out! Xo

Have You Ever Noticed said...

As an Amazon Prime member you get FREE unlimited photo storage. Videos are limited, but it is a great way to store all your photos and they are easily accessible.

MGP said...

Love this post!

Where is your jacket from?

Sydney Carver Snyder said...

It is from J.McLaughlin!

 

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