A cleaner Home Screen does not necessarily mean more available storage space. For instance, if you remove an application from your iPhone’s Home Screen you can still find it within the App Library. In order to clarify this distinction, Apple includes a statement within their documentation regarding the removal of applications. If you’re looking to declutter your screen by moving an occasional-use application to an area where it will be less visible you’ll still be able to access the application once you need it.
This same logic applies to frequently used applications as well. When deciding which items you want to keep on your screen (and/or place elsewhere), frequency of use is important; it does not answer whether you should delete an application altogether.
To make your screen cleaner (e.g., with fewer visible icons) you can create folders. Folders alone will not indicate whether you’ve made additional space available due to deletion. To assess your current state of available storage you’ll likely need to check the storage options provided through your device settings.
Prior to deleting any items, it can be helpful to define exactly what you’re trying to achieve. It could be easier to navigate through your menu options, or possibly have enough free space to download new photos, updates etc. While these two objectives are certainly achievable, they each require a slightly different set of actions in order to accomplish. In addition to determining whether or not you have enough physical storage available for new files, you may also wish to consider separating what is visible on-screen from what is stored locally on your device, versus what is saved remotely via an Internet connection.
Your iPhone or iPad’s storage screens will allow you to further break down an application’s footprint. Apple provides an offload option, which removes the application from the device while maintaining all of its associated data and documents.
Google has provided similar distinctions between clearing a cache and clearing storage within their Pixel user guide. Clearing a cache removes temporary data created by an application; clearing Storage removes data saved by an application. Google has also stated that clearing an application’s cache can cause some applications to open slower than expected.
Files created for setting up and installing applications require their own level of scrutiny. A downloaded installer for the Coin Poker app, for example, is a different item from the client it installs. A folder containing the installer package for CoinPoker does not imply that CoinPoker is currently installed on your device.
Another separate entity requiring evaluation is the online account connected to a service/application. Google Play specifically states that uninstalling an application does not terminate any subscriptions associated with that application. Thus, terminating unwanted services requires reviewing the subscription settings in addition to simply uninstalling an application.
Where Does Your File Live? Don’t Delete It First
The cloud is changing how we think about a file belonging to the computer on which it is shown. For example, OneDrive files on-demand will show you your online-only files (files not currently stored on your device) in the Windows File Explorer, so they are easily accessible using the file manager application– although the entire content of each file hasn’t been copied onto your device yet.
In fact, Microsoft makes a distinction between removing a file from a computer (i.e., making it “online-only”) vs. deleting it. When you click “free up space” in OneDrive, you can delete the local copy of a file you have opened and saved. However, if you delete an online-only file, it will be deleted from OneDrive.
Finally, there is an important limitation of using online-only storage: in order to open one of these files, you must have an active internet connection. So, if you want to use a document during your next trip, then it might make sense to store that document locally on your device, even if the majority of your archives stay online.
Therefore, a clean-up operation would likely involve multiple locations. In many cases, you’ll want to put completed projects into an archive; working projects should probably stay on your local hard drive or SSD so you don’t lose access to them while traveling; and duplicate copies of files can usually be removed once you’ve compared their contents. For instance, you may have made edits to the second file that aren’t present in the first.
What Do I Want to Keep?
One way to approach cleaning up your digital life is by categorizing items based on their age versus their usefulness. For example, a new picture of a temporary pickup code may already be obsolete and useless today; conversely, a manual for your refrigerator still contains useful instructions for operating your current model. The key issue here isn’t how old something is; instead, ask yourself what future tasks does it support?
An archive provides a good place to keep useful records that are rarely accessed. Providing descriptive names for versions can help you find specific records later. For example, naming folders like “household manuals” and organizing them within subfolders (“refrigerator”, “dishwasher”) will make identifying the correct manual for a particular appliance much simpler than creating numerous folders labeled simply “manuals”.
Media obtained through downloading should also receive a separate consideration than other types of data (like photographs). Google recommends utilizing the same applications that originally provided the media to manage downloads.
Ultimately, effective digital clutter removal is successful when the results can be clearly articulated in simple terms. Specifically, files needed offline can continue to be accessed offline; documents worth retaining have identifiable places to live; and unnecessary downloads no longer take up space merely due to lack of review.
