This post was originally posted on April 17, 2018 and has been updated to share additional information.
With the arrival of Spring, it’s just the right time for some Spring Cleaning Tips to help freshen up your computer. Taking a moment to do a little extra clean up can help keep your computer up and running smoothly. This is the time to digitally declutter your computer to ensure all important information is continually kept safe and secure. There are several components of a computer that can benefit from an extra cleanup. Here are some tips and tricks to help get you started for Spring Cleaning your computer!
1. Dust Your Keyboard
Keyboards that have been in use for some time accumulate a lot of dust that needs to be removed. This dust is usually found in the key spaces making them difficult to remove. It can be removed using compressed air which blows off dirt from tight spaces to prevent them from getting into the PC internals where it might cause problems. Also gently wiping your keyboard with a disinfecting wipe can help remove any extra dust that is sitting on top of your keyboard.
2. Clean Your Computer Screen
Dirt does get deposited on a computer screen and sometimes forms visible lines on the screen when clumped together. To clean your computer screen, first turn off your monitor. We suggest using a soft microfiber cloth. Use the microfiber cloth to dust off your monitor. If there is any extra residue left on the screen such as fingerprint trails, you can slightly dampen a microfiber cloth (just a tiny bit) and gently wipe down your computer monitor as well.
3. Organize Your Desktop
A cluttered desktop can create a messy computer screen. Such desktops reduce productivity because they distract you from important tasks. Organizing the files and folders on your desktop after working on a project is a very important step in keeping your PC in shape. Important and related documents and files should be placed in appropriate folders for easy access later. Placing documents and files in the correct folders will also ensure they are being properly backed up keeping them safe and secure. Try to keep a small amount of files on your desktop and save the bulk of your files in a Documents folder.
4. Sort Your Documents and Files
It is easier to create and drop files everywhere on your computer but this creates a nightmare when you need to retrieve a particular file quickly. If your computer documents are not properly sorted, you may need to search through many drives and folders before you can locate just a single file. Your business’ productivity will surely take a hit if you take this approach. A better way is to organize your documents and media into appropriately named folder and subfolders with optional date tags e.g “April_2018_Projects”, so they can be referenced quickly whenever the need arises. An important part of sorting your documents will involve the removal of duplicates files and folders because a lot of computer cluttering are caused by redundant copies of files and folders.
5. Backup Your Files
Since the aim of cleaning your PC is to make it reliable and secure, the backup process is very important to safeguard against unexpected crashes. You don’t want to find out that your hard drive crashed and you have no way to retrieve your important business documents.
6. Remove Unnecessary Files and Apps
As you use your computer, you accumulate unnecessary files and programs through internet downloads and glitchy installs that eventually slow down its operations. You should delete all useless documents and uninstall apps which slow down your PC while serving no useful purpose. Too many applications and files have been found to reduce computer performance both in boot time and operating periods. It is suggested to not keep any unused software that is taking up space and memory. Other types of items which are difficult to remove such as temporary files and app updates or downloads can be removed with the help of PC utilities such as disk cleanup on Windows and disk utilities on Mac. There are also many third-party apps to choose from. A cleanup of unnecessary files and apps will also help continue to keep your computer safe.
7. Sort Your Inbox
Businesses communicate primarily through email from coworkers to clients. Like a cluttered desktop, leaving several messages sitting in your inbox can make it difficult to access important emails. Setting up different folders such as “Important”, “Work” and “Personal” can help clean up your mailbox and ensure that you don’t miss important emails.
8. Clean Up Your Hard Drive
Within your computer lays your hard drive which is basically a storage unit for your files. Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, art files – you name it, those files are being stored in your hard drive and can take up a lot of space. If too much is store on your hard drive and not enough space is available, this can cause your computer system to not run smoothly. Additionally, not enough space in your hard drive can lead to not enough space for updates. Take some time to go thru your files and store the ones you’re not using anymore somewhere else such as an external hard drive or in a cloud based storage system. Freeing up space in your hard drive will allow for your computer to remain up-to-date and to run a full capacity.
9. Empty Your Trash Can
We tend to send a lot of files to the Recycle Bin or Trash Can on a computer and then forget about it. If your looking to do a thorough spring cleaning, take some time to review the files in your Recycle Bin or Trash Can. If you are absolutely done with those files and will for sure not need them again, then you may want to consider emptying this folder. Once you do so, this will permanently delete those files forever. And it will also clear out this area and make room for more files you want to trash.
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A nice cleanup of your computer can help boost not only the functionality of your computer but the productivity as well. If you have any questions or concerns about your computer operations, please contact us today for assistance.
