Declutter Your Digital Life: Free Up Space for a Faster PC
- Dallas
- May 9
- 12 min read
Updated: May 29
Have you ever noticed your computer acting like it's trudging through mud? It might start up slowly, programs take forever to open, or even simple tasks like Browse the internet feel sluggish. It’s frustrating, right? Just like a messy room can make it impossible to find your shoes, a cluttered computer can struggle to find the files it needs, making everything slow down.
Think of your computer's storage (where all your files, photos, videos, and programs live) like a huge closet. When you first get it, it's mostly empty. Plenty of room! But over time, that closet starts to fill up. You download files for work or school, save photos from your phone, install games, and store videos. Without realizing it, your digital closet gets stuffed with things you might not even need anymore: old downloads, temporary internet files, copies of documents, and programs you used once and forgot about. All this digital clutter takes up valuable space and makes your computer work much harder to find the important stuff, slowing everything down.1
Did you know? A computer's hard drive that’s more than 85% full can run significantly slower, sometimes by as much as 50% compared to a drive with plenty of free space!2 That’s a huge difference in speed, and it means a lot of wasted time waiting for your computer.
But here’s the good news: clearing out the junk is easier than you think! You don’t need to be a tech wizard. In this post, we’re going to walk through simple, step-by-step ways to give your computer a much-needed clean-up.
The Hidden Hoarders: Where Digital Clutter Hides
Digital clutter isn't always obvious. It builds up in places you might not even think to look. Let's uncover these hidden spots and learn how to clear them out.
1. The Obvious One: Your Recycle Bin / Trash Can
When you delete a file on your computer, it doesn't just disappear into thin air. Instead, it usually goes to a special holding area called the "Recycle Bin" (if you use Windows) or the "Trash" (if you use a Mac). This is like putting your garbage in a wastebasket in your room. It’s out of sight, but it’s still taking up space until you actually take it out to the curb.
Files sit in your Recycle Bin/Trash until you decide to permanently delete them.3 This is a safety net in case you accidentally delete something important. But if you never empty it, all those "deleted" files continue to hog space on your hard drive. Over weeks or months, this can add up to gigabytes (GBs) of wasted space – enough for hundreds of photos or several large videos!
Ready to empty it? Here’s how:
On Windows:
Look for the "Recycle Bin" icon on your desktop. It usually looks like a small garbage can.
Right-click on the "Recycle Bin" icon.
A small menu will pop up. Click on "Empty Recycle Bin."
Your computer will usually ask you to confirm: "Are you sure you want to permanently delete these X items?" Click "Yes" or "OK."
Alternative Way: You can also double-click the Recycle Bin icon to open it. This lets you see what's inside. If you're sure you want to delete everything, click "Empty Recycle Bin" in the toolbar at the top. If you only want to delete certain items, select them, right-click, and choose "Delete."
On Mac:
Look for the "Trash" icon in your Dock (the row of icons usually at the bottom of your screen).4 It looks like a small wastebasket.
Right-click (or Control-click if you have a single-button mouse) on the "Trash" icon.
A menu will pop up. Click on "Empty Trash."
Your Mac will ask for confirmation: "Are you sure you want to permanently erase the items in the Trash?" Click "Empty Trash" again.5
Alternative Way: You can also click the Trash icon once to open it and see its contents. To delete everything, click the "Empty" button in the top right corner of the Finder window.
Pro Tip: Make emptying your Recycle Bin/Trash a weekly habit. It’s one of the easiest ways to recover space and keep your computer tidy!
2. The Download Dungeon: Your Downloads Folder
Every time you download a file from the internet – whether it’s a homework assignment, a software installer, a PDF document, or a funny picture – it usually ends up in your "Downloads" folder.6 This folder is designed to be a temporary holding spot, but for many people, it becomes a digital junk drawer.
Think about it: you download a program, install it, and then never touch the installer file again. Or you download a document, open it, and then save it somewhere else, forgetting the original download. These files pile up, unnoticed, taking up more and more space.
Statistic: The average user's "Downloads" folder can contain hundreds of files, often accumulating multiple gigabytes (GBs) of old installer files alone that are no longer needed.
Time to clean out your Downloads folder:
Open your "Downloads" folder:
On Windows:
Click the "File Explorer" icon (it looks like a yellow folder) on your taskbar.7
In the left sidebar, click on "Downloads."
On Mac:
Click the "Finder" icon (the blue smiling face) in your Dock.
In the sidebar on the left, click on "Downloads."
Sort your files: This is a key trick!
In your Downloads folder, look for an option to "Sort by." You can usually find this near the top of the window.
Click on "Size" (to see the biggest files first) or "Date modified" (to see the oldest files first). Sorting by size helps you quickly spot the files that are taking up the most space, like large video files or software installers.8 Sorting by date lets you find really old files that you've probably forgotten about.
Identify and delete:
Go through the list. Do you need that installer for a game you played two years ago? Probably not.
Are there multiple copies of the same document? Keep one, delete the rest.
Is there a huge video file you already backed up somewhere else? Delete it.
Select the files you want to delete and press the "Delete" key on your keyboard (or drag them to the Recycle Bin/Trash icon).
Don't forget to empty your Recycle Bin/Trash afterward!
Beyond Downloads: While you're at it, take a quick peek in your "Documents," "Pictures," and "Videos" folders. Sometimes we save multiple versions of the same file, or hold onto old projects we'll never touch again. If you have photos or videos stored here that you've already backed up to an external hard drive or cloud service, you can safely delete them from your computer to free up space.
3. The Invisible Accumulator: Cache and Temporary Files
This is one of the trickiest and most important areas to clean, because you can't always "see" these files easily. Your computer and web browsers use "cache" files and other "temporary files" to speed things up.9
What is "Cache"?
Imagine you visit a website. Your web browser often saves small pieces of that website (like images or certain code) to your computer.10 The next time you visit that same site, your browser can load those saved pieces from your computer instead of downloading them again from the internet. This makes the website load much faster. That saved data is called "cache."
Similarly, when programs run, they often create temporary files to help them do their job.11 Once the program closes, these temporary files are supposed to be deleted, but sometimes they get left behind.12
While cache and temporary files are helpful for speed, they can build up over time, taking up a lot of space and sometimes even causing problems like websites not loading correctly or programs crashing.13 Clearing them out can free up gigabytes of space and often fix these little hiccups.
Statistic: Clearing out your browser's cache and your system's temporary files can free up anywhere from a few hundred megabytes to several gigabytes of space, depending on how long it's been since your last cleanup!
How to clear your cache and temporary files:
For Web Browsers (like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge, Apple Safari):
The steps are a little different for each browser, but the idea is the same. You're looking for settings related to "Privacy," "Security," or "Clear Browse Data."
Google Chrome:
Click the three dots in the top-right corner.
Go to "More tools" > "Clear Browse data..."
In the pop-up, choose a "Time range" (like "All time" for a full clean).14
Make sure the box next to "Cached images and files" is checked. You can uncheck "Browse history," "Cookies," and "Passwords" if you want to keep those.
Click "Clear data."
Mozilla Firefox:
Click the three lines (hamburger menu) in the top-right corner.
Go to "Settings" > "Privacy & Security."
Scroll down to the "Cookies and Site Data" section.
Click "Clear Data..."
Make sure "Cached Web Content" is checked. You can uncheck "Cookies and Site Data" if you want to stay logged into websites.
Click "Clear."
Microsoft Edge:
Click the three dots in the top-right corner.
Go to "Settings" > "Privacy, search, and services."
Under "Clear Browse data," click "Choose what to clear."
Select a "Time range."
Make sure "Cached images and files" is checked. Uncheck others if you want to keep them.
Click "Clear now."
Apple Safari (on Mac):
Click "Safari" in the menu bar at the top of your screen.
Go to "Preferences..."
Click on the "Advanced" tab.
At the very bottom, check the box that says "Show Develop menu in menu bar."
Close Preferences. Now, in the menu bar, click on "Develop."
Select "Empty Caches."
For Windows System Temporary Files (using Disk Cleanup):
This built-in tool helps remove many types of temporary files left by your operating system and programs.15
In the Windows search bar (bottom left of your screen), type "Disk Cleanup" and click on the "Disk Cleanup" app when it appears.16
A small window will pop up asking you to select a drive. Your main hard drive is usually "C:" (System). Click "OK."
Disk Cleanup will scan your drive for files it can remove.17 This might take a few moments.
Another window will appear. Scroll through the "Files to delete" list.
Crucially, check the boxes next to:
"Temporary files"
"Temporary Internet Files"
"Recycle Bin" (if you haven't emptied it manually)
You might also see "Downloaded Program Files," "Delivery Optimization Files," or "Windows upgrade log files." These are generally safe to delete too.
Be careful what you check! Don't check "Downloads" unless you are absolutely sure you want to delete everything in your Downloads folder.
Click "OK" and then "Delete files" when prompted.
Beyond the Basics: Deeper Digital Decluttering
While emptying your Recycle Bin, clearing downloads, and deleting cache files are quick wins, sometimes you need to dig a little deeper.
4. Unused Programs: The Silent Resource Hogs
Remember that game you downloaded a year ago but never play anymore? Or that free trial software you installed for a project that's now finished? These programs aren't just taking up space on your hard drive; they can also be silent resource hogs. Some programs might run in the background without you even knowing, slowing down your computer even when you're not using them.18 Uninstalling programs you no longer need is a powerful way to free up space and improve performance.19
Statistic: A computer with many unused programs can see its overall performance drop by 10-20% due to background processes and fragmented files, even if the programs aren't actively running.
How to uninstall programs:
On Windows:
Click the "Start" menu (the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner).
Click on "Settings" (the gear icon).
Click on "Apps" then "Apps & features."
You'll see a list of all the programs installed on your computer.
Scroll through the list and find programs you no longer use.
Click on the program you want to remove, then click "Uninstall." Follow any on-screen prompts.
Alternative Way (Older Windows): Some older versions of Windows might require you to go to "Control Panel" > "Programs" > "Programs and Features" or "Uninstall a program."
On Mac:
Open your "Finder" (the blue smiling face in your Dock).
Click on "Applications" in the sidebar.
You'll see a list of all your applications.
Find the program you want to uninstall.
Drag the program's icon to the "Trash" icon in your Dock.
Then, empty your Trash (as we learned earlier) to permanently remove it.
Important Mac Note: Some apps might leave behind small "preference files" in your Library folder. For a complete clean-up, you might need a dedicated uninstaller app.
5. The Big Space Eaters: Videos, Photos, and Large Documents
While small files add up, some files are just naturally huge. High-definition (HD) videos, professional-quality photos, large project files, and even huge presentations can gobble up gigabytes of storage space very quickly.20 If you have many of these on your computer, they might be the biggest culprits for your slow performance.
Statistic: Just one minute of high-definition (1080p) video can take up over 100 megabytes (MB) of space. An hour-long video could be over 6 GB! Photos from modern cameras can be several MBs each.
What to do with big files:
Find them:
On Windows: Open File Explorer. In the search box in the top-right, type size:gigantic or size:huge to find very large files.21 You can also search for file types like .mp4 (videos), .mov (videos), .avi (videos), .jpg (photos), .png (photos), .raw (camera photos), .psd (Photoshop files).
On Mac: Open Finder. Click on "File" > "Find" (or press Command-F). You can then set criteria like "Kind is Movie" and "File Size is greater than 1 GB."
Move them: If you don't need these large files on your computer all the time, move them to:
An external hard drive: This is a physical device you plug into your computer. It’s great for long-term storage of files you want to keep but don’t need daily access to.
Cloud storage: Services like Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Dropbox, or Apple iCloud allow you to store files online.22 This frees up space on your computer, and you can access your files from anywhere with an internet connection.
For example: If you have hundreds of photos, uploading them to Google Photos or iCloud Photos can save a lot of space on your computer.
6. Duplicate Files: The Sneaky Space Thieves
It might sound silly, but duplicate files are a real thing! You might download the same document twice, accidentally copy a photo folder, or save different versions of a homework assignment in multiple places. These duplicate files are exact copies, but they each take up their own space. They're like having five identical t-shirts in your closet when you only need one.
It's estimated that as much as 10-15% of the data on an average computer could be made up of duplicate files. That’s a significant amount of wasted space!
How to find duplicates (without special software):
This can be tricky to do manually for many files, but for specific folders you suspect might have duplicates:
Open the folder (like your "Downloads" or "Pictures").
Sort the files by "Name" or "Size."
Look for files with identical names (e.g., "Report.docx" and "Report (1).docx") or identical sizes.
Open them to confirm they are indeed the same, then delete the extra copies.
For a truly deep clean, there are special "duplicate file finder" programs you can use, but these are often more advanced and not always free.23 For now, manual checking in key folders is a great start.
Understanding Your Storage: A Quick Look
To really understand why decluttering helps, it’s good to know a tiny bit about how your computer stores information. Most computers use one of two main types of storage:
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs): These are older, mechanical drives that have spinning platters.24 They’re generally slower, but can store a lot of data for a lower cost. When files are deleted and new ones added, the remaining files can get "fragmented" (broken into pieces spread across the disk), which makes the drive work harder and slower.25
Solid State Drives (SSDs): These are newer, faster drives that use flash memory (like a giant USB stick). They have no moving parts, so they are much quicker at reading and writing data.26 SSDs don't get fragmented in the same way HDDs do, so you don't need to "defragment" them.27
No matter which type of drive you have, having too much stuff on it will slow it down. For HDDs, it makes finding files harder. For SSDs, it can reduce their lifespan and slow down write speeds. The key is to keep enough free space for your computer to work efficiently.
How to check how much space you have left:
On Windows:
Click the "File Explorer" icon (yellow folder) on your taskbar.28
Click on "This PC" in the left sidebar.
You’ll see your "Local Disk (C:)" (or other drive names). It will show you how much space is used and how much is free.
On Mac:
Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner of your screen.
Select "About This Mac."
Click on the "Storage" tab.
It will show you a bar graph of your storage, breaking down what types of files are using space and how much free space you have.
Statistic: Many experts recommend keeping at least 15-20% of your total drive space free for optimal performance.29 If your drive is almost full, it’s a big red flag!
The Benefits of a Lean Machine
So, why go through all this effort? Because a decluttered computer offers many amazing benefits:
Faster Performance: Your computer will start up quicker, open programs faster, and handle tasks more smoothly. You’ll spend less time waiting!
More Reliability: Less clutter means fewer errors and crashes. Your computer won't be struggling as much.
Easier Backups: When you have less junk, it's easier and faster to back up the truly important files. This is also where digital preservation comes in – by cleaning out the unnecessary, you make it simpler to safeguard the digital memories and documents that truly matter.
Longer Computer Life: A computer that isn't constantly stressed by a full drive might just last longer.
Peace of Mind: A tidy digital space can feel just as good as a tidy room!
Your Next Steps!
Giving your computer a good digital clean-up is one of the best ways to improve its speed and reliability. It’s like giving your computer a fresh breath of air! By regularly emptying your Recycle Bin/Trash, cleaning out your Downloads folder, clearing browser and system caches, uninstalling old programs, and managing large files, you take control of your digital life.
Don't feel like you have to do everything at once. Start with one or two steps, and you’ll already feel a difference. Make it a habit, and your computer will thank you!
In our next blog post, we’ll dive into "Tame Startup Programs: Stop Your Computer From Starting Slow," where we'll show you how to control what launches when your computer turns on, for an even speedier start!
https://www.easeus.com/computer-tips/hard-drive-full-slow.html
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hard-drive-performance-affected-full/
https://www.howtogeek.com/669866/how-to-clear-your-downloads-folder-in-windows-macos-and-linux/
https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/video/discover/video-file-size.html
https://www.avg.com/en/signal/clean-up-duplicate-files-free-up-disk-space
https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/how-much-free-disk-space-do-you-need
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-fix-low-disk-space-windows-10
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