Unconventional Ways of Freeing Space on your Computer
If your computer is filled with too much clutter, you can experience performance issues. It might be time to thoroughly clean your system if you are experiencing freezing programs, lag, or difficulty finding critical documents. Here’s a guide to free space on your system.
Uninstall Irrelevant Programs and Applications
If you’ve been using your computer for a long time, it is filled with many programs and apps. You may have used them, but now they are sitting there, taking up space.
Go through your list of applications and programs. Sort them by importance and uninstall the ones you don’t need anymore.
Windows users can go to Start > choose Apps > select Apps and Features > click Uninstall by choosing the apps and programs they don’t need.
Mac users must click the Apple icon > select About This Mac > go to the Storage section and click on Manage. Then, click the Applications button and go through the list of apps. Click on Delete to uninstall them.
Alternatively, you can go to Google Play Store or App Store, go through the list of applications and uninstall the ones you don’t need.
Clear Cookies and Cache Files
Clearing cookies and cache files do more than improve your browsing experience. These temporary files can take up a bit of space on your device.
If you are a Mac user wondering how to clear cookies on Mac, you can install Clean My Mac X. The app will help remove cookies from Safari, Firefox, Chrome, and other web browsers. Open the app > go to Privacy > click Scan > go through the scanned results and remove what you don’t need.
If you are a Windows user, you will likely use Google Chrome as your default browser. You can clear cookies and cache by opening Chrome > the menu button > clicking More Tools > selecting Clear Browsing Data. When this window opens, click which time range you wish to clear.
Eliminate the Large Files
Scour through your computer to find all the large files that are taking up the hard drive space. You might not even need these files any longer. For instance, attack the Downloads folder on your Mac or Windows system. You will find loads of downloaded files, photos, mail attachments, movies, or audio files you don’t require anymore. These items are uselessly taking up space on your computer. Delete them, and don’t forget to clear the trash.
Get Rid of Duplicate Files
You can manually search for duplicate files on your computer. But this is a time-consuming process. It would be best to download and install a Windows or Mac cleaning app and let the program scan through your computer. The software will bring back the scanned result, and you can go through it to delete the duplicate files.
Organize and Declutter the Desktop
Most people store a lot of items on their desktops by default. But having a cluttered desktop can slow your system, making it difficult for you to find important files and documents. Also, files on the desktop take up a lot of operating memory since they must be displayed all the time.
You need to delete the files you don’t need and move the rest to the Photos, Video, or Documents folders. You can also create new folders for specific files and put them there. It will help to free up a little space on your hard drive when you remove them. So, your computer will not run slowly anymore.
Move Files to the Cloud
Utilize cloud storage to reduce the burden on your computer. You don’t need to store everything on your hard drive when you can leverage cloud storage facilities. Also, it is a good practice to back up your important files to the cloud regularly so you don’t lose them. Once they have been uploaded, you can access the files from anywhere. It even becomes easier to share files with your friends or colleagues.
After you have uploaded the files to cloud storage, you can delete them from your computer hard drive. So, your files will be safe even if your drive crashes or your computer runs into trouble.
Delete all the Old Backup Files
Backing up files regularly is a great habit. But you need to check if your computer is filled with old backups you don’t need anymore. These unnecessary files must be deleted to reduce the burden on your hard drive.
The Bottom Line
Computers are used for personal and commercial purposes. After the global pandemic, most companies are following a remote working model, making the role of a well-functioning computer more critical than ever before. You cannot afford a slow system, or your work will get hampered. If the reason for the lag is a lack of storage space, the tricks mentioned earlier will help you reclaim space and enhance your system’s performance.
