Is your laptop, desktop computer, or phone starting to slow down? Are you running out of storage space on one of these devices or is it just overwhelmingly cluttered? Before you surrender and go out to buy a new computer or phone with more space, try these tips to free up space so that your old device feels brand new.

Change settings on your phone.

You can make a few changes to your phone’s settings to free up space on the device. If you go into the Photos and Camera section of your phone and turn off your photo stream, that will prevent all of your photos from saving on all the devices connected to your iCloud. You can also select Safari or Chrome under settings and clear history and website data to stop your phone from saving all of your browsing history. If you’re a Safari user, you should also delete the offline reading list under Safari in your settings. When the offline reading list is turned on, your phone saves webpages for you to read when you don’t have internet connection, taking up space.

Transfer items from your phone to your computer.

Do you need photos from 2014 lingering on your phone? Definitely not. Connect your phone to your computer and upload all of the old photos and apps that you don’t need directly. This will keep your phone from becoming overly full and slowing down due to lack of space.

Then, transfer items from your computer to a cloud system.

Utilize the technology of iCloud or Google drive. You can upload documents and photos from your computer to one of the two. Because you can access your iCloud or Google Drive from any computer, this protects your files more than your computer would. If your computer crashes, your files can disappear, but think of Google Drive and iCloud as huge virtual flash drives. They’ll save everything you need, whether your computer breaks or not. Make sure to continuously add your files to these backup systems. Set an interval for how often you’ll move items to the drive, like once every two weeks. This will help you stick to continuously freeing up space on your computer.

Actually delete emails and texts.

Go through your inbox and unsubscribe to the tons of emails you receive daily from companies you’ve never even heard of. Then, go through and delete old, irrelevant emails. Yes, this can be tedious, but it will leave you feeling refreshed. Do the same for your texts. On an iPhone, you can even go into your settings and select how long you’d like your phone to keep your messages. You can choose to keep messages for a month or a year instead of forever. While you’re at it, delete contacts that you no longer need to reach.

Empty the trash folders.

Most computers and email accounts have a deleted folder or trash can, but files continue to take up space on your devices until you clear them from these trash folders. Stay mindful that you aren’t deleting anything important so that this doesn’t cause any problems. When you’re clearing your inbox of old emails, you can move any old but potentially important emails to an “Important” folder. Then, you’ll feel free to clear the trash whenever you want.

These days, computers and phones are nothing short of investments. To get the best, longest use out of your devices, follow these strategies to free up space and keep everything running smoothly.

For more tips to improve your well-being, visit https://americanlifestylemag.com/culture.