Digital decluttering

What It Means

Digital declutteringDeclutteringClearing out what a home no longer needs by sorting belongings into what to keep and what leaves the house, one small area at a time. See more has two meanings. (1) In the everyday sense, it's decluttering applied to your devices and accounts: deleting apps you don't use, sorting photos and files, and canceling what you no longer need, the way Merriam-Webster's definition of declutter describes clearing clutter from a room. (2) In Cal Newport's book Digital MinimalismDigital minimalismCal Newport's approach to technology: use only the apps and tools that clearly support what you value, and let the rest go. See more, the "digital declutter" is a thirty-day process: you take a break from optional technologies, then bring back only the ones you have a strong reason to use.

How People Say It

• "My phone's out of storage again, I need to clear it out."
• "I deleted half my apps and didn't miss any of them."
• "I'm doing a 30-day digital declutter, no social media this month."

The Breakdown

Meaning 1: clear out your devices (Buhata's suggestion, one area per session)

1. Apps. Delete the ones you haven't opened in months. While you're there, check what the rest can reach; the FTC suggests deleting apps that ask for many permissions they don't need.
2. Photos. Use the Library of Congress's four steps: identify where they all are, decide which matter, organize them with names and folders, and make copies.
3. Subscriptions. List every plan that renews, add up its yearly cost, and cancel through each company's own steps, as Buhata's subscription auditSubscription auditGoing through every recurring charge you pay, adding up what each costs a year, and canceling the ones you no longer use. See more page explains.
4. Files and downloads. Move what you need into named folders and delete the rest.
5. Old accounts. Write down accounts you no longer use, then close them through each site's settings.

Meaning 2: Cal Newport's digital declutter

1. Decide which technologies in your life are optional.
2. Take a break from them for thirty days.
3. At the end, bring back only the tools you have a strong reason to use.

Short version to try today. Scroll through your phone's home screens and delete five apps you haven't opened this month.

Where It Comes From

Author Cal Newport set out the thirty-day "digital declutter" in his book Digital Minimalism, published by Penguin Random House. On his site he describes digital minimalism as asking which digital tools add the most value to your life and clearing away the rest.

Good to Know

Before deleting photos or files, make sure the ones you want exist somewhere else too. The Library of Congress advises at least two copies of important photos, kept in different places. To stop a paid plan, use the cancellation steps on Buhata's subscription audit page, which follows the FTC's advice to keep a copy of each request and watch your statements afterward.

Related Terms and Categories

• Decluttering

  Clearing out what a home no longer needs by sorting belongings into what to keep and what leaves the house, one small area at a time.

• Subscription audit

  Going through every recurring charge you pay, adding up what each costs a year, and canceling the ones you no longer use.

• Screen time

  The time a child spends using screens such as TVs, tablets, phones, computers and game consoles, counted across a day or a week.

Tech and digital life for families