How to Spring Clean Your Tech Devices

Spring has been here over a month and while you've probably been cleaning up your home while you've been practicing social distancing, you probably haven't taken the time to clean up your tech devices. If you haven't, shame on you. You know you would probably go hang yourself in the basement if something happened to your computer, smartphone or tablet. Your tech is a delicate device and you need to treat it as such. So please, take a moment to perform some deep cleaning and organization on your devices. Need some help? Here are some steps you need to take:

1. Secure Those Devices. Springtime is the right time to make sure your devices are secure. Take a moment to change all of those account passwords, confirm your anti-virus software is up to date on your devices. With Windows computers, only use Windows Defender. If you have any other programs running on your computer such as Malwarebytes, Norton, Kaspersky, McAfee, remove them. Windows Defender is all you need. Macintosh users can use Xprotect which is already built-in, so remove anything running. Smartphone users, just make you don't download any weird apps on your device and you can forget the anti-virus protection.

2. Declutter Those Devices. Don't believe the myth that too much stuff on your devices will slow them down. It is a good idea to remove old files, smart device apps, and computer programs for the sake of having a more streamlined device. Take a moment to organize those files, pictures, and videos. Don't forget about those emails. Most of us tend to use our email as a filing cabinet which is why our email gets so cluttered. Unless you're using Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail or Windows Mail, too much mail won't slow your device down. If you are, you need to clean out that email quarterly. Don't forget to empty your recycle bin and your trash can as well.

3. Take care of all of those cords. You probably use wireless devices when you can, but with technology, there is going to be some cords that need to be connected to our devices. If you can, hide those wires to your computers, printers and even TVs with cord covers or check out some other solutions that will allow you to hide cords in your walls. For your smartphone and tablet, switch to wireless chargers to eliminate cords. You can also consider purchasing power centers in a central location of your home where the family has a convenient place to charge all of their devices.

4. Clean Out those Crumbs. During all of the hours you spend in front of a screen, there's a good chance you're going to snack on something. After a while, your device is going to get pretty gross. For desktop and laptop keyboards, sure you can turn them upside down to shake out the dirt and crumbs. I recommend getting a can of compressed air to effectively get all of the debris out.

Springtime is a good time to clean out your devices. If you somehow can't find time to clean out your devices this spring, you can use these tips any time of the year to keep your computers, smartphones, and tablets running in top shape.

Want to ask me a tech question? Send it to burton@callintegralnow.com. If you prefer to connect with me on social media, you can find me on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter and watch great tech tip videos on my YouTube channel. I love technology. I've read all of the manuals and I want to make technology fun and exciting for you. 

If you need on-site or remote tech support for your Windows\Macintosh, computers, laptops, Android/Apple smartphone, tablets, printers, routers, smart home devices, and anything that connects to the Internet, please feel free to contact my team at Integral. My team of friendly tech experts are always standing by to answer your questions and help make your technology useful and fun. Reach out to us a www.callintegralnow.com or phone at 888.256.0829. 

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