How to Organize Your Digital Life: Photos, Files, Email and More

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1 Computer Files and Photos

2 Personal Accounts and Social Media

3 Phone

4 Emails

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Co-authored by Julie Naylon and Janice Tieperman

Last Updated: June 23, 2025 References

Clutter doesn’t have to be physical to take up a lot of space in your life. Between our smartphones and computers, our digital lives are filled with files, software, and apps that we don’t really need. Take a closer look at the tech you use on a regular basis and see what kinds of decluttering you can do.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

Computer Files and Photos

1. 
   1
   Create a folder system for your files and photos. Start with broad categories like "Photos" and "Documents"—these are usually already present on your computer. Within these large folders, create sub-folders, which help better organize your files. As you upload or download new files or photos to your computer, store them in this folder system.

   • For instance, in your "Documents" folder, you might have sub-folders with names like "Taxes," "Schoolwork," and "Receipts."
2. 
   2
   Delete any digital files you don’t need. As you're sorting through your files, ask yourself if you need or use any of the old documents that are currently cluttering up your hard drive. If you haven’t used or accessed the file in some time, it’s probably safe to delete it.

   • Only keep documents and tools that you use on a regular basis.
   • For example, you can go through your documents folder and delete old high school or college papers from previous semesters and school years.
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3. 
   3
   Remove duplicate photos and documents. Scroll through your saved documents and your recently uploaded pictures and look for duplicates. Clear out these files from your computer, so it’ll be easier to navigate your digital albums.

   • For instance, if you took 3 photos of the same thing, delete 2 of those pictures.
4. 
   4
   Uninstall any software you don’t use. Scroll through your computer’s installed software. Do you use all of these programs, or are some of them just taking up space? Feel free to uninstall and delete any software that you don’t use anymore.

   • For instance, if you have both iTunes and Spotify on your computer, you might delete the music platform you use less often.
5. 
   5
   Clear your desktop’s recycle bin. Open up the recycle bin, which is usually a small icon somewhere on your computer’s desktop screen. Select all of the files and delete them from your computer, which can help get rid of the digital clutter.

   • It’s easy to forget how many files collect in your recycle bin. Once a week or so, go through your bin and delete any leftover files.
6. 
   6
   Name your files and photos consistently. Come up with a naming system for your files, so it’s easy to search for and find the different files that you need. List your files by date, or by any other label that will make them easy to pick out from the crowd.

   • Don’t use spaces in your file names, since some software programs can’t process those types of labels. Instead, use underscores or dashes.
   • For instance, you can label a file like: “Household_Budget” or “1-13_Ski_Trip.”
   • Photos are best organized by year. Create larger folders for the year, along with subfolders for the month. Use numerical names for each month, so your computer arranges them chronologically.
7. 
   7
   Back up your computer files and digital photos. A backup can really come in handy if you run into computer issues further down the line. Save your files to an external hard drive, or copy them to a cloud-based platform, like Google Drive or Dropbox.

   • Always password protect your backup files, so random people can’t access your files.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

Personal Accounts and Social Media

1. 
   1
   Consolidate your passwords with a password management tool. Download a special program or app where you can record and store your passwords for easy access. Don’t worry—these programs are secure, so only you can access your data.

   • Professional tech testers found that Keeper Password Manager, LastPass, and Dashlane are all great options.
2. 
   2
   Set up extra authentication for your personal accounts. Check the settings for your account, whether it’s social media, email, or something else altogether. Sign up for “2-factor authentication,” or look into other ways you can secure your accounts, like biometrics.

   • Extra authentication makes it trickier for people to hack into your profiles, and makes it easier for you to stay on top of your accounts.
3. 
   3
   Unfollow pages or people you aren’t invested in. Go through your “following” or “friends” list on social media. Ask yourself if you really enjoy or need to subscribe to these accounts, or if you’d be better off unfollowing them. Your feed will be a lot less cluttered if you’re only following people and pages that you know and like!

   • For instance, you can probably unfriend/unfollow old school acquaintances, or people you don’t talk to anymore.
4. 
   4
   Prioritize your favorite accounts and pages so you can see them more often. Add your favorite Twitter accounts to a “list” that you can scroll through. You can also promote certain friends to a higher level on your Snapchat list. If you use Facebook a lot, take advantage of the “unfollow” feature—this lets you unsubscribe from a person updates without unfriending them altogether.

   • You can unfollow a lot of people at once on Facebook by selecting the “unfollow people to hide their posts” option on your main news feed.
5. 
   5
   Delete and deactivate your old accounts. Plug your email into the “deseat.me” site and see how many accounts are registered with that email. Search for any accounts or profiles that you don’t use anymore, and deactivate them on their respective sites.

   • “Deseat.me” is specifically designed to help you track your old accounts.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

Phone

1. 
   1
   Delete any apps you don’t use anymore. Flip through your phone and look through all of your apps, including your app folders. Ask yourself if you need each app, or if it’s just taking up extra space. If you haven’t used the app in a few months, you probably don’t need it on your phone.

   • For instance, if you have both “Google Chrome” and “Safari” browsers on your phone, you can delete 1 of them.
   • You might delete an app that’s giving your phone a lot of pointless notifications.
2. 
   2
   Group your apps on your phone. Arrange the apps you use the most on your bottom “dock,” like your phone, text, and internet apps. Place your other apps in folders, or on your home screen, where you can find them easily.

   • For instance, your voice memos, notes, and calculator can all go in a “Utilities” folder, while Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Snapchat icons can go in a “Social Media” folder.
3. 
   3
   Remove any phone contacts you don’t need. Scroll through your contacts app and review each entry. Ask yourself if you talk to each person a lot, or if they’re just taking up space on your phone. Delete these old, unused entries, so you’ll have an easier time navigating your contact list.

   • For instance, you might delete the numbers of acquaintances you don’t talk to anymore, or old co-workers.
4. 
   4
   Back up your phone to keep your data safe. Use a cloud service, like Dropbox or iCloud, to create a “backup” of your phone’s current data. This way, if anything should happen to your phone, you won’t lose any of your photos, contacts, or other valuable data.

   • Keeping your phone backed up is a great way to stay organized and prepared for the future.
5. 
   5
   Transfer your old photos and videos somewhere else. Download your photos and videos to your computer, or to an external hard five. This way, you can free up a lot of space for any new photos or videos that you’ll take in the future.

   • For example, if you have pictures from a wedding you attended 4 years ago, you can probably save those to a computer instead of keeping them on your phone.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

Emails

1. 
   1
   Archive or delete your emails if you have too many. Don’t feel like you have to read through each and every email in your inbox, especially if you have thousands upon thousands of unread messages. Skim through your inbox and delete or archive any unnecessary emails, so you can start fresh with a clean inbox.

   • Archiving is a little less permanent than deleting.
2. 
   2
   Create folders in your email inbox. Similar to a computer, you can also make folders for your emails. Choose broad categories that apply to the kinds of email you usually get. As new emails fly into your inbox, use the “move” feature in your email interface to send them to specific folders.

   • For example, you can create folder categories like “Work,” “Personal,” “School,” “Shopping,” and more.
   • Some email clients, like Gmail, have labels you can use to tag and organize your emails.
3. 
   3
   Add filters that organize your email automatically. Go into your email settings and set up filters for your incoming email. Typically, filters scan your emails for specific keywords, and send the email to a certain folder accordingly. Set up filters for words that tend to pop up in your emails a lot.

   • For instance, if you’re a student, words like “university” or “course” could be filtered and sent to a “School” folder.
   • Keywords like “discount” or “coupon” could go in the “Shopping” folder.
4. 
   4
   Unsubscribe from email subscriptions you don't want. Scroll through your inbox and see if any newsletters, companies, advertisements, or other junk tend to pop up a lot. Open up one of these emails go to the very bottom—there should be an “unsubscribe” option you can click, which will remove you from the mailing list.

   • The program “unroll.me” can unsubscribe you from multiple newsletters at once—however, keep in mind that this group stores and resells anonymous data from its users.
5. 
   5
   Consolidate your email accounts into 1 inbox. Pick an email interface that you’d like to use as your home base for all your emails. Redirect your emails so they all show up in 1 place—this way, you won’t have to switch between different accounts all the time.

   • On Outlook, you can make aliases that will send and get emails from your other email accounts.
   • On Gmail, select the “mail fetcher” option to combine your accounts.
6. 
   6
   Check your email only a few times a day. Let people know when you’ll be at your computer and when you’ll be away. You don’t need to answer your emails constantly, even if you get quite a few throughout the day. Instead, cut back on your screen time and set boundaries for yourself, so other people know when they can expect to hear back from you.

   • For instance, if you’re a teacher or tutor, let your students know when your office hours are, or when you’ll be available to answer email.
   • You can say something like, “I check my email in the morning and evening, and will try to get back to you within 2 days.”
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Expert Q&A

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• Question

  Why is it important to keep my computer organized?

  

  Ashley Moon, MA
  Professional Organizer

  Ashley Moon is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Neat, a virtual organizing and life coaching business based in Los Angeles, California. In addition to helping people organize their best life, she has a fabulous team of organizers ready to de-clutter your home or business. Ashley hosts workshops and speaking engagements at various venues and festivals. She has trained with Coach Approach and Heart Core for organizing and business coaching respectively. She has an MA in Human Development and Social Change from Pacific Oaks College.

  

  Ashley Moon, MA

  Professional Organizer

  Expert Answer

  The more clear you can keep your workspace, the better. It will help you focus better on what's in front of you without being distracted by clutter.

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Tips

• If you get a lot of similar emails each day, draft a “template” for quick but professional replies. Simply copy and paste the template, but customize the message to the specific sender.
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• Organize your favorite news sites with an RSS reader, which helps keep your favorite news feeds in 1 place on your digital devices.
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• Organize your tasks and reminders with a digital task board, like Trello, Asana, or Flow-e.
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Warnings

• Update your software regularly—if it’s not up-to-date, you might be at risk for malware infections.
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