Happy New Year! It always feels good after the holidays to get back to work with a nice tidy desk and organised and fast computer… Here are a few ideas to help you clean up! Whether you work with Apple or Windows, the processes for cleaning are very similar…

1. Tidy up your desktop

Is your computer desktop a bit chaotic? Have you been collecting screenshots, files and downloads that you no longer need?

Take a look at the documents on your desktop and delete the obsolete and file those you need to keep! You may decide to keep frequently used documents, so pop them in a folder where you can find them more easily.

Delete shortcuts you are no longer using and rearrange the screen so that it makes sense every time you login.

2. Organise your emails

Call up all the data in your inbox and sort by attachments. Delete all the attachments no longer required and browse through to check if any companies are spamming you with newsletters and other unwanted large files. Sort by those companies and delete.

Don’t forget to unsubscribe (or block) from people and companies you no longer wish to hear from.

Set up folders in your email account marked ‘Today’ and ‘In Progress’. As soon as you receive an email, place in the correct folder and delete anything that is not required straight away.

When you have time, go through your deleted items and unsubscribe from those senders if necessary. Then permanently delete your Trash.

3. Get rid of useless files

Delete all your unwanted downloads and temporary files and permanently delete your trash can.

Open up your File Manager and sort all your files by size.

Delete any of the larger files that are no longer required.

4. Uninstall applications you don’t use

The applications you have installed are taking up space. You should uninstall them if you don’t need them—just open File Manager / Finder window, select Applications in the sidebar, and drag-and-drop the application’s icon to the trash.

To find out which applications are using up the most space, open a File manager / Finder window and select Applications. Click the “Show items in a list” icon on the toolbar and then click the Size heading to sort your installed applications by size.

5. Use a system tool for cleaning

All of the activities above can be time consuming. If you would like to download a tool to help you tidy up more quickly, consider one of the following. These are just examples, but there are many to choose from.

· Apple Mac - CleanMyMac 3

· Windows. - Avast