Welcome back to the Digital Declutter Challenge. Did you have a refreshing break from technology yesterday? As we enter our last full of week, we will be turning the computers back on for a few final projects. Today’s task is to clear out your digital bookmarks.
To many, a bookmark is a piece of paper that you put in a physical book to hold your spot. Digital bookmarks work in much the same way, providing a method for easily returning to a particular location on the internet. People tend to bookmark favorite news sites, blogs, reference sites and tools. Some of you may have a plethora of bookmarks, while others may be unaware they even exist.
Each search engine (Safari, Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, etc.) offers the option of bookmarking a page. If you look at the top of your screen, you will probably see the word “Bookmarks” (or “Favorites”) as the name of a drop down menu. Anytime you are on a webpage, you can select this menu and click to add the page to your bookmarks. You can then adjust your settings so that your favorites appear either along the top of your search engine window or in an easily accessible list.
If you have been a heavy user of bookmarks, you may have accumulated sites in your bookmarks list that you no longer visit. As with all aspects of life, we tend to go through phases with our interests and needs. Therefore, it makes sense to periodically update our bookmarked pages to ensure quick access to the sites we visit most often.
The exact method for deleting bookmarks will differ by device and browser. If you have been using bookmarks, you probably know how to find and use this function. However, if you are not quite sure how to proceed, this page provides instructions and images that you might find helpful.
When reviewing your bookmarks, click through to any page that you don’t recognize. There is always a chance that a bookmarked site is no longer available or has become irrelevant to your needs.
This should be a relatively quick task. If you use different browsers on different devices (i.e. a change you make on one device won’t automatically synch across them all), go ahead and declutter each device individually.
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Do you use bookmarks or favorites? Do you think you have bookmarked pages that you no longer visit?
Totally do use bookmarks and sure I have my fair share that are no longer used. So I will definitely take this challenge and go through mine now. Thanks for the suggestion 😉
Janine Huldie recently posted…Why Don’t You Tie A Blue Bow Around It?
I found it interest to look through my own and see how many I had that I really never used anymore. Trying to take my own advice:)
Oh boy, this is a big task for me. I have several client links for my social media clients and it tends to be hard to review them all. So, what I will do is focus on my personal bookmarks. That way it will be cleaner when I need it. Thanks for the task.
BTW, I finished my reviewing my photos and videos on my computer. My hubby found a Linux based app that is supposed to find duplicates in content. We still have to try it out to find duplicates because I know I have some.
Sabrina Quairoli recently posted…Easy And Simple Ways To Save Money This Year
Sounds like a terrific app, Sabrina. Most of us have way too many photos and they are easy to lose track of inside our devices! Personal bookmarks is a big enough goal for today:)
I don’t bookmark much anymore, because my password manager takes me directly to sites that I need to log into, and a lot of times it’s faster to type in a URL than to find the bookmark.
When I was bookmarking regularly, I usually started from scratch whenever I got a new computer, because so many of them were no longer working, or no longer relevant.
Janet Barclay recently posted…Organizing a Virtual Team to Build a Better Blog
Good thought about the password manager. Smart to use the tools that make you most efficient. Getting a new computer is sort of like moving… great time to declutter!
Oh good point. I have to clear out my digital bookmarks. I have some from a few years ago and I don’t really go to those sites. Thanks for the tip.
Kathy McEwan recently posted…Best Organizing Advice You Will Ever Need
I had some that didn’t even go anywhere because the sites were no longer operating. It is such a quick and easy task, well worth the couple of minutes it takes. Enjoy your day, Kathy!
A great reminder for me to go through my digital bookmarks. I use the ‘bookmark bar’ in Safari for the websites I go to often but other than that, I use ‘Pocket’ (formerly known as Read it Later) to ‘bookmark’ web pages I want to refer to. I also use Pinterest to bookmark articles I want to access frequently. I’ll have to make some time on my calendar to go through my bookmarks!
Pocket is a neat little tool, and I believe it works well with Evernote as well. I keep a few sites bookmarked for quick reference, and I find it very helpful. With articles, I strive to read them today or let it go… I can’t handle the guilt of having a lot of reading to do LOL.
I’m a big user of bookmarks and favorites. And I’m happy to report that I cleaned up mine very recently to only include the ones I’d really use. It can be counterproductive to have a long list of bookmarks as it is hard to find exactly what you’re looking for.
I made note of all your previous tasks so I can catch up. 🙂
Rea recently posted…BeautyMNL Haul: 5 Travel Essentials For Your Beauty Kit
Yes, when you have too many along the top they end up being scrunched together and not being very helpful. You are a step ahead of me today, Rea. I affirm you!
I do love my bookmarks, but in the process of moving to another computer soon, I was worried I’d lose them all (still don’t know if I will) so I’ve been just keeping the good ones and making sure I can find them again!
Tamara recently posted…How I Honeymooned Your Father, Part XVI: Talkeetna Charm
Anytime you “move” is a great time to declutter!
I’m not much of a “bookmark-er” but I could see where this could get out of hand for some folks! Btw, great job on keeping up with these daily challenges. Writing everyday can be tough, but what a valuable series to get the new year off on the right ‘digital’ foot!
Thanks for the affirmation, Sarah. I think writing every day has been my personal challenge:) Not everyone uses bookmarks/favorites, but for those who do, great to just review them every now and then.
This is so timely! Just yesterday I was looking for something I had bookmarked and it took longer than necessary because my bookmarks were so disorganized. Thanks for the inspiration to “clean up my act”!
Mo at Mocadeaux recently posted…Women’s March Chicago – A Beautiful Day And A Beautiful Event
So glad to hear that, Mo. This is a wonderful testimony to the value of having a reasonable number of bookmarks. Thanks for stopping by the Challenge!
I’ve never been a big bookmark user, but my husband is. It’s challenging to get him to take the time and declutter his bookmarks on our shared computer. I confess that just knowing all those bookmarks are sitting there drives me crazy. Ah, but marriage is about compromise (and biting our tongue), isn’t it. 🙂
Susan recently posted…This Is How We Roll Link Party #100
That is the voice of an experienced spouse! Funny how a computer is actually “shared space,” and a place where personal preferences can be in conflict. We all have to give and take:)
Hi Seana,
Digital bookmarks get out of control so quickly. I tend to try out different services and browsers – and then find my bookmarks scattered across platforms.
I do need to spend some time on decluttering this area of my life!
Glad you are finding this a helpful task – it just occurred to me when I saw the crowding across the top of my own browser. Trying to take my own advice!!