Today in the Get Organized! Digital Declutter Challenge we are turning to your laptop or desktop computer to clear out the Downloads folder.
Few people regularly clear out their Downloads folder, and many are not even aware that they have one. This folder is the place where your computer automatically saves attachments, photos, memes, and other files that you download from the internet. Typically, these files are assigned a name by your computer, such as, “IMG_1234.jpg.” Often, we accumulate files in this folder and then forget about them. The result is a pileup of old files that take up disk space and make it difficult to find the recent files we want.
To clear this folder…
In general, if you have a PC:
- Click on the Windows Start Button (the rainbow colored square at the bottom left of your screen).
- Scroll up and click on the word “Computer.”
- Look in the left hand pane for the word “Downloads.” This folder usually has an icon that is a downward facing arrow.
- Click on the folder to open it up and you will see a listing of all of the documents you have downloaded.
In general, if you have an Apple:
- Click on the Finder (the smiley face, square icon on the bottom left of your screen).
- Scroll up to the “Downloads” folder. This folder usually has an icon that is a downward facing arrow.
- Double click on the folder to open it up and you will see a listing of all of the documents you have downloaded.
To make the sorting easier, you may wish to sort all of these documents by the date they were downloaded. [To do this, click on the words “Date modified” at the top of that column.]
Once you have ordered the Downloads, go through and delete any that you no longer need. Begin with the oldest and work up toward the most recent. Feel free to open the files up if you can’t remember what they are from the automatically generated name.
The rest of the documents – any that you wish to keep – should be moved out of the Downloads folder and into the appropriate location. If you aren’t sure where you want to put them, you may leave them here for now, but make sure they are named in a way that will remind you what they are. (We will revisit the idea of naming documents later in the month.)
Going forward, it is a good discipline to rename and move files out of your Downloads folder as soon as you download them.
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How did it go? Did you have a lot of files in this folder?
I try to move my downloads as soon as I do download them, but still I know I have few possibly still in there. So thank you for the advice and reminder here 😉
Janine Huldie recently posted…Peanut Butter and Jelly Chocolate Pudding Trifle Mason Jar Recipe
I’m sort of like you… I try and move them out, but there are still some there that I could get rid of. I’m trying to do these challenges myself!
Seana, It’s like you were reading my mind. i was just thinking about checking out my download folder yesterday (then life happened). Thanks for the reminder. I’ve never emptied it, so I’ll be busy for quite sometime.
Susan recently posted…Day 5 Purging Tips – Small Toys and Email Inbox
It’s crazy how quickly that can fill up, and how easy it is to forget what is inside. The upside is it will free up some disk space and just “feel good” to have an empty folder. Good luck today clearing it all out!
Great advice Seana, it is amazing how many different places your computer will store something, many of us have duplicates of the same information.
Jill Robson recently posted…Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
That is so true, Jill! It can be hard to actually know what you’ve got where… can’t spread it out all over a table like you can with paper. Computers are such wonderful tools, but they can be tricky:)
Great tip, Seana! I just cleared all the downloads in the folder. Since I always move them to the appropriate place, there was no need to review and decide if they were needed. I never would have thought to clear them out if you hadn’t set this as a “digital” declutter challenge.
Thank you. Feeling lighter.
Linda Samuels recently posted…12 Most Popular Organizing Ideas of the Year to Jumpstart Your Success
Victory! I love that! I think most of us simply forget they are there. This is a challenge with a lot of digital clutter. Because it doesn’t consumer physical space, we tend to ignore it. Unfortunately, like everything else, it becomes baggage that slows us down and stands between us and what we most want and need.
Oh man, you got me on this one. My downloads are all over the place. My computer crashed a few weeks ago and I thought I lost ALL of it but the techs were able to save my info. Whew! Now I have an external hard drive—-something I should have done years ago!
A crashing computer is enough to send a blogger into panic for sure. How thankful are we for wonderful, smart, technical saviors? Glad you were able to retrieve and are now backing up. Phew.