A guide to doing a digital spring cleaning of your devices

As spring cleaning fever sweeps through households, cybersecurity experts suggest extending that organizational zeal to the digital realm. The accumulation of digital clutter not only slows down devices but creates security vulnerabilities that hackers are eager to exploit.

“Clutter is fuel for scammers. Old accounts, exposed data and forgotten apps give them more ways in,” warns Michael Sherwood, product vice president at cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes. “Cleaning up your digital life is one of the simplest ways to shrink your attack surface in a threat landscape that’s getting smarter, faster, and more automated.”

Experts recommend starting with device storage, which often becomes clogged with photos, videos, and downloaded files. Running low on storage can prevent critical system updates and slow performance significantly.

For iPhone users, the solution begins in Settings, where tapping General and then iPhone Storage reveals space-consuming culprits. Android devices offer similar diagnostics through the Storage tab in settings. Both Windows and Mac computers provide comparable tools to identify storage-intensive files and applications.

Important files should be archived to external drives or cloud storage before deletion. This redundancy ensures data safety while freeing up valuable device space.

Email inboxes represent another digital domain typically overrun with clutter. The average user accumulates thousands of unread notifications, receipts, statements, and promotional messages. Sorting by size, sender, or date can streamline the deletion process, making it more manageable to clear significant chunks of digital detritus.

While cleaning your inbox, cybersecurity professionals recommend unsubscribing from newsletters and mailing lists you no longer read. This not only prevents future clutter but reduces potential entry points for attackers.

Smartphone apps deserve particular scrutiny during digital spring cleaning. Deleting unused applications frees storage space, but the cleanup shouldn’t stop there. Many apps require account creation, and those dormant accounts remain vulnerable if not properly closed.

“Every dormant account is an open door. Scammers actively target abandoned logins because no one’s watching,” Sherwood explains. This vulnerability makes account deletion as important as app removal.

For applications worth keeping, checking for updates is critical. Outdated apps and operating systems often contain security vulnerabilities that developers have patched in newer versions. Regular updates provide both enhanced functionality and critical security protections.

Social media platforms represent another significant area requiring periodic review. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn and other platforms often store extensive personal information that can be exploited.

Chad Thunberg, chief information security officer at Yubico, emphasizes that “limiting what personal information is publicly available helps to reduce the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks such as phishing and identity theft.” Users should review privacy settings across platforms and consider deleting older posts that might contain sensitive information.

Third-party app connections often go forgotten but represent significant security concerns. Many users have granted numerous external applications access to their Facebook, Google, or Apple accounts. Reviewing and removing unnecessary third-party access is crucial for maintaining digital privacy.

Password security provides the foundation for digital protection. Multi-factor authentication should be standard practice for important accounts, but cybersecurity professionals increasingly recommend adopting passkeys as a superior alternative to traditional passwords.

Thunberg describes passkeys as a “modern login standard” offering enhanced security through a two-part code system. Major platforms including Google, Amazon, Facebook, and eBay now support passkeys, which require biometric authentication through fingerprint, face scan, or PIN.

“They cannot be faked, intercepted or replicated by AI-based attacks,” Thunberg notes about passkeys. Implementation requires a password manager, which comes pre-installed on Apple, Google, and Samsung devices, with third-party options available from companies like 1Password and BitWarden.

Even without passkeys, password managers remain essential for digital security. Following best practices means using unique passwords for each account—an impossible task to manage through memory alone.

“A password manager not only generates strong, unique passwords for each account, but also ensures users never have to remember them all,” Thunberg explains.

As digital life grows increasingly complex, regular maintenance becomes as necessary for online security as physical cleaning is for home health. Taking these steps seasonally can significantly reduce vulnerability to increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.