Clean out A computer day, February 14th

Although many of us associated February 14th with Valentine’s Day, you may not have known that today is also Clean Out a Computer Day. This niche celebration occurs on the second Monday of February and is all about encouraging people to take care of their computers physically and digitally. For most users, the concept of ‘cleaning out their computer’ may never have even occurred to them, except perhaps in terms of clearing their inbox or organizing their desktop. In honor of Clean Out a Computer Day, this article walks you through why it’s important to take proper care of your computer and how you can celebrate the 14th of February in proper techy style.

Why is it important to clean out your computer?

Tending to your computer’s hardware and software will actually make your computer run faster and better in the long-run. Physically cleaning your computer will ensure that everything is running smoothly and as it should, and digital cleaning will make sure there’s nothing unnecessarily slowing your computer’s system down.

How to celebrate valentines day and clean out a computer day:

Organize your computer

Cleaning out your computer doesn’t necessarily have to mean deleting anything. Simply organizing your files and applications so that you know where everything is located is definitely a good use of your time. We all know the satisfication that comes with filing things away neatly and decluttering our desktops.

Delete unneeded or duplicate files and applications

Sitting down to sift through all your files and applications might seem like an overwhelming task but it will ultimately save you time. Try thinking of it as a spring cleaning exercise. Unused files, data and software are probably slowing your computer down unnecessarily, so clearing out the ones you don’t need is definitely worthwhile.

Update your operating system and applications

Why not take the time today to finally update your operating system and applications. Though this can take some time, you’ll find that once you’ve updated your system and apps, your computer will run faster and you’ll probably have access to some new features.

Back up to an external drive

Although this isn’t technically ‘cleaning out’ your computer, this is just generally good advice to follow. Once you’ve cleared out your unneeded files, you’ll be left with the important ones. Take the time to back all of these up to an external drive to prepare for worst case scenarios.

Clean your computer

Clean out a computer day isn’t just digital, it’s also about the physical condition of your computer or laptop. A quick tip is to simply clean your screen. Though you may have got used to it, there are probably a number of smudges and fingerprints all over your screen. Tip out your keyboard to get rid of any crumbs or dust that might have fallen between the cracks.

Take a moment too to clean out your computer’s fans. These are the mechanism that stop your computer from overheating, but over time dust can accumulate there thus minimizing their effectiveness. If you’re unsure of how to do this yourself, take it to a specialist.

Ask your employees to do the same

Clean out a computer day is the perfect occasion to encourage your employees to take care of their company provided devices. Educating your employees about best practices when it comes to using their computer will ensure that the computers you provide last the longest time possible.