It wasn’t long ago when office filing cabinets spilled over with manila folders and most homes had bookshelves packed with documents that simply couldn’t be tossed. But today, since most of your life is contained in the device in your pocket, it’s all about cleaning up your smartphone and making it more efficient, rather than organizing a pile of papers.

We can probably all agree that smartphones have completely transformed the way we approach:

• Collecting memories
• Hanging onto important files
• Living our daily lives

This is why it’s important to learn how to make your smartphone more efficient, so it can continue to keep your life organized.

Just as those filing cabinets of the past filled up with seldom-accessed documents, our smartphones collect an obscene amount of digital clutter. This virtual mess can:

• Slow down your phone
• Kill your phone’s battery life
• Make it challenging to find the things you’re actually looking for

Don’t worry, though—making your smartphone more efficient is easier than you may think. But rather than breaking open a box for the first time in a decade to sort through long-forgotten files, you can now use a few simple techniques to maintain a tidy smartphone.

Keep Your Apps Under Control

If your smartphone is the new filing cabinet, your apps are the new folders inside it. So, this means you’ve got to be proactive in managing your apps. Otherwise, they can quickly get out of control and bog down your smartphone.

Update Your Apps Regularly

Sure, trying to keep up with frequent app updates can be tedious. But those updates can ensure that your smartphone—not just the apps—continues operating smoothly. From fixing bugs to increasing app security, updates can vastly improve your experience and help make your smartphone more efficient.

Most smartphones have a feature that allows apps to update automatically. It may be a good idea to enable this feature so your apps update as soon as new versions are released without you having to do anything at all.

Delete Unused Apps

It’s no secret that the limited storage space on smartphones can quickly fill up. Low memory can cause problems such as:

• The inability to take new photos
• Slow speeds for most functionalities
• Overall poor phone performance

By deleting apps that you no longer use, you can bring your phone back to life. The storage space gained will not only give you room to save new, more useful items but will also improve the rate at which your phone can conduct most operations.

The Importance of Behind-the-Scenes Operations

While you interact with various apps on your smartphone, the system powering those interactions is always working behind the scenes. A key part of making your smartphone more efficient is ensuring that this system is executing those background operations as efficiently as possible.

Don’t Delay System Updates

We know those constant push notifications about the latest software update can get annoying. But we have a solution for you: install them early to avoid the hassle.

Updating your smartphone operating system will help it:

• Run smoother
• Handle the latest changes without issue
• Fix any bugs that may be present in the current version

Manage Your Smartphone’s Background Tasks

Many of the apps on your phone will run background tasks that can slow down operating speeds and increase your frustration. Luckily, you can change the majority of these background tasks to run less frequently. Or, you can turn them off entirely.

The same goes for normal system operations that can drain your battery and slow down your smartphone. Some services can negatively impact performance, such as:

• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• GPS

For these and other functions, you may want to consider turning them off when not in use. Doing a quick audit and shutting some things off is a pretty simple way to make your smartphone more efficient.

Spring Clean Your Smartphone’s Closet

We’ve already touched on how unused apps can eat away at your smartphone storage. So now, let’s focus on a more challenging type of memory to clean up: your files, photos, and conversations.

It’s easy to get emotionally attached to the memories filling up your smartphone’s storage. From candid pictures that bring a smile to your face to the conversations with a loved one, wanting to hold onto these digital keepsakes is totally understandable.

This is why we recommend sorting through them and dividing them into three virtual piles:

• Photos, conversations, and photos you can delete
• Files that should stay on your smartphone
• Things you can relocate to an alternative storage solution

If, for example, you want to hang onto the photos from that weekend road trip but don’t need them immediately accessible on your phone, you can:

• Sync them to your computer
• Move them to a hard drive
• Use a cloud service for storage

Learning how to make your smartphone more efficient is easy with these simple, quick steps. Be sure to check out other annual tech maintenance tasks to not overlook to keep all of your devices running like new.