Spring cleaning usually means breaking a sweat scrubbing floors and organizing closets, but don’t forget your technology devices need some TLC, too.
So, toss the mops and brooms aside because it’s time to tidy up the tech.
From freeing up space on your smartphone to getting rid of pesky fingerprint smudges on your tablet, we’ve got a list of Dos and Don’ts that will keep your tech sparkling inside and out.
Clean
DO use a disposable dusting/microfiber cloth to clean off dirty screens. If there are dirty fingerprint smudges everywhere, use a slightly damp cloth with water only.
DO make cleaning easier, and prevent cracks and scratches, by using a screen protector on your laptop, tablet or smartphone.
DON’T use glass cleaners or household detergents to clean screens. Their chemicals are not made for electronics and could damage your gear.
Declutter
DO use a cloud service like Dropbox, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive to upload files and photos taking up space on your phone.
- iPhone users can upload up to 5GB of files and photos to iCloud for free.
- Android users can upload up to 15GB to Google Drive for free.
DON’T let unused apps take up precious storage on your smartphones. Get rid of them.
- iPhone users go to Settings > General> Storage > Manage storage and hit “Delete App.”
- Android users go to Settings > Applications > Application Manager to sort through and delete old or unused apps.
Organize
DO use a micro SD card to expand phone storage if your smartphone allows it.
DO update your operating system. In between your other cleaning chores, make sure to keep your Windows or Macintosh operating system updated. Manually update your system or program it to perform automatic updates.
DON’T forget to back up your important data. Remember to upload important files and photos to an external hard drive or cloud storage. You can set your smartphone or tablet automatically backup important data. And here are tips for backing up data on a computer.
Dust
DO bust all the dust out of your system. Make sure to turn off the PC before doing any cleaning tasks. Then look at the fan on the back of your system: if it’s fuzzy, use a can of compressed air to spray off the dust in a sideways direction (take care around fans to ensure you’re not causing them to spin abnormally fast to avoid damage or wear). Dust other case surfaces with a disposable, soft dusting cloth. If there’s other gunk on the case that resembles coffee stains, a slightly damp paper towel will do the trick.
DON’T use a vacuum to clear out the dust on your PC. Vacuums create static electricity, which is deadly to sensitive electronic components.
If you have more questions about taking care of your tech devices, contact Geek Squad.