Give your iPhone a brand new look

There are two types of iPhone users: those with no unread emails and those whose Mail app displays a four-digit number in red. If you find yourself in the latter camp, your smartphone may not only contain unopened messages, but also unnecessary apps and outdated files. Not only does a cluttered iPhone make it difficult to find the right apps, but a smartphone with near-capacity storage can also slow down performance.

Not only does a cluttered iPhone make it difficult to find the right apps, but a smartphone with near-capacity storage can also slow down performance.

However, when it comes time to clean up your iPhone, there are some tricks that can make the process faster. And, let’s be honest, who doesn’t love a way to simplify their spring cleaning chore list? Here are some tips and tricks for cleaning your iPhone quickly, from opening storage to physically disinfecting the device.

How to clean up memory on iPhone by deleting unused apps, photos and files

Once your iPhone’s storage is full, you can no longer take photos or download any apps – ideally, you should clear out unused data before your smartphone becomes dangerously full.

How to quickly delete apps from iPhone

The easiest place to start is to delete unused apps. To remove an app from your home screen, follow these steps:

1. Click and hold Until a small menu pops up.
2. To quickly delete multiple apps, tap Edit home screen. In this mode, all app icons start to wiggle.
3. tap “-“icon on any unwanted applications, then Confirm you want to delete the app, not just delete it From any popup on the home screen.
   • You don’t need to exit the swing app mode to navigate to different homepages, just swipe to other pages.
4. tap complete Once completed.

Tips to quickly delete photos and videos on iPhone

One of the biggest culprits that triggers the “storage full” message on iPhone is photos and videos. The first step is to save the photos you want to keep elsewhere – there are a few different ways to do this. You can plug your iPhone into your MacBook and then use the Photos app to transfer files to your MacBook. Alternatively, you can transfer photos to a portable hard drive plugged into your iPhone. Cloud storage is also another option if you have the space.

Before you begin, make sure your photos are in a location other than iCloud, as deleting images from your iPhone will also delete them from iCloud.

Once you’ve saved the memories you don’t want to lose, it’s time to delete a large number of photos in bulk. If you don’t need these old photos, you can quickly delete all iPhone photos by following this guide. If you occasionally pull out a few photos, there are still some shortcuts you can use to delete a large number of photos without deleting everything.

The fastest way to get rid of unnecessary photos is to use your iPhone’s built-in utility, which can find and merge duplicate images to keep just one version.

1. Open photo app and click Album.
2. scroll down to Utilities.
3. choose Duplicates.
4. tap choose In the upper right corner.
5. tap select all.
6. At the bottom, click merge.
7. In the pop-up window, choose whether to merge only identical copies or similar copies as well.

While deleting duplicate photos is great, unfortunately, the iPhone doesn’t have an option to automatically delete all unflattering selfies. However, you can quickly select a large number of images.

1. Open photo application and the album from which you want to delete photos.
   • If you scroll down on the album page, you can also see folders organized by media type. This is a great shortcut for, for example, deleting all screenshots at once.
2. tap choose In the upper right corner.
3. Next, Click on the first photo in the group you want to delete, then Drag your finger Go through the screen and photos until all images in the section are selected. Skip any images you want to keep and repeat until all the images you want to delete are selected.
4. Click trash can icon and confirm the deletion in the pop-up window.

After clearing out storage, your iPhone home screen may look a little empty. Organizing your home screen gives you quickest access to the apps you use most while making other apps easier to find. I like to put my most used apps on the front page and then arrange subsequent pages by category so everything is easy to find, but you can use whatever organizational strategy suits your lifestyle.

1. Click and hold on the background Until the application starts to wiggle.
2. To move an application, Click and drag the icon to a new location. Drag to the side of the screen to jump to a new page.
3. To create an app folder, drag and drop an app on top of another app you want to group. Enter the folder name at the top. Click outside the folder to exit. Any subsequent apps you want to add can be dragged to the new folder instead of being dragged on top of another app.
4. Widgets are small icons that display information on your home screen, such as the day’s calendar, popular headlines, or memories from photos.
   • To add a new widget, click the plus icon. On the next screen, select a Smart Stack for a group of widgets, or select a widget from the list.
   • Just like app icons, widgets can be dragged and dropped to a new home screen location. Alternatively, you can leave your home screen widget-free and access widgets by swiping from the left and tapping the Edit button at the bottom to customize them.

Clean up Safari by closing old tabs and deleting bookmarks

Another culprit of forgetting to take up data space on your iPhone is Safari. Opening a new tab with every link can result in hundreds of forgotten tabs. Thankfully, iOS has a few tricks to clean up those old tabs in just a few taps.

1. Follow this guide to clean up old Safari tabs.Key points: Open tab view, long press on a thumbnail and select Close other tabs.
2. Set Safari to automatically delete unused tabs so you never run into a backlog again.Go to Settings > Safari > Close tabs And choose to close old tabs after one day, one week, or one month.
3. Clear unnecessary bookmarks.Open Safari > Bookmark icon > Edit. Then, tap the red minus icon to quickly remove items from your bookmarks or reading list.

Clean up old emails and text messages

I’m guilty of having far more than a few hundred unread emails, but I now try to delete all spam every week to avoid missing out on important messages. iOS has tools to clean up communication clutter without deleting emails one at a time. And if you download an app for bulk unsubscribing from spam emails, you can prevent those numbers from creeping back up quickly.

• Open your email app and tap to quickly delete large amounts of email Edit > Select All. Browse and deselect any emails you want to save, then click the Trash button.
• Consider downloading an app to unsubscribe from spam emails. I use Unroll.Me to quickly unsubscribe from any mass email list. This is much easier than unsubscribing from a manual by clicking the link at the bottom of every email.
• Delete old text messages you no longer need.You can do this through a similar process as deleting emails – open the Messages app, tap Edit > Select message. Then, select the ones you no longer need and click Delete.
• Follow this guide to automatically delete two-factor authentication messages using iOS 17’s new tools.

Perform a privacy check

The annual spring cleaning is a good time to double-check your privacy settings and make sure no unnecessary apps are using your information. iOS has a built-in tool for this purpose called Security Checkup.Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Security Checkup. Your iPhone will guide you through the entire process.

Physically clean the outside of your phone

Cleaning out old apps and emails on your iPhone feels great, but what about the physical appearance of the phone? When we hold our phones constantly, these devices can get dirty quickly. In fact, you may want to clean your phone several times a year during spring cleaning. The question is, how do you disinfect your iPhone without damaging it? Thankfully, Apple has listed methods that are safe to use when cleaning your iPhone.

First, remove all casings and wash them individually. Dirt that accumulates inside the case can cause scratches on your device, so it’s a good idea to clean the inside and outside of the case. Silicone and plastic casings can be soaked in warm water with dish soap and then scrubbed with a clean toothbrush. Leather and wood should never be soaked but should be cleaned with a slightly rough cloth. Make sure the case, including the microfiber lining, is completely dry before placing it back on your iPhone.

As for the phone itself, Apple recommends wiping it clean with a lint-free cloth, such as the lens cloth used for glasses and screens. This works great for regular cleaning.

For a deeper clean, or if you’ve done the unthinkable and let your iPhone slip out of your pocket and into the toilet, it’s time to disinfect. Apple recommends using 70% isopropyl alcohol wipes – you can usually find these wipes in the first aid section of your grocery store or pharmacy. Alternatively, Apple says Clorox disinfecting wipes will work, but be sure to choose ones without embedded abrasive scrubbing materials.

Never allow moisture to get into your iPhone’s ports or speaker openings. If there’s buildup in these openings, follow our guide to cleaning iPhone speakers or cleaning iPhone ports.