GREENSBORO, N.C. — Be honest: Is your email inbox out of control? Are you embarrassed to show people your phone, afraid they might see the hundreds or thousands of messages? Have no fear. Consumer Reports is here with some easy tips to tame your inbox while also getting rid of some other digital clutter.
Google makes digital housecleaning a little easier with its Storage Manager. It will highlight photos, videos, giant PDFs, and other large files, and ask you if you want to delete them.
You can use the search tool to find emails with attachments or messages from certain dates.
Then you can even create a filter to delete the emails it catches.
As you’re deleting emails … take note of any old digital accounts you don’t use anymore. Keeping them open can create a security risk. The companies could be hacked, allowing your information to get into the wrong hands.
You can find forgotten accounts using the welcome email you got when signing up. You can also search your common usernames online, and check your browser or your personal password manager for saved passwords.
If you signed up for any accounts through social media, like Facebook, you’ll find them there.
One more tip: Be choosy when it comes to signing up for recurring emails and newsletters. If you find that you’re not reading the ones you get, open them one last time to unsubscribe.
CONSUMER REPORTS: FREE UP STORAGE ON YOUR PHONE
To check an Android phone, go to Settings > Battery and device care > Storage. On an iPhone, it’s Settings > General > iPhone Storage.
If your phone is photo-heavy, you can offload pictures and videos to cloud-based storage, such as iCloud or Google Photos, or move them to a computer or an external hard drive.
You can also optimize your photos—that means full-resolution pics are stored in the cloud while smaller versions remain on your phone.