Digital declutter: subscriptions, files and phone

Small monthly subscriptions and digital clutter quietly cost money and attention. A twice-yearly clear-out keeps your phone, storage and bank account lighter.

Find every subscription

• Look through three months of bank and card transactions and list everything that repeats: streaming, music, cloud storage, apps, gym, delivery memberships.
• On iPhone, Apple's steps are: open Settings, tap your name, tap Subscriptions, and choose the one you want to review or cancel.
• On Android, go to the Google Play subscriptions page, select the subscription, tap Cancel subscription and follow the instructions.
• Google Play warns that uninstalling an app does not cancel its subscription.
• Subscriptions bought on a company's own website must usually be cancelled in your account on that website.

Decide what stays

• For each subscription ask: did I use it in the last month, and would I pay for it again today?
• Worked example: streaming at AED 35, music at AED 20, extra cloud storage at AED 11 and a delivery membership at AED 25 come to AED 91 a month, or AED 1,092 a year. Cutting two you barely use could save several hundred dirhams a year. (Example prices for illustration only.)
• Check for student plans, which some services offer at lower prices, and for duplicates such as two music services.
• When you cancel, Google Play says you usually keep access until the end of the period you already paid for, so cancel as soon as you decide.

Clean up files and storage

• Sort your downloads and desktop: delete duplicates, move keepers into your Admin, University and Personal folders (see the AI and Digital Skills module for file naming).
• Monzo suggests keeping bank statements for at least one year and credit card statements for six years, so you can delete very old downloads you do not need.
• The NCSC recommends backing up important data such as photos and key documents to an external drive or cloud storage, so do this before you delete anything.
• Delete apps you have not opened in three months, and clear old screenshots and videos that fill your phone.

Reduce digital noise

• Switch off notifications for apps that do not need to reach you instantly, such as shopping and games.
• Leave group chats that no longer serve a purpose, politely if needed (see the Etiquette module for digital etiquette).
• Unsubscribe from marketing emails you never read (lesson la-04).
• Book a 'digital declutter' in your calendar twice a year, for example at the start of each semester.