In our digital age, smartphones have become central hubs of our daily lives, gateways to communication, organization, and entertainment.
However, with constant app downloads, photo captures, and file accumulations, our devices can quickly become cluttered, making it difficult to navigate and use them efficiently.
Learning how to organize your phone is not just about cleanliness; it’s about regaining control and ensuring your digital space is set up to complement- and not complicate- your lifestyle.
This guide will walk you through a step-by-step process to declutter your digital companion, streamline your app usage, and maintain an organized mobile environment.
Key Takeaways: How To Organize Your Phone
- Audit Your Apps: Frequently review and uninstall apps that you no longer use to free up storage and reduce clutter.
- Organize Apps: Group similar apps into folders for quick and easy access, and put other apps in alphabetical order or in order of importance.
- Optimize Your Home Screen: Keep your most frequently used apps on the home screen and relegate others to secondary pages.
- Leverage Cloud Services: Utilize cloud storage to keep important documents and photos without using up phone storage.
- Regular Maintenance: Set a monthly reminder to clean up your phone’s various storage spaces and reevaluate your home screen and apps.
- Back-Up Important Data: Ensure your contacts, photos, and documents are regularly backed up to avoid unintended loss.
- Use Widgets Wisely: Incorporating widgets on your home screen will add value to your day-to-day phone use, and discard any that overwhelm your home screen.
- Notification Management: Customize app notifications to minimize distractions and keep essential updates in focus.
- Androids Vs. iPhones: Get help for Android phones Vs. iPhones phones– I have some tips here but feel free to look up videos to get step-by-step directions.
Assess Your Current Phone Setup
Before diving into organizing your phone, it’s important to assess your current setup. Here are a few sub-sections to help you get started:
Check Your Storage Space
The first thing I do when assessing my phone setup is to check my storage space. This helps me understand how much space I have to work with and what I need to prioritize.
To check your storage space, go to your phone’s settings and look for the Storage section. Here, you’ll see how much space is used and how much is available.
This will clue you into what you may need to remove to have more space and less to sort through.
Identify Unnecessary Apps
Next, I identify unnecessary apps to declutter my phone and free up storage space- like music apps, game apps, and more that just don’t interest me anymore.
To do this, go through your apps and ask yourself if you use them regularly. If the answer is no, consider deleting them.
Also, double-check if there are some apps you can’t remove- any phone may come with “useless” iPhone apps and Android apps that can’t be removed, sadly.
You’ll need to come to terms that you can only organize apps you can’t get rid of and tuck them away.
Evaluate Your Home Screen Layout
Finally, I evaluate my home screen layout to see if I need all of those apps ready to use at any given moment.
I know some readers have all their apps on their home screen or on pages on their main screens- it’s a lot to sort through!
Your home screen should really only be the main apps you use and need on a daily basis.
For example, my home screen is only my phone, Google Calendar, banking apps, and Gmail apps.
To evaluate your home screen, ask yourself if your most frequently used apps are easily accessible.
Go Through Your Images, Photos & Notes
Another important aspect of phone organization is managing your media files.
Your camera roll can quickly become cluttered with hundreds or thousands of photos and videos, making it difficult to find specific files.
Take some time to go through your camera roll and delete any duplicates or low-quality images.
You can also organize your photos into albums based on events, people, or locations to make them easier to find in the future.
Lastly, let’s tackle your notes app- which may or not be full of a lot of random information.
I use my notes app to have important information ready at hand (always have passcodes if you put CC or passwords here!), but also for things I need to do.
I visit my notes app every day to check for things I’ve forgotten, and I remove things I’ve completed or don’t apply to my life anymore.
But I have a cousin who keeps all her apps open and has hundreds of notes, some of which don’t make much sense anymore because they’re so old- so if you may be the same way, it’s time to say goodbye!
Organize Apps
When it comes to organizing your phone, one of the most important things to do is to streamline your apps.
This means getting rid of any unused apps, grouping apps together, and organizing your app drawer in a way that makes sense for you.
Uninstall Unused Apps
The first step in streamlining your apps is to delete any unused apps and make space for the most used apps and new apps you want to try.
Unused apps are just taking up space on your phone and making it harder to find the apps you actually use.
These are apps that you haven’t used in a while and don’t see yourself using in the future.
To delete iPhone apps, simply press and hold the icon until it starts to wiggle, then tap the “x” in the corner of the icon.
On an Android phone, you can usually uninstall an app by pressing and holding the icon and dragging it to the “uninstall” option that appears at the top of the screen.
Organize Your Apps
You can organize your apps in a few ways but I have 2 ways to suggest: alphabetical or importance.
Alphabetical is an easy setting that you can select, and everything will get moved around automatically.
It’s easy-peasy and you only need to know the names to find apps quickly.
On the other hand, you can rearrange the apps yourself, put the ones you use the most on the first, and work your way down the list.
Another helpful tip for iPhone apps: for iPhone users who struggle to remember apps based on the name or app icon, you can create custom app icons out of your own photos and clips.
Creating icons gives you the chance to organize apps by images that you recognize, which helps if you’re a visual person.
Sadly, Androids can’t do this yet, but I can help you organize your apps to make them easier to find!
Group Similar Apps- Make App Folders
Once you’ve deleted any unused apps, the next step is to organize apps and make app folders to organize them all together.
This makes it easier to find the app you need when you need it without sorting through a bunch of apps.
For example, you could group all of your social media apps in the same folder, all of your photo editing apps together, and so on and so forth.
To make a folder to organize iPhone apps, simply press and hold app icons until they start to wiggle, then drag them on top of another app icon.
On an Android phone, you can create app folders by pressing and holding an app icon and dragging it to the “create folder” option or by putting one app on top of another.
Optimize Your Settings
When it comes to organizing your phone, optimizing your settings can make a big difference in how efficiently you use your device.
Here are a few ways to optimize your settings:
Adjust Notifications
Notifications can be a major distraction and can clutter up your phone’s lock screen. To adjust your notifications, go to your phone’s settings and select “Notifications.”
From there, you’ll see what apps have notified you recently- you can customize which apps can send you notifications, how they appear, and whether or not they show up on your lock screen.
I personally like to turn off notifications for most apps, except for important ones like messages and phone calls. This helps me stay focused and reduces the amount of clutter on my lock screen.
Customize Your Control Center
Your phone’s control center gives you quick access to important settings like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and airplane mode.
To customize your control center, go to your phone’s settings and select “Control Center.” From there, you can add or remove buttons and rearrange them to your liking.
I like to add buttons for things like screen recording and low power mode, which I use frequently. This makes it easy to access these settings without having to dig through menus.
Set Up Your Widgets
Widgets are a great way to get quick access to important information on your home screen without having to open apps.
To set up widgets, swipe right on your home screen and scroll to the bottom. From there, you can select “Edit” to add or remove widgets.
I like to use widgets for things like weather, calendar events, and reminders. This helps me stay organized with my home screen and on top of my schedule.
Sync and Backup Your Data
As I organize my phone, I always make sure to sync and back up my data. This ensures that I don’t lose any important information if my phone gets lost, damaged, or stolen.
Here are some ways to do it:
Back-Up Your Photos and Videos
One of the most important things to back up is your photos and videos. You can do this by using cloud storage services like Google Photos, iCloud, or Dropbox.
These services automatically back up your photos and videos when you are connected to Wi-Fi, so you don’t have to worry about losing them.
Another way to back up your photos and videos is to use an external hard drive or a USB flash drive. Simply connect your phone to the device and transfer your files.
This is a good option if you want to keep your photos and videos offline.
Use Cloud Storage Services
Cloud storage services are a great way to backup and sync your data. They allow you to store your files online and access them from any device.
Some popular cloud storage services include Google Drive, iCloud, and Dropbox.
To use these services, simply sign up for an account and download the app on your phone. Then, choose which files you want to upload to the cloud.
You can also set up automatic backups and syncing to ensure that your files are always up-to-date.
Maintain Your Phone Organization
As someone who loves to keep their phone organized, I know that it can be challenging to maintain that organization over time.
However, with a few simple steps, you can keep your phone clutter-free and easy to navigate. Here are some tips to help you maintain your phone organization:
One of the most critical steps in maintaining your phone organization is to regularly clean your phone and keep your home screen cleaned up.
This means going through your apps and deleting any that you no longer use. It’s also a good idea to go through your photos and delete any that are blurry, duplicates, or just not worth keeping.
Another essential step in maintaining your phone organization is to update your apps and operating system regularly.
App updates often include bug fixes and new features that can improve your phone’s performance.
By keeping your apps and operating system up to date, you can ensure that your phone is functioning at its best.
Finally, it’s essential to reassess your phone organization regularly. You may find that you need to organize folders again or rearrange your apps to make them easier to access.
By regularly reassessing your phone organization, you can ensure that it continues to work for you.
Final Thoughts
Maintaining your phone organization is essential to keeping your phone clutter-free and easy to navigate.
I’ve guided you through the basics of organizing apps and getting your phone in tip-top shape.
Then, to maintain your phone from here on out, regularly clean your phone, update your apps and operating system, and reassess your organization.
That way, you can keep your phone running smoothly and make it easier to find the apps and photos you need.
