Yearly Digital Cleanup Checklist

Start with accounts and passwords

Review your password manager or saved logins. Look for reused passwords, weak passwords, old accounts, and important accounts without two-factor authentication. Update email, banking, cloud storage, government, phone carrier, password manager, and work accounts first. Remove accounts you no longer use after saving any important data.

Check recovery email addresses, phone numbers, backup codes, and trusted devices. Many people lose account access not because of hackers, but because recovery information belongs to an old number or forgotten email.

Clean devices and connected apps

Update your phone, laptop, tablet, browser, and router. Remove apps you no longer use. Review app permissions, browser extensions, connected cloud apps, and old device sessions. If a device was sold, replaced, or lost, remove it from trusted device lists.

Check storage too. Clear obvious temporary files, old installers, duplicate downloads, and screenshots with sensitive information. Do not delete uncertain archives without backup.

Review money and subscriptions

Look through card statements, app store subscriptions, PayPal or wallet charges, and email receipts. Cancel services you no longer use, downgrade plans that exceed your needs, and set reminders for annual renewals. Save receipts needed for taxes, warranties, reimbursements, or business records.

• Run a password and two-factor review.
• Remove unused apps, extensions, and connected services.
• Audit subscriptions and renewal dates.
• Test backups by restoring a few files.

Organize files and photos lightly

Create current-year folders for documents, receipts, taxes, travel, and projects. Archive last year's finished material. Favorite the best photos from major events and export important albums. Delete obvious clutter, but avoid turning cleanup into a risky deletion marathon.

For cloud drives, review shared links and external access. Remove public links that no longer need to exist. Check shared family folders, work folders, and old project folders for permissions that stayed open too long.

Make next year easier

The final step is prevention. Create calendar reminders for renewals, backup checks, and permission reviews. Improve file naming from today forward. Use aliases for low-trust signups. Keep a small digital emergency kit. A yearly cleanup should not feel like punishment. It is a reset that makes the next year of digital life safer and easier to manage.