Once that’s done, it’s time to go through and clean out unnecessary files from your computer. A clogged-up hard drive can be just as bad as a clogged-up fan on your computer, though it won’t as often destroy your computer.

Tackle the inbox

Whether you shop online or in stores, you often provide your email address when you buy, which multiplies the number of mailing lists you’re on. This can lead to email overload. The additional emails in your inbox distract you from the emails that matter. Click on one and unsubscribe instead of deleting every new unread sales message. If you’re a Gmail user, start your effort to cut down on unwanted mail in your Promotions tab. Google’s algorithm sends sales pitches there, so first cut messages from this section.

Clear bookmarks

The internet is built for browsing. We’ll bookmark sites we often visit or put a page we want to return to on a reading list to make things easier. Over time, we mark many websites that we no longer need. Get rid of any unnecessary bookmarks to make navigating the web easier.

In Google Chrome, click on the three dots in the upper-right of your browser window (to the left of your profile icon). The drop-down menu will have a Bookmarks option. Click on this to see another drop-down menu with Bookmark Manager on it. Every one of your bookmarks will have three dots beside it on the next screen. Click on this to select the delete option and eliminate the ones you don’t need any longer.

Safari users can click on Bookmarks on the top menu or the sidebar icon on the toolbar (to the right of the arrows on the left). Then edit your bookmarks by clicking on sites you no longer want and hitting your delete button.

Sort through downloads

Do you ever clean up your downloads folder? We also download a lot of stuff! Sometimes, we get multiple copies of the same file because we’re impatient or don’t realize we’ve already hit download! A large download folder takes up storage space on your computer and can slow it down. In Windows, you can go to File Explorer and view the Downloads folder. Right-click on the files you don’t want and choose delete.

Empty trash/recycling bins

Items you put in the trash or recycling bins at home take up space until you take those bins to the curb or the dump. The same is true of your computer trash or recycling. Empty these bins by selecting “empty recycle bin” after clicking on the bin icon on your desktop.

Clean your desktop

A cluttered desktop makes things disorganized and hard to find, but it can also slow computers down. The purpose of the desktop is to make it easy for you to navigate your computer. It is not intended for file storage. Move those files to where they belong, preferably to a directory that gets backed up.

Remove unused programs/apps

If you’re not using a program or app, don’t give it computer space. With Windows, you’ll open the Start menu, click on Settings, then System, then Apps and Features from the left pane to select what you want to uninstall. Click the Uninstall button, and declutter your computer to free up space and make it more efficient.

Computers generally start slowing down within 12 months, but it’s not because their parts are broken. And it’s not because they’re faulty. It’s not even because you have so many browser tabs open that you lose count. Slow computers have a number of causes, but the most common ones are easily fixed.

Background programs

Whenever your computer is turned on, it’s running programs in the background. You didn’t start them and they may not be essential to operation, but off they go anyway. You can’t even see some of them, they don’t have windows or anything to look at.  A good example is your antivirus program. You don’t need to see it all the time, but you know it’s running in the background, protecting you.

Over time, more and more programs might slip into the background and casually suck up your resources, like iTunes helper, Acrobat updater, Cortana listening, Skype or Spotify.  We can speed up your system by setting these background programs to run only when you need them, or remove them completely.

Application bloat

How do you improve last year’s version of a program? Add more features! The problem with this is the applications become bloated with features you may not need (or even know about), but that keep needing more and more resources. Each time the developers review their programs, they assume you’ve bought the latest and greatest computer and can run whatever they release.

This means a slow computer can sneak up after an auto-update. You may not even know the update happened, just that your computer is suddenly making you very unhappy. Eventually, your system grinds to a halt. We can remove unused applications or increase your computer power as required.

Slow hard drives

Your data is stored on a part called the hard drive. It’s usually a mechanical type that works like a record player, with a spinning platter and a ‘needle’ reading it. If your data is spread out across lots of places on the platter, the hard drive head ‘needle’ has to go backwards and forwards thousands of times just to retrieve a single file. Unsurprisingly, that takes more time to bring up your file. We can optimize your data to give the hard drive head a break, but an even better solution is to upgrade to an SSD. That’s a Solid State Drive that stores data in memory chips, like your USB drive, and has no moving parts. Without the physical need to move a hard drive needle, your computer can access data much faster.

Unfortunately, once your computers starts slowing, for whatever reason, the problem only gets worse. The background programs will continue to multiply, the bloat keeps coming, and the hard drive begs for relief.  Rather than buy a whole new system though, it’s completely possible for your current computer to go back to being lightning fast – and for a fraction of the cost.