Do you have a mess in Google Drive, iCloud or on your hard drive? Perhaps this method of organizing your files will help you better manage the chaos.
Digital minimalism is not only about the aesthetics of a computer desktop or smartphone home screen. It’s also a way to regain control over your files, photos and the cloud. Instead of paying for more gigabytes of Google Drive, iCloud or OneDrive, try to organize your current resources. Below you will find a simple plan that can realistically be completed in a weekend or in a few short sessions.
Step 0: Make a backup before you start deleting data
Before you delete anything, make a good backup. Copy to an external drive or second computer: Documents folder, Desktop, Pictures, main directories from the clouds (e.g. “My Drive” from Google Drive) and the most important photos from Google Photos / iCloud. It doesn’t have to be perfectly organized – the point is that you don’t have to worry about deleting files.
Step 1: Select one main cloud
The biggest digital clutter can come from a “a little here, a little there” situation. It is worth sticking to the rule that your resources are:
- one main cloud (e.g. Google Drive + Google Photos or iCloud or OneDrive),
- possible archive and shared projects that can be “extinguished” sooner or later.
In the account description or disk name, immediately add its function (“archive of old projects”). It will be useful if you visit it after a few years.
Step 2: Set simple rules about what to keep and what to delete
Without a clear plan, sooner or later we fall into the trap of “I’ll leave it because it might be useful.” An example set of folders to help control the chaos is:
- financial documents and contracts – you keep them for about 5-7 years in folders like “Finance_2025” etc.,
- current projects you keep it in the “Projects_2025” directory; after a year, you move it to the “Project Archives”,
- “to check sometime” – if you don’t move within 30 days, it goes to the trash,
- installers, zips, ISO – you delete it immediately after installation.
If you can’t rationally explain why you keep a given file, it’s a sign that you should probably delete it.
Step 3: Simple folder system on disk and in the cloud
You don’t need an extensive directory tree. All you need are a few main folders, identical on disk and in the cloud:
- 01_Current_Projects
- 02_Archive
- 03_Finance_and_documents
- 04_Photos
- 00_Inbox (a folder that you “clean” e.g. every week – more on that later)
Use dates and short descriptions inside, e.g.:
- “2025_online-shop-project”,
- “2024-12-05_umowa-najmu.pdf”,
- “2025-01-07_oferta-klient-firmaX-v2.docx”.
Thanks to the date at the beginning, the files automatically arrange themselves chronologically, and the search engine makes them easier to find. Files and folders named “qwerty” “version2137” are not an option at all. We absolutely must unlearn this.
Step 4: Inbox folder instead of the cluttered desktop
The desktop and “Downloads” are a classic chaos generator. Instead, create a folder: “00_Inbox” or simply “Inbox”.
Everything you save “for a moment” should end up there, not on the Desktop. Once a week you do a review: you move important files to the appropriate folders and delete the rest.
Step 5: How to quickly slim down the cloud (Google Drive / iCloud / OneDrive)
- sort files by size and remove the largest garbage (old video packages, zips, backups),
- filter by type (video, PDF, presentations) and delete duplicates and old versions,
- designate one place for shared projects instead of hundreds of “Shared with Me” files.
The first time, you’ll be shocked at how many gigabytes you managed to sift through without touching anything important.
Step 6: Photos – small steps instead of remorse
Instead of planning that “one day you will manage a library of 40,000 photos”, it will be easier to use the small steps method:
- select one year or selected month,
- month after month, leave 1-2 best ones from a series of similar shots,
- upload souvenir photos to simple albums (“Family”, “Travel 2022”),
- Delete “technical” garbage (screenshots, tickets, memes) without mercy.
For the future: After each major event, spend 10-15 minutes selecting your “top 20” photos and deleting the rest. If you don’t have time – every evening, remove some obvious junk from the day. It’s a small habit that makes a huge difference after a year. Personally, I also like to clean up my smartphone during plane flights. Without internet access, this is an effective way to kill time.
Slidebox app (Android/iOS)
If you organize your photo gallery on your phone, the Slidebox app works great for me. It works a bit like “Tinder for photos”: you swipe to quickly decide which photos you delete and which ones you put in specific albums. Thanks to this, you don’t have to dig through the system gallery, enlarge each shot separately and think about each one for a long time. In just a few minutes, you can browse through hundreds of photos and leave only those that are really worth keeping.
Step 7: Tidy up your disk in 3 steps
Instead of “I need to take care of the entire computer”, divide the tasks into stages,
- Desktop – select everything, move to the “Desktop_archive_2024-12” folder and gradually move only what is really needed,
- Downloaded – sort by date and delete everything from a few months ago except important documents, then sort the files by size and delete old installers, zips and ISOs,
- Programs – view the list of applications; what you haven’t used in a year is probably at risk of disappearing.
How to make sure the mess doesn’t come back
Digital minimalism only works if you turn it into a routine:
- once a month, an hour to review “Downloads”, “99_Inbox” and the main cloud (or 15 minutes once a week),
- 30-second rule (and this doesn’t mean food dropped on the ground) – if you can immediately give the file a meaningful name and put it in the right folder, do it right away,
- limit sources of garbage: unsubscribe from newsletters that you do not read, remove applications that only produce unnecessary notifications.
Digital minimalism: less chaos, more control
Order in the cloud and on disk is not a goal in itself. The point is that you:
- he didn’t waste time looking for files “somewhere in Google Drive”,
- Don’t buy a larger cloud data package just because you’re holding on to your digital junk,
- knew exactly what you were storing and why.
With a simple “Archive / Projects / Inbox” system, digital minimalism ceases to be a fashionable slogan and begins to make life actually easier.
