How to clean & speed up your computer

Computers are expensive, at least 2 tanks of fuel at current market prices. You may not need to replace if you maintain them correctly. Cleaning up files and maintaining will speed up your computer.

Files and data clog up computers over time, slowing them down. There are 2 ways which we can perform a clean. 

1. Commercial PC cleaning software (Paid)
2. Manually clean each section via windows built-in tools (Free but slow)
3. Free, freemium, or open source software (Free & recommended)

We highly recommend you check our recipe at the end of this guide to complete option 3

Option 1: Commercial PC Cleaning Software (Paid)

Paid cleaners are mostly snake oil. We can be do nearly everything manually via Windows. They have advantages, of course, not all should be written off. But this blog is about running a business, not spending money. 

Option 2: Manually Clean Each Section Via Windows Built-In Tools (Free But Slow)

Windows provides multiple tools to clean files and speed up your computer.

Clean Files

Windows 10 has its own ‘Free Up Space Tool’, access it in Settings > System > Storage and click “Configure Storage Sense or run it now”. Here you can set the frequency this clean will run or ‘Clean now’. Windows will automatically scan and delete unnecessary files.

Optimise Hard Drive

A hard drive is like a pack of cards. As it writes data, it does not put its cards in order. It’s more like shuffling a deck of cards. All the cards are in the pack, but each time you want to access something, go through everything to find it all. Defragging puts your pack of cards in order, so it’s quicker and easier to find information.

Windows can do this for you, Settings > System > Storage and click “Optimise Drive” under More Storage Settings.

How To Clean Browser Data In Every Browser

Each browser has its own cleaning tool accessed via the settings menus (3 Dots or 3 Lines in the top right) to help speed up your computer.

Brave Browser

1. In the top right corner, press the three lines
2. Select Privacy & security > Clear Browsing Data.
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press Clear now.

Microsoft Edge

1. In the top right corner, press the three dots
2. Select History > “…” (more options) > Clear Browsing Data.
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press Clear now.

Google Chrome

1. In the top right corner, press the three dots
2. Select Settings > Privacy and security > Clear browsing data
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press Clear data

Mozilla Firefox

1. In the top right corner, press the three lines
2. Select History > Clear recent history.
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press OK.

Opera

1. In the top right corner, press the three lines
2. Select Clear browsing data
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press Clear data.

Safari 

1. In the top left corner, select Safari
2. Select Clear History…
3. Select a time range and the history you want to delete.
4. Press Clear History.

Internet Explorer

1. In the top right corner, press the Settings icon
2. Select Internet Options > General > Browsing history > Settings.
3. Under each tab, press Delete

Option 3: Free, Freemium or Open Source Software (Free & Recommended)

Bleachbit (Open Source)

PrivaZer (Free)

CCleaner (Freemium with lots of ads)

I.T. Recipes use Bleachbit. Bleachbit is free and open source and has an excellent selection of programs it can clean.

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Struggling with the above recipe? Hire a chef to do it for you