Just like your closets get overrun with clothes over the year, phones, too, can become low on space. But unlike closet cleaning, spring cleaning your electronics won’t cause you to break a sweat. Check out these simple tips from Verizon to free up space or speed up your smartphone’s performance:

• Have you cleaned up your operating system? Go to your “settings” icon and check how many apps you may not be using. If there are apps you never use, delete them. Just make sure your data backups are on along with automatic restore settings. Also, remember app purchases are tied to your account, so you won’t have to pay a second time after the initial purchase.
• Is your system up to date? Most manufacturers push automatic software updates to phones and you are notified when they happen. To verify you have the latest, go to settings and look for system update to check the date.
• Do you keep every photo on your phone forever? Photos and videos take up space. Even if you sync to the Verizon Cloud, Google Photos, Dropbox or any other number of storage services, chances are you still have the originals on your device. Make sure they’re backed up (using a free app like Google Photos) – and then delete. If you need more than just photo backup, Verizon Cloud syncs contacts, photos, videos, music, documents, text and multimedia messages and even your call logs.
• Remember downloading that PDF of your gym schedule? PDFs and other downloads are easily forgotten and take up space in a download folder. Open up your apps menu, select downloads and delete. On some devices, you can delete all at once – others go one at a time.
• Need to add or remove storage space? Many Android devices have microSD expansion cards where you can store music, videos, photos and other media files. Typically you need to buy one, however. The SanDisk 128GB microSD card is a great option for 1080p HD video.
• Finally, when it’s out with the old and in with the new, you can put your old phone to work helping others in your community. Consider donating it to HopeLine from Verizon – a national program that recycles old phones for cash grants to local nonprofits. HopeLine dedicates its resources to agencies that help survivors of domestic violence.