![]() “One great tool that Windows 10 offers is the Quick Access tool of file explorer,” Nizich explains. ![]() Read: How to Find and Remove Camera Malware 4. This is a much better location than keeping them on the desktop, which could make them hard to find. “You can place those on the taskbar (on a Mac, this is the dock) at the bottom or to the left or right of your screen to provide easy access to them,” Nizich says. Utilize Your Taskbarįor the programs or apps that you use more frequently, there’s another solution. “They are much easier to find and start by using these methods rather than searching for them on your desktop each time you want to use them,” he says. On a Mac, you can go to Finder to easily find what you’re looking for. If you use Windows, he says all of the programs can be accessed through the Windows Start menu, and are typically organized using program name and image tiles. “Eliminate the amount of shortcuts that are located on your desktop to gain access to specific programs,” Nizich says. Read: Never Really Gone: How to Protect Deleted Data From Hackers 2. And don’t forget to also delete those unused apps. In addition to old, unused apps, you may also have documents or entire folders that you no longer need.Įven if you decide a folder shouldn’t be discarded, it’s still a good idea to peruse the folder’s contents to see if there are any documents that can be deleted. If you’re not in the habit of cleaning your virtual desktop – and you have a lot of files and documents – you may not even know what’s actually on it. Now, we’ll go through 5 simple steps to help increase your efficiency and lower your security risks. We’ve given you two excellent reasons to clean your virtual desktop. Read: 6 Myths About Hacking That May Surprise You “Keeping around old apps that you no longer use creates an unnecessary risk and makes you vulnerable to cyber criminals,” Williams says. Have you ever installed an app, placed it on your virtual desktop, then figured out that you didn’t need it, or maybe it didn’t perform as expected? Or maybe it worked fine, but you no longer need it. “Even official app stores unintentionally publish apps that can put your data at risk.” Williams references a study by Interceptd, which found that 21.3% of iOS app and 26.9% of Android app installs are fraudulent. Read: Are Your Enterprise Printers Protected from Cybercriminals? ![]() In fact, he says you need to remove apps that you don’t use from your desktop – and you also need to remove them from your phone, tablet, streaming devices and gaming console. “New cyberthreats pop up all the time - cleaning up your digital junk is an important step to take to protect yourself from these ongoing attacks,” says Eric Williams, founder & CEO, ijura, a mobile threat defense solutions provider. Your computer’s security could depend on it. In other words, that brilliant plan to keep everything on your desktop so you can work more efficiently could be hindering you from working efficiently.Īnd there’s another reason to clean your virtual desktop. “A poorly maintained desktop leads to longer times to locate files, editing the wrong file, deleting the right file and essentially leads to needing to spend more time finding your work than working on it.” “However, your productivity and work efficiency could slow down to a crawl if your desktop is not properly managed,” he explains. But Nizich hasn’t finished his train of thought. “Well then, leave me alone,” you may be thinking. “PC and laptop desktops that are generally disorganized or cluttered with all kinds of files that have been created and worked on over the past several months, or even years, will not necessarily slow down your computer performance in any way,” says Michael Nizich, director of the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC) and an adjunct professor of computer science at New York Institute of Technology.
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