
The 90/90 method is usually used for decluttering homes, but it’s a great method to apply to the digital clutter on your phone! Much like a cluttered house, a cluttered phone can be overwhelming to navigate and make simple tasks harder than they need to be.
What Is The 90/90 Method?
The 90/90 method can help you determine what’s useful and worth keeping, and what’s just taking up space. It’s easy to use — just ask yourself these questions:
- Have I used this in the last 90 days?
- Will I use this in the next 90 days?
Whenever you answer “no” to both questions, it suggests the item isn’t all that useful, and you can probably live without it. Applying this method to the contents of your phone can help you free up valuable storage space, boost performance, and even save money!
How To Declutter Your Phone With The 90/90 Method

1. Clean Up Your Photo Library
Our photo libraries are packed with pictures we could never bear to part with, but that doesn’t necessarily mean every photo is worth keeping. Apps like Slidebox can make it easy to review your photos and delete duplicates and other shots you don’t want to keep.
iPhone users with a lot of photos can save storage space with iCloud Photos. Go to Settings > Your name > iCloud, then tap Photos under Saved to iCloud and make sure the Optimize iPhone Storage option is enabled. Learn more at Apple Support.
Android users who utilize Google Photos can learn more about managing their storage at Google Account Help.
Jillee’s Take:
2. Get Rid Of Unused Apps
Some apps take up a lot of storage space, so it doesn’t make sense to keep them on your phone if you don’t use them.
On your iPhone, open Settings > iPhone Storage to see a list of downloaded apps ordered by file size. If you see any large apps you don’t use, delete them! On Android, open the Google Play Store, tap the profile icon at the top right, then tap Manage apps and devices > Manage.
3. Delete Downloaded Media
Who hasn’t downloaded a movie or episodes of a favorite show to watch while traveling and never bothered to delete them after? Downloaded media files can take up a lot of storage space too, so it’s a good idea to periodically review what’s on your phone so you can stay on top of it.
iPhone users, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage and look for Review Downloaded Media under Recommendations. Android users, open Google Play Movies & TV or the Google TV app, then tap the checkmark next to downloaded videos to remove them from your phone storage.

4. Thin Out Old Texts
Keep your favorite group chats and text conversations, but there’s no reason to keep old text exchanges that have no emotional value to you. Just scroll to the bottom of your text messages and start deleting some of those old conversations.
5. Review Your Subscriptions
While you’re working on your digital decluttering project, take the opportunity to review your ongoing subscriptions for various apps and services. If you’re not sure what you’re subscribed to, you could be paying for things you haven’t used in ages!
On iPhone, go to Settings > Your name > Subscriptions to see your active and inactive subscriptions. (Note that this will only show you subscriptions you’ve used your Apple account to sign up for.) Android users, go to Settings > Google > Your name > Manage your Google Account, then tap Payments & subscriptions.
6. Audit Your Contacts List
Is your contacts list riddled with school teachers, doctors, coworkers, and acquaintances you haven’t spoken to in ages? There’s no need to keep those numbers — on the off-chance you do need to reach out to one of them in the future, you can likely find them on social media.
Conclusion
It will likely take a bit of time and dedication to declutter your phone, but you’ll be so glad you did. And after cleaning up what’s inside your phone, don’t forget to clean the outside too!
How do you stay on top of digital clutter?