When you think of how much data you have stored on your PC, smartphone, and any other devices you have lying around, it's probably too much, right? If you find yourself buying new storage drives or renting more cloud storage to keep your data safe, then you're what's known as a data hoarder.

Data hoarding can cost you a lot of money

It can be bad for the environment, too

I'm guilty of data hoarding too, but there comes a point where you should probably ask yourself if you have too much data. I know I have multiple instances of the same files, I have video clips from games that I'll never look at again, and I have so much more that I simply don't need. I've bought a second SSD in the past for continuing to back up clips, which in turn could probably have simply been solved by me going through my data and removing everything that I don't need.

The simplest way to describe it is to say that you're accumulating storage rather than managing what you have, and plenty of people are guilty of that. On top of buying physical storage, some people will pay for long-term cloud storage, which in turn creates demand in server centers for more storage.

Admittedly, the damage that data hoarding can cause to the environment is negligible, but it is there, especially if you're buying new drives and creating more data center demand. Plus, wouldn't you like to save money and not have to shell out your hard-earned cash for more storage, be it physical or cloud-based? We've got some tips to help you clear out your storage so that you can save money.

How to clean out your storage

There are plenty of tools to help you out

The best tool for the job to help you clear out your storage is WizTree. WizTree comes with a nice UI that makes it easy to understand, can scan your drive in seconds thanks to its ability to read the Master File Table of your NTFS drive, and can do things like find duplicate files. This tool alone has helped me clear out a lot of storage on my PC that I didn't realize was taken up by useless junk, as they were files I know I don't care about seeing again.

However, another thing you can do is build an organization system for files that works for you. Throwing all your files into Documents might sound convenient in the moment, but it makes it very hard to organize later on and figure out what goes where. Then, when you try to clear it out, it can be overwhelming because of the sheer number of files.

It's almost certainly the case that a lot of PC enthusiasts store too much data, and that's okay, but it makes things harder on yourself, too. A good organization system and frequent clear outs can help you feel better about your PC and your digital health, and hopefully tools like WizTree can help you do that! There's nothing wrong with buying more drives, but be sure you need them first!