12 Tech Hacks to Make Your Phone and Laptop Faster

Tech · Everyone · Updated October 22, 2026

A slow device usually needs a cleanup, not a replacement. These steps free up space, cut background clutter, and make your accounts safer along the way.

Free up storage

1. Check what's using your storage. Your phone's storage settings and your laptop's disk settings list the biggest apps and files so you know where to start.
2. Delete apps you haven't opened in months. Both iPhone and Android can offload or flag unused apps for you.
3. Back up photos and videos, then clear them. Copy them to cloud storage or an external drive, confirm the backup worked, and remove the local copies.
4. Empty the downloads folder and trash. Old installers and duplicate files pile up there quickly.

Speed things up

5. Turn off startup apps you don't need. On Windows, open Task Manager and the Startup apps tab. On a Mac, check Login Items in System Settings.
6. Restart regularly. A restart clears memory and finishes pending updates, which often fixes sluggishness on its own.
7. Install system updates. Updates fix bugs and security holes and sometimes improve performance.
8. Close extra browser tabs. Each open tab uses memory. Bookmark what you want to read later instead.

Save battery and time

9. Use battery saver mode and lower screen brightness. The screen is one of the biggest battery drains, and low-power modes limit background activity.
10. Learn a few keyboard shortcuts. Copy, paste, undo, switching windows (Alt+Tab or Cmd+Tab), and reopening a closed tab (Ctrl+Shift+T or Cmd+Shift+T) save time every day.

Stay secure

11. Use a password manager. It creates and remembers a strong, unique password for every account, so one leak doesn't unlock the rest.
12. Turn on two-factor authentication. Add 2FA to email, banking, and social accounts, ideally with an authenticator app or a security key rather than text messages.