Digital clean-up day report

06-04-2026

MET’s first digital clean-up day took place on Friday, 20 March 2026. The format was simple: we met on Zoom in the morning to set objectives, hunkered down during the day to declutter our devices, and regrouped in the evening to debrief. Between us, we deleted about 220 GB of data and 50,000 emails.

Read on for the full report written by the Sustainables team: Maighread Gallagher-Gambarelli, Mary Murphy, Mary Savage and Susannah Goss.

Facts and figures

  • 64 people joined the MET Digital Clean‑up LinkedIn group
  • 30 logged on at 10:00 on the day to download some step-by-step instructions and discuss objectives in breakout rooms
  • 25 posted their goals, achievements and comments in this Framacalc
  • 22 regrouped at 17:00 for a 60-minute debrief
  • About 40 people took part at some point during the day

Clean-up by category

Files and folders

Sixteen people tackled their files and folders. Objectives included organizing file systems; cleaning for GDPR compliance; investigating tax record retention laws and deleting accordingly; binning large, unnecessary or old folders; removing duplicate files.

Emails

Twelve participants aimed to clear out their email folders. Some worked through business or personal accounts and others deleted emails by date.

Cloud storage services

Six people focused on decluttering, organizing or emptying their accounts on iCloud, OneDrive, Dropbox and Google Drive.

Newsletters, bookmarks and more

Five people unsubscribed from newsletters, deleted browser bookmarks and unused apps, or removed never-to-be-read articles on Instapaper.

Photos and films

Four participants cleaned up photos and videos on their phones or in the cloud.

Comments and general impressions

People mentioned satisfaction and relief at having made a start, shock at how much there was to be done, frustration at having let it get out of control, and determination to keep on top of emails in the future. One person suggested printing special photos, because hard drives die and digital formats change.

Several participants felt unexpectedly emotional looking back at years of photos and emails, while others recognized the mental burden of digital clutter.

What was easiest to deal with?

Participants mostly said they made good progress, especially with deleting emails (notifications, newsletters, feeds and automatic responses), cleaning out download and temporary folders, and sorting through photos.

General organizational tasks like restructuring, renaming and moving folders or sorting files by size or date to delete were also noted as easy wins.

What was hardest?

Sticking points ranged from having to make definitive decisions about files while juggling priorities, to being patient with unresponsive hard drives and, of course, not getting distracted by photos and past memories. Quite a few tasks didn't get done on the day or were still ongoing due to lack of time or getting sucked into what one participant called “a black hole of clean-up needs”.

Next steps

There’s still much to be done, so we’re looking at ways to arrange regular get-togethers in the future. Join our LinkedIn group and help us keep the momentum going!