Why You Should Reset Your PC for the New Year

For most of us, resetting our PC or tech is simply a last-ditch effort to fix some annoying and troublesome issue that has been plaguing our computer. But resetting your PC in December or January can actually make a huge difference going into the new year: Not only does it resolve any of those tech hurdles you might be dealing with, but it gives you a clean slate, and that technical and mental refresh can feel great.

Why you should reset your PC every year

For many of us, much of our work and personal lives revolve around what we can do with tech. Whether you’re watching movies with friends, playing games, or spending most of your time writing and creating for work, your computer is an important tool in your technical arsenal.

As useful as computers can be, though, they can also pick up a lot of junk over the course of the year, especially as you download new apps, images, and other files. Sure, you could go in and erase all of that individually. But, sometimes, apps leave extra data behind, or they create changes in your computer’s system files that can lead to other issues down the line, like corrupted files and even performance problems. One way to avoid all of this is to reset your PC every year. While the tediousness of the process might be enough to turn most people off, I’ve got three reasons why you should always reset your PC at the end of the year.

It’s a technical and mental refresh

If you’re anything like me, the more junk you have on your computer, the more overwhelming it can be to deal with. Trying to find a particular image when you already have hundreds or even thousands saved on your computer is a huge hassle. As someone who writes hundreds of articles a year, my Documents folder is chock full of articles I’ve written, and while I love keeping track of all that, it really starts to build up over time.

Sure, you’re going to want much of this stuff, which is why things like OneDrive and Google Drive exist, allowing you to easily sync that data up with the cloud. When it comes to the rest of the junk you don’t need, though, it can be exceptionally freeing to just delete it all.

Additionally, storage drives aren’t designed to hold all of your data forever—even those large multi-terabyte ones. For those who don’t know, solid-state drives are much better than older mechanical hard drives. They don’t have moving parts, so they don’t generate as much heat. But, they do have one significant problem: The fuller they are, the slower they work. So it’s important to always keep your SSD from filling up too much.

Not only is a yearly PC reset mentally refreshing, but it also helps clear out those unneeded apps and files you don’t need anymore. This enables you to get your storage space back, giving your PC a technical refresh as well.

It can solve performance issues and glitches

One of the main reasons most people reset their PCs or tech is because of performance issues and glitches. Sometimes, things just go wrong. Files get downloaded incorrectly, corrupting them, or if you’re on Windows, some program you downloaded makes a change to the Registry that just doesn’t work out in the long run.

No matter what the tech hurdle is, a full reset to factory settings can often help overcome it. And if you haven’t reset your PC in a long while, you’re probably carrying around a lot of extra junk you just don’t need. Resetting your PC every year can help ensure that you don’t get a lot of this buildup. It helps clean out the old and make room for the new.

Sure, you still might encounter some issues throughout the next year, but you’re less likely to run into performance issues relating to registry changes from apps or programs you installed and then uninstalled years ago if you reset at the end of ever year.

It’s a lot easier than it used to be

Resetting your PC used to mean losing everything. Now, though, things are a lot easier. We’ve got services like iCloud and Google Drive, which let you sync up important files, like photos, videos, and documents. You can pick and choose what you want to sync up, and you can even use external hard drives to back things up, too. (It’s important to have at least a second backup for all your important data.)

Microsoft and Apple have also made it easier than ever to reset your PC. You used to have to go through all the trouble of resetting and reinstalling using a CD or a USB drive with the correct files. Now, though, Windows lets you reset back to basic settings without setting up any kind of external media drive. You can still reinstall Windows from scratch, but this new way is really handy, and it makes the entire process a lot easier than it was on older versions of Windows. Apple also offers a similar option for Mac users. You’re missing out if you don’t take advantage of this easy way to refresh your tech and give yourself a clean slate each year.

It’s not just your computer that needs resetting, either: Here’s why you should factory reset the rest of your older tech.

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