I finally cleared 2,000 old screenshots in one go

I had over 4,000 random screenshots from the last 3 years clogging up my phone storage and it made me avoid checking photos entirely. I used the search bar to delete everything with the word 'receipt' in the caption and that cut it down by half in under 10 minutes. What weird file types do you guys hold onto the most?

3 comments

3 Comments

barbara_jenkins6622h agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, 2,000 screenshots is impressive! What I bet nobody's talking about is how many of those old screenshots are actually history lessons waiting to happen. I had a bunch from a road trip planning phase - maps, restaurant menus, parking garage rates. Three years later, I pulled one up and half the businesses were closed and the other half had new owners. Your phone becomes this weird time capsule of decisions you almost made. Kinda funny to scroll through and see what past you thought was important.

lucast811h ago

@kai_chen2 hit the nail on the head with the rent prices thing. I actually read a study a while back that said regular people basically document more local economic shifts than any government database does. Like, I had screenshots of a diner's menu I was gonna visit in 2019, pulled it up last year and the prices had jumped almost 40%. Plus the place had changed its name twice. It's wild how we're all walking around with these accidental time capsules in our pockets. The stuff we think is forgettable ends up being the most telling later on.

kai_chen213h ago

Oh yeah, I feel that. I went through an old folder last week and found screenshots of apartment listings from 2019. The rent prices were literally half of what they are now, it almost made me want to cry. It's wild how your phone turns into this little museum of stuff you forgot you even cared about.