Tuesday Tip: Your Downloads Folder Might Be A Security Risk

December 30, 2025

Folder download icon for receiving files, saving documents, and storing digital content. Your Downloads folder acts like a digital junk drawer—out of sight, out of mind, and quietly piling up risk and clutter.

Why this matters

  • Security: Downloads often hold sensitive documents like tax forms, contracts, medical records, and invoices, which become easy targets if a device is lost, stolen, or compromised.

  • Performance: Large PDFs, installers, ZIP files, and duplicates chew up storage, slow searches and indexing, and can drag down overall system performance on older machines.

Quick cleanup routine

  • Open your Downloads folder by typing Downloads into the Windows search bar.

  • Review and move important files to secure homes like Documents, OneDrive, or SharePoint.

  • Delete the rest. If you haven’t used it in 30 days, you probably don’t need it now.

The payoff

A lean Downloads folder means lower security exposure from forgotten files and old installers. You’ll free up space, help your computer run a bit smoother, and make it easier to find the documents that actually matter.

Richard Stokes: As the Director of Sales for Network 1, Richard identifies “future” clients that can benefit from the support of an experienced, outsourced IT team. He helps clients and prospects find technology solutions they need to achieve better productivity and efficiency so they can focus on making money and growing their businesses.

Network 1 designs, builds and supports the IT you need to run your business more securely, productively and successfully. Whether you want to outsource all of your IT needs to a reliable, responsive, service-oriented company, or need to supplement the work of your internal IT staff, we will carefully evaluate where you are now, discuss where you want to go and implement and support a plan to get you there with as little interruption as possible.

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