Data Detox: free game on backups and digital clean-up

What is Data Detox?

Buffer helps you rescue a phone that's 99% full, in four chapters: build a 3-2-1 backup plan first, clear duplicates and junk from the camera roll, decide what to delete, offload or keep, then name files and sort them into folders.

Data Detox is a free story game about digital organisation. Your phone is 99% full, and Buffer guides you through four short chapters, with every answer explained as you go.

First, back up: build a plan that passes the 3-2-1 rule (3 copies, on 2 kinds of storage, 1 away from home) and answer two quick backup questions. Then clear the camera roll of duplicates and junk, decide which big files to delete, offload or keep, and finish by naming files clearly and sorting them into a few simple folders.

At a glance

Category

Adventure

Difficulty

Easy

Play time

3–5 min

Price

Free, in your browser, sign-up optional

How to play

Back up first

Pick two places for copies so your plan passes 3-2-1: 3 copies, 2 kinds of storage, 1 away from home.

Clear the camera roll

Tap duplicates, blurry extras and old screenshots to delete. Keep what you can't replace.

Delete, offload or keep

For each big file, choose: gone for good, kept in your backup only, or stays on the phone.

Names and folders

Pick the clearest file names, then tap each file and its folder. +10 per right call, +20 per flawless chapter.

Scoring

+10 for each right call and +20 for each chapter with no mistake: 26 calls over four chapters, 340 points max.

The backup plan scores on your first check, 10 points per 3-2-1 rule met; fix it and check again to move on. No lives, no timer.

What it trains

The 3-2-1 backup rule

Three copies, two kinds of storage, one away from home, and why a sync isn't a backup.

Safe clean-up

Deleting duplicates and finished files, offloading big ones, keeping what can't be replaced.

Naming and folders

Date-first file names and a few folders by area of life.

Strategy and tips

Back up before you clean

Offloading and deleting are only safe once your files exist somewhere else.

Remember 3-2-1

3 copies, 2 kinds of storage, 1 copy away from home. A second folder on the same phone isn't a copy.

A sync isn't a backup

A plain sync copies your mistakes too. Keep a backup with older versions.

Delete what's done or duplicated

Exact copies, blurry burst shots and used tickets can go. The only copy of a memory stays.

Date first in file names

Year-month-day, then what it is: files sort in order and searches find them.

Why play Data Detox?

Most people only think about backups after losing something. Practising the 3-2-1 rule and a few clean-up habits on a made-up phone makes them easy to apply to your own before you need them.

Frequently asked questions