If you still have file cabinet after file cabinet of old paper files, but you have already made the transition to digital copies, you may be wondering what you can do with all of those old paper files. Keeping these cabinets and files around can create a lot of office congestion and clutter, all of which will need a solution no matter what you would like to do with the files. Here are some very good solutions to your problem, all of which will free up a lot of physical space in your office.

Storage Units

You can store all of those file cabinets, fully loaded with old files, in storage units. This is quite common for major businesses who have an overload of backlog files and no time to deal with them another way. All you need to do is lock up the cabinets and hire some movers to transport them to the storage units you have rented for this very purpose. Even with client- or patient-sensitive information in them, the locked cabinets inside locked storage units within sight of a security system camera will keep everything safe, organized and accessible in the event that you need an older file. Contact a business, such as SaveMor Self Storage LTD, for more information about storage units. 

Desktop Scanners

On slow days, your trusted employees could spend their time scanning files and documents into your current electronic file system. It gives them something to do while providing you with a valuable service. There are several desktop scanners (handheld, upright and part of a multi-function printer) that can scan, upload and store all of the information you have in your old paper filing system. Then you can recycle and/or destroy the old paper files as you see fit.

Shredders

If you know that most of your paper files are older than a decade or more, or that most of the patients or clients in these files are no longer your patients/ clients, then you may want to shred the paper files. Since this option does create quite a mess and you are left with several trash bags of shredded paper, you may want to prepare in advance by requesting a paper recycling dumpster for later. Then all of the shredded files can be dumped into the rented recycling dumpster and carted off to a paper recycling plant. Some files or documents you may want to keep indefinitely, in which case you could choose a combination of all of the above solutions.