What do you do with paper instructions manuals?

elsmandino

Afternoon all.

I am in the process of trying to go paperless in my home, at the moment, and have a scanner that I try to use for everything before adding to a hard drive before destroying the original.

One thing, however, is a huge box of instruction manuals that I have in my loft.

Whenever I buy anything at all, the manual gets put in there - something my Dad drilled into me, when I was young!

Anyway, things have moved on a bit and you can usually find manuals for most recent purchases online, anyway.

Is it worth scanning all the documents and discarding them?

If I ever want to sell an item, would it lose any value not to have the manual (even if I can send the buyer a scanned copy of the manual)?

Mark_d

I wouldn't waste my time scanning manuals.  A lot of things are so intuitive that manuals are simply a waste of paper.  For other things, manuals are generally available electronically on the internet.

Unless you're selling something fairly new...or a collectors item, the manual/box doesn't really add to the value. 

elsmandino

Thanks Mark.

Now that you mention it, it has just occurred to me that I should check for an electronic version of any manual and keep that on my hard drive (just in case it gets taken down), before discarding the paper version.

I was dreading scanning pages of thick TV manuals but not actually needed!

DUBVENDOR

Most manuals are now online in PDF format just search the model number of the items you are looking for .  

PollyWollyDoodle

I bin them if it’s something like a toaster or a doorbell.  I’ve kept the ones for the oven, hob etc (fairly new kitchen) and they’re in a folder in a kitchen cupboard in case I need to refer to them. 

Anything else (and I can’t think offhand what that would be) is in a folder upstairs. Every so often I go to it to look for something and think ‘I don’t own that anymore’ So out it goes! 

Jellynailer

I have all my paper manuals in two file boxes:  one for equipment installed in the home and one for 'movables'.  The first is kept to be handed over if I or my inheritor sell the house; the second is to attach to the device when I dispose of it after replacing it, disposal normally being to local charity shops (or my inheritor to do likewise). 

Brie

check if there's a pdf online and save it into a folder.  Then chuck the paper version.

ScarletRibbons

We just keep them in a plastic ring binder. We don't keep every single one, but it's handy to keep the ones for more complex items.

YorksLass

I usually keep them in a box file but every so often I have a trawl through and bin the ones that are no longer needed eg we haven't got that item any more or it's an inexpensive item that's cheaper to replace when it breaks down because the guarantee has run out anyway.  The ones for the more expensive items (cooker, fridge/freezer etc) I keep, along with the receipts, which makes for interesting reading when I realise just how long I've had them and what they cost.  As others have said, an alternative is to download manuals and save them on a USB stick.

Savvy_Sue

One tip, if you DO keep paper manuals, is to write date and place of purchase on the front cover. Then if it goes wrong you can work out if it still owes you anything ...

I think the only manual I use semi-regularly in paper format is for my oven: I can never remember how to set the timer if I want to get something cooked while I'm out. 

twopenny

In a box file with the receipt stapled to the front or back page.

I just find the paper ones easier to deal with when I've forgotten how to use a facility of a gadget. I can lay it out next to the product open at the page and follow. You could do that with a phone or tablet but then the screen times out and you don't want to drop it on the garage floor or whatever.

But scanning, no. Seems overkill and time consuming. Easier to use the original or online version.