A clean desk policy requires desks to be cleared of papers, files and unlocked devices at the end of each day or booking. It began as an information security control in legal and financial firms and became operationally essential wherever desks are shared.
In a hot desking office the policy does double duty: it protects confidential material and it makes the desk genuinely available for the next person. Check-out prompts and visible desk status make it enforceable without a manager patrolling the floor.