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How to Use Less Netflix Data

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This guide will show you how to use less Netflix data while streaming movies and TV shows to your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

You can change how much data Netflix uses to avoid going over your data plan while traveling or even just during your daily commute. If you are really concerned you may want to use this trick to watch Netflix offline.

With the Netflix data usage controls you have the final say in how much data your smartphone or tablet uses while watching shows. There is one catch to keep in mind if you use your iPhone to act as a hotspot and then stream on an iPad.

Learn how to control Netflix data use on your mobile devices and at home.

Learn how to control Netflix data use on your mobile devices and at home.

Netflix is $9.99 a month and you can sign up for a free 30-day trial if you have not used the service before.

We’ll help you learn how much data Netflix uses and how you can control that data use.

How Much Data Does Netflix Use?

The amount of data Netflix uses all depends on the quality of the show and how much you watch.

As a general rule, Netflix uses 1GB of data per hour for Standard Definition and 3GB per hour of High Definition. That’s a lot of data if you are on a limited mobile plan.

With the new Netflix data controls you can limit this to dramatically stretch your data plan. Here is how much data Netflix uses on cellular.

  • Low – 4 hours for 1GB
  • Medium – 2 hours for 1GB
  • High – 1 hour for 1GB
  • Unlimited – Not Suggested without Unlimited Data

You can control how much data Netflix uses on your computer at all times and on your iPhone or iPad when it is connected to cellular networks.

How to Use Less Netflix Data

You can change how much data Netflix uses when on a cellular network using your iPhone and Android app settings and you can also change the overall settings on your account.

You can set data usage options per profile, allowing you to limit the usage on just a single profile no matter the device used. We’ll show you how to use less Netflix data in both ways.

How to use less Netflix data on iPhone and Android.

How to use less Netflix data on iPhone and Android.

To manage how much data Netflix uses while on cellular data you need to:

  1. Open the Netflix App
  2. Tap on the Three Lines in the upper left corner.
  3. Scroll down and tap on App Settings
  4. Choose the quality to control Netflix data usage.

This is limited to this specific device and you can even choose to completely turn off cellular data use. This is similar across Android and iPhone.

If you share your iPhone or Android Internet connection to an iPad, Android tablet or laptop it will not use this same streaming setting to limit the usage.

You can control how much data you or your kid uses while streaming Netflix by changing the settings in your Account. This may take up to eight hours to start using these settings. The changes you make here are in effect for that profile anywhere you use it.

How to use less Netflix data anywhere.

How to use less Netflix data anywhere.

This means that it should use the lower quality on your HDTV as well as on iPhone, iPad or Android no matter where you are and what connection you have. You may want to make a special profile that you use while traveling and limit it to low quality so that a kid doesn’t use up all your data on a long trip.

  1. Open the Netflix webpage on your computer or device.
  2. Click on your profile.
  3. Mouse over the profile icon in the upper right and click on Your Account.
  4. Choose Playback settings.
  5. Adjust to the amount of data you want to use per hour.

You can also click this link to go directly to those settings. In this area you will also see an option to turn off Autoplay.

With these changes you can control how much data Netflix uses at home and on the go so that you don’t use too much of your data on a limited data plan.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Cathyjcox

    05/09/2016 at 9:03 am

    !!!I Aᴍ ᴍAᴋɪɴɢ 84USD ᴘᴇʀ ʜᴏᴜʀ Aɴᴅ Aʟᴍᴏsᴛ 16784USD ᴘᴇʀ ᴍᴏɴᴛʜ ᴘAʀᴛ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴏɴ ᴍʏ ʟᴀᴘᴛᴏᴘ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴏᴏɢʟᴇ .ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴏᴛʟʏ ᴄʜAɴɢᴇ ᴍʏ ʟɪғᴇ Aɴᴅ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ᴛʜᴀᴛ’s ᴄᴏᴏʟ,I ғᴇᴇʟs sᴏ ɢᴏᴏᴅ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ sᴏ ᴍᴜᴄʜ ᴍᴏɴᴇʏ Tʜɪs ɪs ᴡʜᴀᴛ I ᴅᴏ ….. See More

  2. Urooz Virk

    09/17/2016 at 10:03 pm

    I recently got in touch with Netflix support and informed them that although the “medium” quality setting says the usage will be 0.7GB per hour, I was getting much higher data consumption (about 1.3GB). They told me that it was because i was using Netflix on a PS4! They also said that the data usage mentioned on their site holds true for mobile devices only, and not for desktop pc or PS4 etc..
    I found this rather bizarre.

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