How Many Megabytes Does Netflix Use?

If you don't have an unlimited data plan it is vital to know how much you are allowed to consume, before an unpleasant bill comes through the door. This includes both mobile phone data plans and home internet plans. And, of course, doesn't only apply to Netflix. Video streaming can be costly. And it may be wise to limit service data usage to prevent your wireless bill from getting out of hand. Bear in mind, data usage applies to any device on which you are able to watch Netflix. You have to be connected to the Internet through these devices in order to log into your Netflix account and start watching films and TV shows. All this counts towards the amount of data you may be using. In the following paragraphs, we will outline where exactly you can reveal how much data you are using, how to alter your streaming settings and tips to monitor your data usage.

It's important to know exactly how much data Netflix uses in order to plan to use it accordingly. When we refer to such a colossal service like Netflix, we don't speak of megabytes, but gigabytes. One gigabyte (GB) is about 1 billion bytes, or 1 thousand megabytes, to put it into some perspective.

So, how much data does Netflix use?

• For standard definition: up to 0.7 GB per hour of usage
• For True HD (1080p): 3GB per hour
• For ultra HD: a whopping 7 GB/hr

If you opt for Ultra HD shows on Netflix (for example, House of Cards) you will go through your data extremely fast.Let's have a look at how much data Netflix consumes on an iPhone. Follow these steps to discover how close you are to an unwanted charge!1. Go to Settings.2. Choose either the 'mobile data' or 'cellular' option (it will depend on your phone's chosen language.)3. Scroll down to Netflix.4. Now you can see how much you are using.

Remember this amount only for cellular usage and not the amount of data you’re consuming over Wi-Fi.

If you are somewhat alarmed by your usage but can't bear the thought of erasing Netflix and chill from your social life, you have a solution. Netflix allows you to choose exactly which resolution and you wish to stream your video in. By choosing the video resolution quality yourself, you can control your data usage. On your Netflix mobile app you have several options:

• Off - You will only be able to stream while connected to Wi-Fi.
• Auto* - Netflix will select a data usage setting that balances data usage with good video quality.
• Low resolution- Watch about 4 hours per GB of data.
• Medium resolution- Watch about 2 hours per GB of data.
• High resolution- Watch about 1 hour per GB of data.
• Unlimited - This is only recommended only if you have an unlimited data plan. This setting will stream at the highest possible quality for your device and the content you are viewing.

*Remember the auto option doesn't take into consideration your monthly limit set by your Internet provider. It's purely down to connection speed. If you are over your monthly limit, it can still continue to stream in HQ HD, which you will need to pay for once your bill comes through! If you have multiple profiles, you’ll want to choose the option to change the data in usage settings.

We recommend calling your internet service provider if you are still unsure how many megabytes (or gigabytes) you are using. The only way you can conserve data is to reduce your consumption of video watching or the quality in which we watch content.

If you found this article useful, you may be interested in our article on how to reduce WhatsApp data usage.

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