How much data are you using on YouTube, and how can you reduce your usage?

If you’ve gotten cozy on a bus ready for a seven-hour trip, you may be wondering “does YouTube use a lot of data?” We’ll cut to the chase and tell you that yes, YouTube uses a lot of mobile data, but you have a few options for reducing your data usage while streaming videos.

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11 min read

How much data are you using on YouTube, and how can you reduce your usage?

Before we dive into the ins and outs of YouTube bandwidth usage, we need to give a big ol’ disclaimer that the usage estimations you’re about to see are not entirely accurate, and they depend on a whole host of factors. It’s difficult to quantify exactly how much data you use on any given app, but this article is meant to give you a better understanding of data consumption and how to reduce YouTube data usage. 

Without further ado, let’s take a look at how much data YouTube approximately uses and what you can do to save your precious cellular data. 

How much data does YouTube use?

Let’s rewind a bit (pun intended) — does YouTube use data? Oh, yes. Very much so. Two important terms to understand when it comes to YouTube video data usage are resolution (aka “definition,” represented by numbers followed by a “p” or “K,” like 480p or 4K) and frame rates per second (fps). Together, these two concepts combined make up the quality of a video. 

You can stream videos at various resolutions, including standard (480p), high (720p), full high (1080p), and ultra high (4K). A level above 4K exists — 8K. However, there aren’t many reliable online sources that document data usage estimates at 8K resolution, so we’ll skip it for this article. Just know that it exists!

Frame rates per second is the number of frames (pictures) displayed per second. The higher the fps, the smoother the motion of your video. The standard fps for most YouTube videos is 30 fps. However, you can’t change the fps in a given video — that’s decided by the person shooting and uploading it. The only way to force a lower fps is by changing the quality to 480p or lower. Since fps can’t be toggled on a video, we’ve decided to omit it from the table below. 

Remember that because of the many factors to consider when estimating data usage on YouTube, these numbers are not exact. Use them only as a general guideline when you’re looking to reduce your data usage from streaming videos. 

With that out of the way, we’ve taken ranges from multiple online sources that document data usage on YouTube:

Video Quality

Data usage per minute

Data usage per hour

144p

0.6-1.3 MB

36-80 MB

240p

2.25-3.3 MB

135-225 MB

360p

3-5 MB

300-450 MB

480p (Standard)

3.75-8.3 MB

360-900 MB

720p (HD)

11.25-25 MB

720 MB - 2.7 GB

1080p (FHD)

22.5-50 MB

1.5-4 GB

1440p (Quad HD)

45-135 MB

4.25-8 GB

2160p (4K UHD)

97.5-382.5 MB

10.5-23 GB

How can you check your YouTube data usage?

When you have a limited amount of data, every megabyte counts — especially when you’re traveling abroad. If you’re already concerned about your Google Maps data usage, you’ll want to be mindful of other data-sucking apps like YouTube. Luckily, you can track how much data you’ve used in your phone’s settings. 

How to check YouTube data usage on your iPhone

To check your YouTube data usage on your iPhone or other iOS devices:

  1. Go to “Settings,” then open “Cellular” or “Mobile Service” (the wording will depend on what country you’re in). 

  2. Scroll down to the section called “Mobile data for (name of your SIM).”

  3. Here, you’ll find how much data you’ve used within your “current period” on YouTube. 

How to check YouTube data usage on your Android

To check your YouTube data usage on your Android device:

  1. Go to “Settings,” then “Apps.”

  2. Select “Manage apps,” then “YouTube.”

  3. You’ll find a detailed report of your data usage for the app under “Data usage.”

How to reduce your YouTube data usage 

We’ve all been there — booking a bus instead of a flight to save a whopping US$10. What’s an extra six hours on the bus anyway? It’s tempting to stream long videos on your journey to pass the time, like your favorite scenes from a steamy period piece romance or a three-hour documentary on the Indus Valley civilization. The problem is that not only does streaming YouTube videos drain your battery, but it also uses a lot of data. And if you’re relying on international data roaming, you may be in for an unpleasant surprise when you get your bill. 

If you’re wondering how to reduce YouTube data usage, consider some of the following options. 

Change YouTube video quality settings

One of the best ways to lower your data usage on YouTube is by lowering the quality of the video. You can make sure YouTube does this automatically every time you stream a video by changing the settings in the app. 

To change your settings in the YouTube app:

  1. From the homepage, go to “You” at the bottom right corner (where you see your profile picture), and then select the gear icon at the top right. 

  2. Select “Video quality preferences.”

  3. Select “On mobile data networks,” and then “Data saver.” 

While we get that nobody likes potato-quality videos, nobody likes burning through their limited amount of data in less than an hour either. So you’ll need to find a compromise and either stream high quality videos for less time or lower quality videos for longer. Dealer’s choice!

Consider using YouTube Premium

Purchasing a YouTube Premium subscription is one solution to lowering your data consumption and it comes with additional perks. When you have YouTube Premium, you can download videos to watch offline (meaning, while you’re not connected to Wi-Fi or using cellular data). If you have limited data, make sure you download these videos for offline viewing using Wi-Fi.

Plus, you won’t have to sit through ad breaks!

Turn off video auto-play

Have you ever watched a video while doing the dishes, zoned out, and noticed that you’re watching something completely different and (sometimes) unrelated? That’s because you have auto-play enabled. Auto-play can drain your data because, as the name suggests, it allows YouTube to automatically play videos in a queue based on what you may enjoy. 

To disable YouTube auto-play:

  1. Go to “You” at the bottom right corner, and then select the gear at the top right. 

  2. Select “Auto-play.”

  3. Flip the switch beside “Mobile phone/tablet.”

Disable muted playback in feeds

Have you ever noticed that as you’re scrolling through your YouTube feed, videos start playing (usually without sound) if you stop scrolling for a couple of seconds? This feature called “Playback in feeds” (sometimes called “Muted playback”) also uses data. 

To turn off the “Playback in feeds” feature:

  1. Go to “You” at the bottom right corner, and then select the gear at the top right. 

  2. Select “General,” then scroll down and select “Playback in feeds.”

  3. Select “Off.”

Buffer (preload) videos on Wi-Fi

As we’ve mentioned before, buffering (or preloading) videos uses some data. So if you’re worried about mobile data usage, it’s important to quit the app when you pause a video. If you’re planning on traveling, you can avoid wasting your data on buffering videos by preloading your videos using Wi-Fi. 

How much data does YouTube TV use?

When it comes to watching “television,” most of us are shackled to subscriptions like Netflix, Hulu, or Disney+. YouTube has jumped at the opportunity to introduce a platform where you can conveniently stream TV channels wherever you are — not just on your sofa. 

Just like with watching YouTube videos, the amount of data consumed by YouTube TV depends on several factors, like streaming quality and viewing time. 

Without sounding like a broken record, we’ll have to reiterate that it’s difficult to give accurate estimates of data consumption, but here’s an approximation of how much data YouTube TV uses per hour:

  • 480p: 360-900 MB per hour

  • 720p: 720 MB - 2.7 GB per hour

  • 1080p: 1.5-4 GB per hour

  • 1440p: 4.25-8 GB per hour

If you’d like to reduce your data usage on YouTube TV, try lowering the video quality.  

How much data does YouTube Shorts use?

Similar to both YouTube videos and YouTube TV, the amount of data used by YouTube Shorts depends on factors like video quality, duration, and playback settings. However, since YouTube Shorts can only be 60 seconds long, they are bound to use much less data than regular YouTube videos. That being said, YouTube Shorts automatically plays one video after another, which increases the amount of data you’ll use. 

Exact approximations of how much data YouTube Shorts use are few and far between. To avoid giving you faulty data, we’ll just leave you with the same data-saving advice we’ve given for regular YouTube videos and YouTube TV — to reduce your data usage on YouTube Shorts, consider lowering the quality of the videos. 

YouTube data usage: Final takeaways

Attempting to answer the question “how much data does a YouTube video use?” is admittedly complicated, but in short, YouTube videos use a lot of data. If you’re keen on reducing your data usage, especially when you have a limited amount of cellular data, you’ll want to stream videos at a lower quality with a lower number of frames per second (fps). In other words, the better the video quality, the more data you’ll use. 

YouTube can be a real data killer, which is especially problematic when you travel and rely on your international roaming to stream videos. The best way to avoid roaming charges while continuing to stream videos is to download an eSIM app and choose an affordable data plan. 

Happy streaming!

FAQ

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    saily blog author sabina carbajal
    Sabina Carbajal

    Sabina launched an embarrassing travel blog at the age of 18 to document her insatiable hunger for deep cultural immersion, new flora and fauna, and … food! She relies on her phone at all times while she travels. Between her bird ID app, light meter app for her broken film camera, and good ol’ Instagram, an eSIM gives her speedy mobile data to power her adventures.