How much data does YouTube use?
YouTube has revolutionized the video-sharing space allowing content creators to post their videos online and consumers to watch this content. These videos don’t come cheap especially when you stream or download using mobile data or limited Wi-Fi.
YouTube, a video-sharing app has one of the largest user bases making it the most popular app after Google. More than 500 hours of content is uploaded on YouTube per minute and people spend over a billion hours a day watching this content on YouTube. This has enabled a lot of users to gain popularity or even learn a skill or two. This however is a lot of content and needs quite some data to watch.
The good thing about YouTube is how versatile the video quality is. They are offered in different qualities ranging from 144p to 8K with the former being the least video quality. When you enjoy your favorite YouTube celebrity’s video, it consumes data on your phone given that you’re using mobile data. YouTube is quite addictive and it’s very easy to find yourself clicking on another video while not monitoring your data, and before you know it, your data is depleted. This is because when you watch this content, it’s like watching TV and you may get lost in these videos without taking note of their data consumption.
But how much data does YouTube use? How much data YouTube will consume depends on how much time you spend on the site, the quality of the video(s) you play, and the duration it takes to watch it.
Table of Contents
A summary table of how much data YouTube consumes
YouTube Video Quality |
Data used per minute |
Data used per hour |
144p |
0.5-1.4 MB |
30-90 MB |
240p |
3-4.6 MB |
180-250 MB |
480p |
8.2-11 MB |
480-660 MB |
1080p |
50-68 MB |
2.5-4.1 GB |
Coming down to the quality of the videos, there is a range of factors that influence the amount of data it uses. They include frame rate, bitrate, and the amount of bandwidth required per video, and also if the video is displayed as a standard video, 3D or 360-degree video. Another thing worth noting is how YouTube works. YouTube loads more videos besides the ones you watch which influence the data usage. It also loads chunks of data rather than continuously streaming it. In lower-quality videos like a 144p, the app loads these chunks faster than in higher quality videos.
How to reduce YouTube data consumption on phone
Reducing your data consumption on YouTube without having to stop using it is possible. There are two methods that you can use, they include:
First Method: Lower the video quality
The first method is to reduce the video quality which can save you a lot of data. Higher video qualities like 4K and 8K on YouTube will consume more data. For example, by reducing a video quality from 1080p to 720p, you get to save half of your data. On the YouTube app, play the video that you want to watch. Tap anywhere inside the video for the menu to pop up. Navigate to the top-right corner and tap on the menu which is the three-dot icon. On the list of options that pops up, select ‘Quality’ and change the video quality from the Auto to your preferred option.
Second Method: Adjust YouTube settings
While the first method saves you on data, it needs you to keep lowering the video quality on each video that you play. This can be tiresome and you may sometimes forget to change. You can adjust YouTube to only stream high-definition (HD) videos over Wi-Fi. Go to the YouTube application on your phone and open it. On the top-right corner locate your profile picture and click on it to access your Account page. Scroll down to ‘Settings’ and tap on it to enter the Settings page. Select ‘General’ which is the first option on the list. On the new screen, scroll down and locate the ‘Limit mobile data usage’ toggle option and turn it on by toggling it to turn blue. Now your phone will only be able to stream HD videos over Wi-Fi.
Final Thoughts
YouTube is a fun and educational app to use. However, it’s good to watch your data consumption if you’re using mobile data.
FAQs
How do I stop videos from auto-playing on YouTube?
You can prevent Auto play by playing a video and then clicking anywhere in the video to bring up the menu icons. On the top of the video screen, find a toggle icon with the play button on it. To stop auto play, toggle the button off and it should now display a pause icon instead.
How much data does live streaming on YouTube consume?
Live streaming a video on YouTube will use the same amount of data as playing a video on the app.
