Top 4 Tips to Reduce YouTube Data Usage on Mobile and PC
YouTube is the world's leading video sharing and streaming platform. There is a wide variety of content and resources on the platform, but statistics have shown that YouTube's data consumption can be quite extravagant, especially when streaming HD video.
While this should not be a problem if you have unlimited Internet access, you would like to minimize the amount of data consumed by YouTube if you have a limited cellular data plan.
Fortunately, YouTube – like other video streaming services – allows you to control the use of data on any device on which you use the platform.
In this article, we will look at four ways to reduce the use of YouTube data on both your mobile device and your PC.
Tip 1: Reduce video quality
The quality of the videos you show on YouTube is the determining factor in how much data the platform will use. YouTube offers a wide variety of video quality (up to 1080p). The higher the broadcast quality, the more data will be absorbed by the application thanks to your Internet bandwidth.
The default streaming quality on YouTube is predetermined by factors such as the quality of your Internet connection, the size of the screen, the quality of the downloaded video, and so on.
Regardless of the video quality by default, it is recommended to reduce it to the lowest level, for which the content of the video is always very visible.
Here's how to do this on mobile and PC.
1. on mobile
Step 1: While watching a video, tap the three-dot menu icon in the upper-right corner of the player.
2nd step: Tap Quality in the pane that appears at the bottom.
Step 3: Select a lower quality from the list of options.
To record most data without compromising the visual quality of your phone, you must select the 360p resolution – consumes about 315 MB of data per hour of streaming.
If you want to reduce the use of data, select the 240p resolution option. This level of quality consumes approximately 225 MB per hour of video streaming.
If the audio aspect of a video interests you more than the visuals, you must change the quality to 144p. This is the lowest video quality level and minimizes data consumption.
2. On PC
The process of reducing YouTube video quality on PC is no different than the way it is done on mobile.
Step 1: When playing a video, tap the gear icon.
2nd step: Tap the quality.
Step 3: Select a lower resolution that produces a decent visual quality.
Do not forget that the higher the quality, the higher the bandwidth used by YouTube. You would like to make sure you choose a low resolution that does not unreasonably weaken the video quality.
I stream 360p videos (480p sometimes) when playing videos on cellular data. When I'm only interested in the audio, I broadcast in streaming at a resolution of 144p.
Tip 2: Limit the use of mobile data
On YouTube, you can choose to stream videos in high-definition only when you're using Wi-Fi. This helps you limit the amount of data YouTube uses when you're on mobile data.
Here's how to limit the use of data on the YouTube mobile app.
Step 1: On the homepage of the YouTube app, tap the account image in the upper right corner.
2nd step: Select Settings.
Step 3: Press General.
Step 4: Enable the option 'Restrict mobile data usage'.
Tip 3: Disable muted playback
The YouTube mobile app plays videos automatically when you browse the home page and the subscription thread. Although these readings are disabled, they eat up your data plan.
If you are trying to reduce YouTube data consumption, you must disable it. Here's how to do it.
Step 1: Tap the account photo in the upper right corner of the YouTube app.
2nd step: Select Settings.
Step 3: Press General.
Step 4: Select the option "Muted Playback in Streams."
Step 5: Select Off to disable mute playback.
Alternatively, you can select the option "Wi-Fi Only" and the muted videos will only be played when you are connected to Wi-Fi.
Tip 4: Disable AutoPlay
By default, YouTube automatically plays another video when you finish viewing the video on the player. As a precaution, you can disable this option. You should.
When AutoPlay is turned off, you have a good command of the videos you watch and when you want to watch them.
On the mobile
Step 1: Tap the account photo in the right corner of the app.
2nd step: Tap Settings.
Step 3: Select Autoplay.
Step 4: Uncheck the "Automatically play next video" option.
When you watch a video, you can also uncheck the autoplay option under the description of the video.
On PC
Disabling PC Autoplay is also easy.
Step 1: Tap the gear icon in the lower left corner of the YouTube video player.
Step 2: Make sure the autoplay option is not checked. If this is not the case, press it to disable the auto play feature.
Otherwise, in the Next section of the YouTube video page, press the AutoPlay option to deselect it and turn it off.
Reduce the excessive use of data
Streaming videos is cool. YouTube is even cooler. However, make sure that your streaming activities do not weigh heavily on your limited data plan. The tips listed above will help you minimize the use of data when streaming YouTube videos to your mobile phone or PC.
Then: Learn how to use restricted mode to control and filter unwanted content on YouTube in the linked article below.