How Much Data Does YouTube Use?

Many individuals have a costly yet straightforward connection with data. The more data that one consumes, the more likely that individual is to pay more for their cell phone bill.

On the downside, YouTube videos are known to consume a lot of data. So, how much data does it consume exactly?

Continue reading to find out...and the next time you're watching your favorite YouTube videos you will know just how much.

How much data is used in just one minute of watching YouTube?

When YouTube is at the default setting on a cell phone, an individual uses approximately 4MB or more of data every minute.

Overtime, that adds up to about 240MB an hour, and one gigabyte over a four hour period.

This information is essential because a number of cell phone plans only include a small amount of data each month. That is equivalent to about a half an hour of YouTube. It is important that individuals pick a good cell phone plan.

The amount of data that one uses depends greatly on the video quality. Individuals will use a significant amount of data when the video quality is high. When the video quality is low, the data usage will be low as well.

Hint: One can determine the YouTube video quality by selecting the Menu button located in the top right corner of the page. The Menu button looks like three vertical dots. Once the person clicks on the Menu button, he/she may can select Quality and adjust it to the right setting.

A low quality video will use approximately 1.6 MB a minute, and a high quality video will use approximately 12 MB a minute. YouTube's default video quality is usually set at 480p.

How much data is consumed monthly by YouTube?

When the settings are set on default, one hour of YouTube daily would consume over 7 GB of data every month.

If an individual would watch only 30 minutes of YouTube daily, he/she would consume about 3.5 GB in a month if the settings are on default.

How can individuals decrease their YouTube data usage?

Even though the video quality is set on default, one may lower the quality to a minimum of 144p. Lowering the video quality will reduce the amount of data being used.

If an individual is using iOS or Android to watch YouTube, he/she may change the video quality to reduce data usage. This may be done by choosing the quality option in the menu.

Is it possible for carriers to automatically lower video quality when watching YouTube?

It is possible for some carriers to automatically lower one's video quality. That all depends on the plan that the individual has. Most carriers that lower video quality will set it to Standard Definition.

For example, AT&T offers a feature called Stream Saver. Stream Saver automatically streams one's video content at 480p, unless the individual chooses otherwise.

Out of all of the major carriers that offer unlimited data plans, all plans stream the video quality at 1080p, except the AT&T Choice Unlimited and the T-Mobile ONE Unlimited Plans.

Who uses the most data? YouTube or Netflix?

YouTube typically consumes less data that Netflix. At the default setting, YouTube will use approximately 100 MB of data per hour of usage. Netflix will cost approximately 500 MB for an hour of usage.

Netflix also offers low, medium, and high video quality. This may be found in the settings.