Windows 10 is a very demanding system in terms of data consumption, which is not really a problem when we have unlimited access to the Internet, be it WiFi or Ethernet. High consumption, however, can be inconvenient for users who often use their mobile data to connect to the PC using connection sharing. Fortunately, there are tricks to limit the use of data in the background.
Set a wifi connection as limited in Windows 10
If the wifi access point shares a limited connection, Windows 10 can be set to limit data consumption in the background. The system will avoid performing any updates or automatic transfers of diagnostic data. Background operations will be delayed until they have access to an unlimited connection. To define a wifi network as limited, go to Settings> Network and Internet.
In this menu choose the State Tab and click on “Edit connection properties”. Scroll down a bit and activate the Limited connection option.
Check consumption and set a limit
To check the data consumption in the last 30 days, go to the “Data consumption” tab in the left menu. There we have an estimate of the volume of downloads in a month. Click on the name of the network or View usage by application to see in detail the most data-intensive applications.
They can also set a consumption limit that should not be exceeded per month by clicking the Set limit button.
Disable update sharing
Another tip for limiting background data usage in Windows 10 is to disable sharing updates. Regardless of whether the connection is limited or not, it is very likely that the user does not want to have the option to share updates on their computer activated. By default, Windows 10 uses the Internet connection to share certain updates. This method is analogous to point-to-point downloads.
If they receive an update before another Windows 10 user, the computer can be used as a remote server to distribute the update. The data consumption in the upload will therefore be necessarily high.
To disable this option, go to Settings> updates and security. On the Windows Update tab, click “Advanced options”.
On the advanced options page, click “Choose how updates will be delivered” or “Delivery options”, depending on your version of Windows 10.
Then select the option “PC on my local network” or click the button to disable the sharing option.
As with Android and iOS, updates for Windows 10 universal applications (obtained from the Microsoft Store) are made automatically as soon as the user connects to a Wi-Fi network unless they disable the option in the settings.
When setting a connection to limited, automatic application updates will not be made. However, you may want to disable these updates for other networks. To do so, open the Microsoft Store. Click on your profile icon and then on the settings.
Click the button to disable automatic updates.Reduce browser data consumption most of the most used browsers incorporate data savers in their mobile versions. This option saves bandwidth by compressing data while browsing.
Google also offers a saving of data to the desktop version of Chrome for some time. It is available as an extension ( Data Saver ) available for download from the Chrome Web Store.
