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How can I reduce my data usage for streaming video?

Leaving programs running in the background while trying to stream competes for and uses more bandwidth than necessary. This causes buffering and a blurry picture when you are trying to watch your shows or movies. Be sure to check your application manager before streaming to make sure there is nothing open that does not need to be 

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What’s about you? Do you love watching videos on YouTube? Yet, a big downside of streaming videos on YouTube is that it uses a lot of data, especially when it comes to streaming the content in high quality. Well, it’s no coincidence that YouTube is known as one of the popular bandwidth-hogging apps. Luckily, there are many ways that we can use to minimize data usage while streaming YouTube videos. Let’s see what they are right now!

Reduce the quality of the video

First and foremost, it’s worth emphasizing that the lower the video quality, the fewer data you’ll need to consume for streaming YouTube videos. Do you know what that means? Well, lowering the video quality is a very great way that helps save your data and bandwidth as well. In many cases, the quality options of 360p and 480p seem fairly good enough for the streaming experience. Sometimes, the quality option of 144p is also perfect if you are running short of mobile data or if you are streaming audio content. If you opt for 144p, we bet that YouTube will no longer be one of banwidth hogging apps on your devices. 

So, how to reduce the video quality?

  • On mobile devices: Look for the three-dot menu on the top right corner of the playback window, then, you tap on it ⇨ Tap on “Quality” ⇨ Choose the resolution you want. 

  • On PC: Look for the Gear icon in the playback window, then you click on it ⇨ Click on “Quality” ⇨ Select the resolution you want.

Disable the autoplay feature

By default, when the current video ends, YouTube will automatically play the next one for you. Well, it’s likely a huge waste of data if that next video isn’t the thing you want to watch, isn’t it? Because of that, disabling the autoplay feature is a very great idea to save your data usage, right?. Let’s see how to disable this feature on your mobile devices and PC:

On PC: Head to the toggle button in your playback window (it is right on the left side of the “Gear” icon). Just need to flick that button to disable the autoplay feature.

On mobile devices: First, open the YouTube app, then tap on the profile picture. Now, you choose Settings, then opt for the AutoPlay section. Just need to uncheck the “Autoplay next video” option to disable the feature.

Download videos to view offline

YouTube mobile app has a feature known as the downloading videos feature which enables users to download and save videos for offline viewing. However, it’s only available in certain countries and regions. Well, it’s so great if you’re in a place where downloading videos is allowed, right? That means when your device has a WiFi connection, you can easily download the YouTube videos that you want to view so that you can enjoy them whenever and wherever you want without any internet connection. It does help you save a large amount of mobile data. This way, your YouTube is also no longer one of the bandwidth-hogging apps, isn’t it? 

Bottom line

Above are a few simple ways to minimize data usage while streaming YouTube videos that we want to share with you via this post. Well, they are really, really easy to follow, right? To save your data usage, you can also subscribe to YouTube Premium or use YouTube Go if these services are available in your region. And that's all for today's post. Hope that YouTube is no longer is one of the bandwidth-hogging apps on your devices with these tips and tricks!

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