Stop Paying For Excess Data Charges! Discover The Shocking Secret to Monitoring Your Internet Usage in Windows 10 Now!
In this day and age, we rely on the Internet for just about everything. From streaming our favorite shows to staying connected with friends and family, we’re always online. However, with all this usage, it’s easy to go over our data limits and end up paying exorbitant fees for excess data usage. Fortunately, there’s a way to prevent this from happening in Windows 10.
Windows 10 has a built-in feature that allows you to monitor your data usage, so you can keep track of how much you’re using and avoid going over your limit. Best of all, this feature is easy to use, so you don’t need to be a tech expert to get started.
First, open your Settings app by clicking on the Start menu and selecting the gear icon on the left-hand side. From there, click on “Network & Internet” and then select “Data usage” from the left-hand menu.
Here, you’ll see a breakdown of your data usage over the last 30 days. You can also set your billing cycle and data limit, so you’ll receive alerts when you’re approaching your limit. You can also choose which apps are allowed to use background data or limit their usage altogether.
But that’s not where the magic ends. Windows 10 also includes a feature called “Metered Connections,” which allows you to set Wi-Fi networks as metered. This means that Windows 10 will limit the amount of data used on these networks, which is especially helpful when using a public Wi-Fi network that has data usage limits.
To set a Wi-Fi network as metered, first, click on the Wi-Fi icon in your system tray. Then, right-click on the network you want to set as metered and select “Properties.” From there, toggle the switch next to “Set as metered connection.”
Overall, these features in Windows 10 can help you monitor your data usage and avoid excess charges. It’s important to remember that even with these tools, it’s still important to be mindful of your usage and limit non-essential activities, like streaming media or downloading large files, when you’re approaching your data limit.
So, stop paying for excess data charges and start monitoring your usage with these helpful tools in Windows 10. Just a few simple clicks can save you money and prevent the stress of unexpected bills.
Unlike with phones, monitoring Internet usage on Windows 10 isn’t something we do all that often. The fact that we’re usually hooked up to a home Internet connection without the limits and restrictions of a data connection probably plays a big part in that. But maybe you’re tethering your Windows PC through a phone or are curious to know how much data that online game you play uses.
There are various reasons you may want to keep track of your Internet usage in Windows 10, and here we’re going to show you how to do it.
Use the Task Manager for Windows Apps
For a very general overview of which Windows apps use the most data each month, you can use the trusty Windows Task Manager. Press Ctrl + Alt + Escape to open the Task Manager, then click “More details” to get the full Task Manager view.
Next, click the “App history” tab, then click Network to order the listed apps by network usage over the last month. As you can see here, “Mail and Calendar” eats up quite a lot of data even though we rarely use them. It may be a good time to think about stopping those auto-sync features built into those apps if you’re concerned about data usage.
Use Settings for All Apps/Programs
If you want to view monthly data usage for all apps in Windows 10 – not just UWP apps – then you can do so through Windows Settings.
To do this, go to “Settings -> Network & Internet -> Data usage.” On the right side of the window, click the network name that you want to view data usage for, and you’ll see a list of apps in order of how much data they’ve used over the past month. In the Data usage window you can also set a data limit by selecting the active network from the drop-down menu and clicking “Set limit” under “Data limit.”
This is a good way to see, for instance, how much data an online game uses each month or whether your Chrome browsing habits are as data-devouring as you think (Answer: probably).
NetworkUsageView
Probably the most popular network monitoring tool around, NirSoft’s NetworkUsageView, gives you a super-detailed breakdown of how much up-and-down data every single process on your PC uses – from games to system processes and everything in between.
It can be a little overwhelming at first, but there are all kinds of filters that let you whittle down what you’re looking at – whether it’s by name, time period, or amount of data sent or received. If you’re looking to dig a little deeper into the comings and goings of your Internet traffic on Windows 10, then this is the way to do it.
BitMeter OS
If you want a more detailed look at how much data your Windows 10 PC is using at any given moment or over specific time periods that can range from minutes to weeks and up to the whole year, then the open-source tool BitMeter is a good choice. It’s very detailed, and once you’ve installed it, it runs straight from your browser. (If you have trouble with the browser version, you can try BitMeter 2, which installs an actual app).
As well as getting a detailed breakdown of your Internet usage, you can also set alerts for high data usage over a given period, much like you would on your phone. So if you have a monthly data allowance, you can get BitMeter to let you know when you’re nearing it.
Want to keep diddling around with your Windows 10 network settings? Here’s how to check which ports are in use on Windows 10 (useful when assigning a port to BitMeter). Want to know exactly what the mysterious Internet dark matter known as “Ping” is? We can explain ping for you, too.
Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.
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