How to set Data Usage Limit in Windows 10

Updated: September 05, 2021
Windows 10 came with host set of new and handy features, one of them is setting data usage limit. Setting Data usage limit on monthly or one time bases would make sure that you don’t consume or use more than allowed bandwidth while browsing the internet. This is indeed a handy feature for anyone on a limited monthly internet plan.

What happens is that we usually tend to forget the amount of data we have used daily. If you have a 12GB plan, you watched a full HD resolution video on YouTube, you will not even realize that you have exceeded your daily internet bandwidth quota. Some people are just lazy enough to check their remaining bandwidth daily.

Now if you reach and exceed your monthly usage limit, you will definitely be surprised with a shocking bill on your internet. To avoid this what we can do is set data usage limit on a monthly or one-time quota basis, and browse the internet without being worried about exceeding your data limit.

Microsoft has added this handy “Set data usage limit” feature with Windows 10 that would save you from the hassle of downloading and installing third-party software to do the same. In today’s post, I will show you how to set data usage limit in Windows 10. I have also added a video tutorial at the end of the video.

How to set Data Usage Limit in Windows 10

Begin with opening the Settings and then open Network and Internet. You can either reach Settings menu by clicking on Start Button and then selecting Settings or you can click on Action Center ( bottom right notification icon), click on All Settings.

Alternatively, you can right-click on Cellular and select “Go to Settings”.

Once you are in Settings, click on Network and Internet to open it.

Click on Data Usage tab (left sidebar) and then click on “Set Limit” button from Set Data Usage.

For the limit type select “Monthly or Onetime”. Now set the following:

• Limit type: Monthly.
• Monthly reset date: 1 or whatever your bandwidth ending date is.
• Monthly data limit: enter your monthly data limit in number. If you have less than 1 GB then enter anywhere from 1 – 1024MB and if you have more than 1GB, enter in GBs.
• Unit: Select MB or GB.

Click on save to save the Settings. You can view the data usage from the past 30 days under data Usage settings. Clicking on Data usage will show you the list of apps, which have used your internet connection of bandwidth and how much each of them have used in the past 30 days.

Third Party Apps to Limit Data Usage Limit in Windows 10

Now if you want something more than what is offered by Microsoft’s default data usage feature you can have a look at these data usage limit software.

1: BitMeter 2

BitMeter 2 is an internet usage monitoring tools, which allows you to keep track of the data you have used. It comes with a desktop widget showing the graph of downloading and uploading speed. This would allow you to find any unusual activity or behavior in your internet bandwidth usage. You can add a data limit and sort out the data usage by hours, days and months.

2: WFilter Free

WFilter Free is the free edition of WFilter Enterprise and comes with basic set of features including web filtering, internet filtering, p2p blocker and bandwidth monitoring of network computers. All you have to do is download and install it on your PC and monitor the network.

3: NetWorx

NetWorx is a simple and free Windows utility, which helps you to objectively monitor your bandwidth consumption. You can use it to measure the speed of your internet connection, track down suspicious network activity, get usage report in Excel, MS Word and HTML format and support dial-up, ISFN, cable modems, ADSL, Ethernet cards and more.