---
title: "How to Check Which Apps Are Using the Most Mobile Data | The Plain Manual"
description: "Your phone uses mobile data for almost everything — loading websites, streaming music, refreshing social media, and updating apps in the background — even"
---

# How to Check Which Apps Are Using the Most Mobile Data

[Phones & Tablets](https://ajmm.org/category/phones-and-tablets/)

Your phone uses mobile data for almost everything — loading websites, streaming music, refreshing social media, and updating apps in the background — even when you are not actively using those apps. If you regularly go over your monthly data allowance, or you just want to understand what is eating through it, your phone has a built-in tool that shows you exactly which apps are consuming the most. Here is how to find it and what to do about it.

## Why It Matters

Many apps use data quietly in the background — checking for new posts, downloading updates, refreshing adverts — without you realising. Some apps, like video streaming and social media, use far more than others. Finding the culprits takes less than a minute, and you can then set limits or restrictions that stop them from running up your bill.

## How to Check Data Usage on iPhone

1. Open **Settings**.
2. Tap **Mobile Data** (or **Cellular** on some versions).
3. Scroll down past the toggle switches. You will see a list of all your apps with the amount of data each has used this period listed next to it.
4. The list is sorted by app name alphabetically by default — scroll through to find the highest numbers.
5. At the bottom of the list, you will see when this measurement period started and a button to reset the statistics. It is worth noting: iPhone does not reset this automatically at the start of your billing month, so the number shown may cover several months if you have never reset it.

### Resetting the Counter

To start fresh and see which apps use data from today onwards:

1. Scroll to the very bottom of the Mobile Data screen.
2. Tap **Reset Statistics**.
3. Confirm. The counters will reset to zero and start accumulating again from that point.

Doing this at the start of each billing month gives you an accurate picture of your usage for that month.

### Turning Off Mobile Data for Specific Apps

If you find an app using more data than you want it to:

1. In the Mobile Data settings, find the app in the list.
2. Toggle the switch next to it to **off** (grey).
3. That app will now only work on Wi-Fi — it will show an error or spin indefinitely if you try to use it on mobile data.

## How to Check Data Usage on Android

1. Open **Settings**.
2. Tap **Network & internet** (the exact name varies slightly by phone brand — look for anything about Network, Connections, or Data).
3. Tap **Mobile network** or **Data usage**.
4. Tap **App data usage**.
5. You will see a list of apps sorted by how much data they have used. The highest users are usually at the top.
6. Tap any app to see a breakdown of how much it used in the foreground (while you were actively using it) versus in the background (while running silently).

### Restricting Background Data on Android

1. Tap an app in the data usage list.
2. Toggle **Background data** off. This stops the app from using data when you are not actively using it.
3. Some phones also offer a **Restrict app background data** switch at the top level for all apps at once.

### Setting a Data Warning or Limit on Android

Android lets you set a warning threshold and a hard limit on your monthly data use:

1. In Data usage settings, look for **Data warning & limit**.
2. Toggle on **Set data warning** and enter a number slightly under your monthly allowance — for example, if you have 20GB, set a warning at 18GB.
3. Toggle on **Set data limit** if you want the phone to cut off mobile data entirely when you hit the limit.
4. Set the billing cycle start date to match your phone contract renewal date so the counter resets on the right day each month.

## Which Apps Use the Most Data?

Typically, the biggest data users are:

- **Video apps:** Netflix, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram Reels — video eats data faster than anything else
- **Social media:** Especially apps that auto-play videos as you scroll
- **Music streaming:** Spotify and similar services, particularly on high-quality settings
- **App updates:** If apps are set to update over mobile data, a large batch of updates can use several gigabytes at once
- **Cloud photo backup:** If your photos are set to back up over mobile data rather than Wi-Fi only

## Quick Wins to Reduce Data Use

- **Turn off auto-play videos** in Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X settings.
- **Set app updates to Wi-Fi only:** On iPhone, go to Settings > App Store > App Downloads and choose “Ask First” or disable mobile downloads. On Android, open the Play Store > Settings > Network preferences > App download preference > “Over Wi-Fi only”.
- **Lower streaming quality on mobile:** In Spotify, Netflix, or YouTube, find the quality settings and set them to a lower option when on mobile data.
- **Disable photo backup over mobile data:** In Google Photos or iCloud settings, make sure backups only happen over Wi-Fi.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How do I know when my monthly data allowance resets?

Check your mobile provider’s app or website — it usually shows your billing cycle start date and remaining data. You can also look at your contract documents or the last bill for the renewal date.

### Why does my data usage seem higher than what I actually used?

Background activity is the usual culprit — apps refreshing, emails downloading, system updates happening, location services checking in, all without you opening those apps. The background data figures shown per app can help identify which one is the main offender.

### Can I see my data usage for the whole month on the phone?

Yes, Android’s data warning system tracks this per billing cycle if you set it up correctly. iPhone requires you to manually reset statistics at the start of each billing month to track it accurately.

### Does using Wi-Fi calling count as mobile data?

No. Wi-Fi calling uses your Wi-Fi connection, not your mobile data allowance. It also does not use your minutes in many cases — check with your provider.

### What about data used by the phone’s system itself?

System updates and some pre-installed services use data too. On both iPhone and Android, you can set system updates and app updates to only run on Wi-Fi, which prevents surprise large downloads on your mobile allowance.

**Further reading**

- [How to Reduce Video File Size Without Software — mutecow.com](https://mutecow.com/blog/how-to-reduce-video-file-size-without-software/)

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