Metered Internet connections: Frequently asked questions
Here are answers to some common questions about metered Internet connections. If your Internet service provider charges you for the amount of data you use, you'll want to know about this.
Show allInternet service providers can charge by the amount of data used (the amount of data sent and received by your PC). That's called a metered Internet connection. These plans often have a data limit, and if you exceed the limit you might have to pay extra. In some cases, you aren't charged extra but your connection speed becomes slower until the billing cycle ends.
If you have a metered Internet connection, setting your network connection to metered in Windows can help you reduce the amount of data you send and receive.
It depends on whether your Internet service provider charges you by the amount of data you use. Here are some general guidelines:
WiFi networks – Windows sets WiFi networks to non-metered by default. If your Internet service provider charges you by the amount of data you use, setting your network connection to metered can help you limit your data usage.
Mobile broadband networks – Windows sets mobile broadband networks to metered by default. If your mobile broadband service is actually unlimited, then you might want to change the network setting to non-metered.
If you're not sure what to do, keep an eye on your data usage. If you find that you're being billed for extra data usage, setting your network connection to metered can help you manage this.
Any app that relies on an Internet connection to update or display info might be limited in the amount of data it can download or display. You might notice these and other effects:
Windows Update will only download priority updates.
Apps downloading from the Windows Store might be paused.
Start screen tiles might stop updating.
Offline files might not sync automatically.
Watch a video about setting a network connection to metered or non-metered. (To view captions in your language, tap or click the
Closed captioning button
.)
View a list of available networks by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Settings (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Settings), and then tapping or clicking the network icon (
or 
).
Press and hold or right-click the network, then tap or click Set as metered connection or Set as non-metered connection.
For information about signing in as an administrator, see How do I know I'm signed in as an administrator?
View a list of available networks by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Settings (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Settings), and then tapping or clicking the network icon ( or ).
Press and hold or right-click the network, then make sure it is set as a metered connection.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, then tap Change PC settings.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the top-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, then click Change PC settings.)
Under PC settings, tap or click Sync your settings.
At the bottom of the page, make sure Sync over metered connections and Sync over metered connections even when I'm roaming are both set to Off.
View a list of available networks by swiping in from the right edge of the screen, tapping Settings (or if you're using a mouse, pointing to the upper-right corner of the screen, moving the mouse pointer down, and then clicking Settings), and then tapping or clicking the network icon ( or ).
Press and hold or right-click the network, then make sure it is set as a metered connection.
Swipe in from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, then tap Change PC settings.
(If you're using a mouse, point to the top-right corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, then click Change PC settings.)
Under PC settings, tap or click Devices.
At the bottom of the page, make sure Download over metered connections is set to Off.
This will block download of device drivers from Windows Update and device info for your device, while your Internet connection is set to metered. (These downloads will resume next time you're on a non-metered Internet connection.)
