How much data does Netflix use?
On a phone with the Netflix app left on its default "Automatic" setting, an hour of streaming is about 250 MB, and "Save Data" brings it to about 170 MB. Those are Netflix’s own figures: roughly 4 and 6 hours per gigabyte. The frightening numbers you may have seen, 3 GB an hour for HD and 7 GB for 4K, apply to the account-level playback settings on tablets, laptops and TVs.
Quality is the only real lever. The app setting governs mobile data on the phone; the per-profile playback setting at netflix.com governs everything else, including a laptop running on your phone’s hotspot. Autoplay of the next episode and of previews on the home screen adds minutes of video you did not choose.
Netflix downloads are the cheap way to travel: an episode saved on hotel Wi-Fi costs nothing on the road, and Smart Downloads will replace watched episodes with the next ones.
Megabytes per hour
| Mode | Per hour |
|---|---|
| App: Save DataNetflix states about 6 hours per GB on this setting. | 170 MB/h |
| App: AutomaticAbout 4 hours per GB; the default for mobile data in the phone app. | 250 MB/h |
| Playback setting: LowBasic video quality, 0.3 GB per hour per Netflix. | 300 MB/h |
| Playback setting: Medium (SD)0.7 GB per hour per Netflix. | 700 MB/h |
| Playback setting: High (HD)Up to 3 GB per hour; what a tablet or laptop on your hotspot will pull. | 2.9 GB |
| Playback setting: High (Ultra HD / 4K)Up to 7 GB per hour; needs a 4K screen and the Premium plan, so not a phone. | 6.8 GB |
Checked October 4, 2026 · Sources: help.netflix.com. Figures are from the app’s own documentation unless marked as our measurement. The tables on this page are published under CC BY 4.0: reuse them with a link to the source.
How to use less
- Set the app to the saver: Netflix → My Netflix → menu (≡) → App Settings → Mobile Data Usage → turn off Automatic → Save Data. "Wi-Fi Only" blocks streaming on mobile data entirely.
- Download before you leave: on any title tap Download; in App Settings → Downloads keep "Wi-Fi Only" on and set Download Video Quality → Standard, which is a few hundred megabytes an hour on the phone.
- If a tablet or laptop will stream through your hotspot, lower the profile: netflix.com → Account → Profiles → your profile → Playback settings → Low or Medium. The change takes up to 8 hours to apply.
- Turn off previews and next-episode autoplay in the same Playback settings screen; previews on the home screen play video every time you browse.
- Switch on Smart Downloads (App Settings → Downloads) so watched episodes are swapped for new ones the next time the phone is on Wi-Fi.
How much data Netflix uses on a trip
0.5 h of Netflix a day for 14 days is about 6.8 GB. Add your other apps in the calculator.
Calculate for my tripQuestions
Does Netflix use data in the background?
Hardly any when you are not watching. The exceptions are downloads in progress and Smart Downloads, both of which stay on Wi-Fi if "Wi-Fi Only" is on under App Settings → Downloads.
How much data does Netflix need for a two-week trip?
Half an hour a day on Automatic is about 125 MB a day, under 2 GB over two weeks; on Save Data about 1.2 GB. The same half hour in HD on a laptop over the hotspot is about 20 GB.
Why does my Netflix show 1 GB an hour when Automatic says 250 MB?
Automatic is the phone app on mobile data. On a tablet, a browser or a TV the account-level playback setting applies, and "Medium" alone is 0.7 GB an hour. Check which device and which profile did the watching.
Is downloading on Wi-Fi the answer?
For Netflix, yes. Downloads play offline for as long as the title stays available, in a quality you pick once, and nothing is streamed on the road. Download a few episodes more than you expect to watch.
