How Much Data Does Netflix Use Per Hour?

Netflix uses about 0.3 GB per hour on Low quality, 0.7 GB per hour on Medium (SD), 3 GB per hour on High (HD), and up to 7 GB per hour on 4K Ultra HD. You control this directly in Netflix's own settings, which makes it one of the easiest streaming apps to manage on a capped plan.

Netflix Data Usage by Quality Setting

These are the ranges Netflix itself uses to describe its playback settings, so they hold steady across devices — phone, laptop, or TV — as long as the same quality setting is selected.

How to Change Netflix's Data Usage Setting

1. Log into your Netflix account in a web browser (this setting isn't available in the mobile or TV app directly).
2. Go to Account → Profile & Parental Controls and select the profile you want to change.
3. Click Change next to "Playback settings."
4. Choose Low, Medium, High, or Auto. Auto lets Netflix pick quality based on your connection speed in real time, which is convenient but can quietly default to HD on a fast connection even when you're watching on a small phone screen.

Changing this setting applies to every device that profile is used on, not just the one you're changing it from.

How Many Hours Can You Stream Before Hitting a Cap?

At the "High" HD setting (~3 GB/hour), a 1 TB monthly allowance gets you roughly 333 hours of Netflix — assuming nothing else on your network is using data at the same time. At 4K (~7 GB/hour), that same 1 TB covers about 143 hours. Dropping from 4K to HD roughly doubles your available streaming hours with a quality difference that's barely noticeable on screens under 55 inches.

What Internet Speed Does Netflix Actually Need?

Netflix's own recommendations are lower than many people expect:

• 0.5 Mbps — minimum required
• 3 Mbps — SD quality
• 5 Mbps — HD quality
• 15–25 Mbps — Ultra HD/4K quality (Netflix recommends 25 Mbps for reliable 4K playback)

If your connection sits well above these numbers, the bottleneck usually isn't your internet speed — it's the quality setting or, on a shared connection, other devices streaming at the same time. See our 25 Mbps to GB conversion page to see exactly how much data that connection speed can pull per hour, useful context if you're deciding whether your plan can comfortably support 4K.

Netflix vs. Other Streaming Apps

Netflix's per-hour data use sits squarely in line with other major streaming platforms at equivalent quality settings — see the full data usage comparison across Netflix, YouTube, Disney+, and more for the complete picture, including how it stacks up against YouTube's data usage.

How to Reduce Netflix Data Usage

• Switch from Auto to a fixed Low or Medium setting if you're on a capped or metered connection
• Download episodes over Wi-Fi and watch offline later — downloads use data once instead of every time you rewatch
• Watch on smaller screens at SD — the quality difference between SD and HD is far less noticeable on a phone or tablet than on a large TV
• Avoid 4K on cellular data entirely — a single 2-hour 4K movie can use 14 GB, which is enough to blow through many mobile data plans in one sitting

Frequently Asked Questions

Related: How Much Data Do Apps Use? (Full Comparison) · How Much Data Does YouTube Use? · How Much Data Do I Need Per Month? · Mbps to GB Converter