Zoom meetings can consume a lot of internet data. There are three ways you can try to save data.
Citing reviews.org, here are 3 things you can do to use as little data as possible when conducting Zoom meetings.
1. Turn off the video if you don't need it
Most internet upload speeds are dedicated to streaming your videos to other people via conference calls.
If you turn off your video feed, then your Zoom data usage drops by at least 30 percent.
How to turn off Zoom video:
Before joining the meeting, you will get a confirmation asking if you want to turn on video or not.
Click Join without Videos.
But if you've already turned on the camera and want to turn it off, just click Stop Video in the lower right corner.
2. Turn off HD (High Definition) videos
If turning off the video is not possible, you can lower the video quality.
Reducing the quality of streaming video can reduce the Zoom data you use by more than 60 percent .
How to turn off HD videos:
First navigate to your Zoom settings.
On the desktop Zoom client, you can find a gear icon for going to settings in the upper right corner when you first open the app.
Once you've entered Settings, click the Video tab on the left, and turn off the box that says Enable HD.
3. Don't share screen for too long
Screen sharing requires more data than just broadcasting live video.
To save data, show what you need to show then go back to your normal camera.
You can also use collaborative documents (like Google Docs) instead of screen sharing.
People who share a document can see other people's contributions to that document in real time.
How much data does Zoom use?
The following is an estimate of how much data is consumed when conducting a Zoom meeting, based on reviews.org.
Data usage Zoom 1:1
High quality
Downloads: 270 MB/hour
Uploads: 270 MB/hour
Total: 540 MB/hour
Quality: 720p
Downloads: 540 MB/hour
Uploads: 540 MB/hour
Total: 1.08 MB/hour
Quality: 1080p
Downloads: 810 MB/hour
Uploads: 810 MB/hour
Total: 1.62 MB/hour
For a 1:1 Zoom meeting, you spend between 540 MB and 1.62 GB per hour, or between 9 MB and 27 MB per minute, depending on the quality of the stream.
Zoom data usage for group calls
High quality
Downloads: 450 MB/hour
Uploads: 360 MB/hour
Total: 810 MB/hour
Quality: 720p
Downloads: 675 MB/hour
Uploads: 675 MB/hour
Total: 1.35MB/hour
Quality: 1080p
Downloads: 1.2 GB/hour
Uploads: 1.2 GB/hour
Total: 2.4 MB/hour
The more people you have on a Zoom call, the more data you will get.
Your data usage jumps to between 810 MB and 2.4 GB per hour, or between 13.5 MB and 40 MB per minute.
Data usage for other activities
For comparison, this estimates data used in addition to video conferencing.
Data are taken from ATT calculations and may vary.
4K video streaming: 5.85GB/hour
HD video streaming: 2.5GB/hour
SD video streaming: 0.7GB/hour
Audio streaming: 72MB/hour
Upload photos to social media: 5 MB/photo
Sending email (without attachment): 20 KB/email
Sending email (with attachment): 300 KB/email
Open webpage: 1MB/page