Marisa Crane Staff Writer

Updated 17 December 2024

Contents

In this guide:

How to check data usage on an iPhone
How to check data usage on Android
Check data usage through your wireless carrier
How to reduce your monthly data use
Changing plans to accommodate your monthly data use

Regardless of your cell phone plan, you may want to keep an eye on your mobile data use. If you have limited data, tracking your data helps you avoid running into your data cap and getting stuck with glacial data speeds. If you have an unlimited plan, checking data usage can steer you clear of your data deprioritization or throttling threshold.

Luckily, checking your mobile data use is as easy as checking your phone’s settings or dialing a number. Whether you're using an iPhone or an Android, we've outlined the simple steps you can use to monitor your data use.

Note: you can also check out these related guides on how to check your Verizon data usage or your AT&T data usage.

How to check data usage on an iPhone

You can check your mobile data use on your iPhone by following these simple steps:

Click "Settings."
Select "Cellular."
Scroll until you see "Usage" and the amount of data used this billing cycle.

You can click on “Usage” to see when your carrier last updated your data and when your billing cycle ends.

If you’re on a family plan, you can only see how much data you’ve used on your iPhone—not other lines’ data use.

How to check data usage on Android

Checking data use on your Android phone is just as easy as it is on an iPhone—but there are so many Android phone models on the market that the process differs a little depending on which device you have.

Google Pixel, Motorola, and most other Android devices

Most Android phones—such as Google Pixel and Motorola devices—require the same process for checking your data use. Follow these steps:

Click "Settings."
Select "Network & Internet."
Click "SIMS."
Select "App data usage."
Make sure the billing cycle at the top of the screen is correct.
You will see total data consumption for that cycle.

Samsung Galaxy

Checking mobile data use on your Samsung Galaxy device is a bit different than other Android phones. Here’s how:

Click "Settings."
Select "Connections."
Choose "Data usage."
Select "Mobile data usage."

Check data usage through your wireless carrier

In addition to checking data use on your phone, you can check through your carrier. This allows you to see the entire family’s data use—not just your own.

Each carrier has a specific number you can dial to get your data use information:

T-Mobile: Dial #932# and you will be taken to a screen outlining your data usage.
AT&T: Dial *3282# and AT&T will send you a text with your total data use.
Verizon: Dial *3282 and Verizon will text you with your mobile data usage.

With any of these carriers, you also can login to your account to view your mobile data use.

How to reduce your monthly data use

Now that you’ve checked your mobile data use, you may be wondering how to use less data so you don’t have to change plans or endure data throttling. Here are a few tips:

Connect to Wi-Fi whenever possible.
Check which apps use the most data and consider using them only when you're connected to Wi-Fi.
Download music, movies, and TV shows when you're on Wi-Fi instead of streaming them using data.
Close out apps running in the background.
Update your apps on Wi-Fi.
Enable data saver mode or low data mode

Changing plans to accommodate your monthly data use

If you’ve already tried reducing your monthly data use and still hit or go over your cap, you may want to consider upgrading your plan.

Limited plans

	Mint 5GB Plan $15/month 5GB of data at 4G LTE/5G speeds	View at Mint Mobile
	Lyca Mobile 10GB Data 3-Month Plan $10/month 10GB of high-speed data	View at Lyca Mobile
	US Mobile Light $10/month 2G of high-speed data	View at US Mobile
	Twigby Unlimited Talk, Text, and 20GB Data $10/month 20GB of high-speed data	View at Twigby

Unlimited data plans

	Mint Mobile Unlimited $30/month Unlimited data at 4G LTE/5G speeds	View at Mint Mobile
	Visible Plan $25/month Unlimited data at 4G LTE/5G speeds	View at Visible
	US Mobile Unlimited Starter $25/month Unlimited Full speeds up to 30GB	View at US Mobile
	Ultra Mobile 6-Month Plan $45/month Unlimited data at 4G LTE/5G speeds with no data cap	View at Ultra Mobile
	Red Pocket Unlimited Premium Plan $30/month Unlimited data at 4G LTE/5G speeds	View at Red Pocket
	Spectrum Mobile Unlimited Data $30/month Unlimited Full speeds up to 30GB	View at Spectrum Mobile

Marisa Crane

Staff Writer

Marisa Crane is a content writer and editor with more than 5 years of experience in digital publishing. She is a skilled researcher with an uncanny ability to translate confusing tech jargon into plain English. Outside the world of WhistleOut and cell phone plans, Marisa is a published creative writer, with her short stories and poetry published in more than 40 literary journals.

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