Turn mobile data off android

How to Turn on Mobile Data

Plus how to turn it off when you need to

The ability to make calls, send emails, and use text messaging depends largely on cellular data use. The advantage of that is that cellular data is available nearly everywhere. The disadvantage is that it can be difficult to limit the use of your mobile data. And if you’re on a limited data plan, this can result in large usage fees.

Why Disable Mobile Data?

There are many reasons you may want to disable mobile data on your smartphone.

• Out of control apps: Sometimes, you may find your phone is using a lot of data and you’re not sure why. This is usually the cause of poorly-designed or malicious apps that regularly consume data even when you’re not using your phone. Disabling mobile data will put this to an abrupt stop.
• Traveling off-the-grid: If you’re traveling somewhere where mobile data isn’t accessible anyway, there’s no sense leaving your mobile data turned on and having your phone regularly «pinging» cellular towers that aren’t there.
• Prevent data roaming: If you’re traveling somewhere (like another country) where you’d incur data roaming charges, turning off mobile data will ensure you aren’t hit with unexpected charges.
• Reduce overall data use: In general, turning off mobile data when you aren’t using it will reduce your overall data use. This can help you get to the end of the month without hitting your cellular plan’s data limit.
• Save battery life: Turning mobile data off can dramatically extend battery life. This is especially useful when you’re traveling and can let you use your phone for phone calls and other non-data uses for a longer period of time.

Disabling mobile data is a great way to cut down on data use and save battery life, but it does require remembering to manually turn cellular data off and on.

How to Turn on Mobile Data on Your Android

If you need to limit the amount of data you’re using with your Android phone or tablet, there are several ways to do so. The easiest is just to manually turn your mobile data off when you’re not using it, and back on only when you need it.

Tap the gear icon to open your Android’s settings menu. Then tap Data usage.

In the Data usage menu, tap the Cellular data setting to turn data usage off.

Once you turn off Cellular data, you won’t be able to access any websites or use any apps that use internet data. The only way to access the internet is by enabling Wi-Fi when you’re near a Wi-Fi hotspot. You can enable this by going back to the main settings menu and tapping Wi-Fi. On the Wi-Fi screen, tap to enable Wi-Fi.

Using Wi-Fi hot spots is a great way to avoid hitting your monthly cellular data limit. Thankfully, there are Wi-Fi hot spots available all around the world in convenient locations. Turning off cellular data also cuts down on the temptation to use your phone while you’re driving.

Finally, tap the Wi-Fi network you want to connect to and tap Connect to connect the phone to that Wi-Fi network.

Once you’re connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot, you can continue using the internet and any mobile apps that require internet data, even while you have cellular data turned off.

How to Turn on Mobile Data on iOS

Enabling or disabling mobile data on an iPhone is very similar to Android. There is an easy setting in iOS settings where you can quickly turn mobile data on or off.

On your iPhone, go into Settings and tap Cellular to open the Cellular data menu. On the Cellular screen, tap the Cellular Data toggle button to turn it on or off.

With iOS, you can fine tune exactly what elements of cellular data are turned off. If you tap cellular data options, you’ll see a menu where you can disable the use of LTE voice when you’re in a roaming area. This is useful for when you’re traveling internationally and don’t want to incur roaming charges.

Turning roaming off while traveling internationally is a very smart choice. International data roaming charges can be very expensive. And if you make the mistake of using an app like Google Maps while driving, the roaming charges can be surprisingly expensive.

Just like with Android, manually disabling cellular data when you don’t need it can save significantly in data overage charges. Instead, focus on visiting Wi-Fi hotspots whenever you want to access the internet or use apps that require internet data.

Use Data Warnings to Control Data Usage

If you’re using an Android, another option to control how much data your phone consumes is by using data limit settings.

To access these settings, open Settings, tap Data usage, and tap Cellular data usage. This screen shows how much data you’ve used so far during this billing cycle.

Tap the gear icon at the upper right to view data controls. On this screen, you can enable Set data warning to get a notification when you’re approaching your monthly data limit.

Or you can enable Set data limit to automatically turn off cellular data when you reach your monthly data limit.

You can adjust the actual data limit to match your data plan by tapping Data warning and adjusting the limit.

Controlling Your Data Usage

As you can see, it’s very easy to turn mobile data on or off on either an Android or an iPhone. Using this feature can help you take control of your data usage and avoid any unexpected charges at the end of the month.

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How To Turn Off Data on Android

For consumers who don’t have unlimited data plans and can’t always use a Wi-Fi network, it can be challenging to limit data usage and avoid any overage charges. Even with an unlimited data plan, using too much data and reaching certain thresholds can result in throttling. The good news is that Android smartphones offer a simple way to limit data usage.

One difficulty when choosing a phone plan is for the consumer to figure out how much mobile data they’re going to need. Checking out past phone bills to evaluate data use can help, but if they’ve gotten a new phone, they may use it more and consume more data in the process. If it has 4G, it will also use a larger amount of mobile data.

There’s a misconception that phones only use data when the consumer is using them, but this isn’t the case. Apps often run in the background and still consume mobile data while doing so. For example, an email app will check the servers periodically to update for new emails. Automatic app updates also use data, although Google Play has a setting that limits updates to only when the phone is connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Android smartphones have features that allow the user to monitor their data usage and see how close they are to their monthly limit, or the user can turn off mobile data entirely. The following guide will cover turning off data and limiting data usage with Android smartphones.

Limiting App Updates to Wi-Fi Connections

If the user wants to ensure that apps only update when the Android smartphone is connected to a Wi-Fi network, they just need to open Google Play, and then tap the icon with the three horizontal lines located at the upper-left corner of the screen. From there, they can tap Settings, and under the General section, they can select Auto-update apps. They can then tap the Auto-update apps over Wi-Fi only option.

Turning Off Mobile Data

To shut down mobile data use, the user must swipe down starting at the top of the screen, and then tap Settings. They should select Data Usage and flip this switch from the On to the Off position. The phone will no longer use mobile data, which means any tasks that require data will only work when connected to a Wi-Fi network.

Setting a Limit on Data Usage

The user can set limits on data usage for a month or any desired time period, and they can set up warnings that will notify them when they get near those limits. They should start by swiping down, opening Settings, and then tapping Data Usage. They should verify that the phone’s monthly usage cycle is the same as the monthly cycle on the phone contract to avoid any inaccurate information.

There will be a graph that shows how much data has been used for the current month. The user can drag the two horizontal bars on this graph to set a data limit and an alert threshold for each month.

Minimizing Mobile Data Usage

If the user just wants to avoid using too much data without setting any hard limits, this can be done by disabling background data. Again, the user must go to the Data Usage section from the Settings menu. They can then scroll through the apps that currently use data on their device.

To prevent an app from using background data, the user must tap the app, and then select Restrict background data. This means that the only time the app will update is when the user actually opens it. Although this limits data use, it also means that the user won’t receive notifications for those apps. For example, any Gmail, Facebook and Whatsapp notifications won’t come through until the user opens those apps, which could result in missing something important. That’s why the user should choose wisely regarding which apps to restrict.

With some apps, there are other ways to minimize data usage. There could be an alternative version of the app that uses less data – Twitter, for example, also has Twitter Lite. Some apps also have data saver modes. Twitter’s normal app includes this option, and it adjusts the user experience through blurring image previews and other methods to save on data.

Users who need to keep data usage down should check out the settings of the apps they use to see if they have data saver modes or other features that can reduce data use.

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How to Fix Mobile Data Not Working on Android

Cellular data, mobile data, whatever you want to call it, is one of those things that only becomes a life necessity once you acquire your first smartphone. It’s only when you lose connectivity that you realize you don’t know how to get anywhere without Google Maps, don’t have anything to read without Flipboard, and don’t know how to communicate with people through any medium other than WhatsApp.

When mobile data stops working on Android, it’s world-shattering, in other words. Here are some tips on how to get it back.

Also read: How to Create Your Own Android Widget

Reset Your APNs

Access Point Names (APNs) are the means by which your mobile network provider connects your phone to the mobile Internet. It sets your phone up with all the crucial settings, like IP addresses and gateways, to (hopefully) get you connected. However, this process can sometimes go wrong and require a reset. The following shows how to do it.

Go to “Settings -> Network & internet -> Mobile network -> Advanced -> Access Point Names.”

You should see a list of APNs (potentially with only one network on them). Tap the menu icon at the top right, then “Reset to default.”

Set APN Protocol to iPv4/IPv6

This option doesn’t exist in the APN settings of all phones, but some devices (like the OnePlus 3) give you the option of leaving the APN Protocol field blank. If that’s the case in your network’s APN settings, make sure it says IPv4/IPv6 instead. Likewise, with other devices, make sure it says this rather than just one of the two.

Enter Your APN Settings Manually

It’s a sad but not uncommon occurrence for your APN settings to get out of whack after an Android software update, and if a standard reset doesn’t fix the problem, then you may need to enter your APN address manually.

1. Go to your APN list using the method in the previous tip, then tap the “+” icon in the top-right corner.

3. Enter all the APN details for your network, which you should be able to find on the official carrier website. Or you can check out this list of APN settings for US, UK, Indian and other national carriers.

4. Save your new APN settings, then select them from the APN list on your device.

Wipe Cache Partition from Recovery

On your phone, there’s a fair portion of your device’s memory dedicated to the cache – where data for various apps and processes is stored “on the backburner,” activating automatically so that these apps and processes boot up more quickly on your device.

But sometimes, as reported by certain Android users, errors can occur in the cache which can cause crucial processes – in this case your data connection – to stop working. To fix this, you need to clear the system cache partition, which is accessed from your phone’s recovery screen. Getting to your recovery varies slightly between phones, but on a standard stock Android device, do the following:

Switch off your phone, then when switching it back on, hold the Power and Volume Down buttons until the Android droid pops up on your screen.

Use the volume buttons to navigate to “Recovery Mode.” On the next screen, it may “No command.”

If you see this, you need to try holding different combinations of the volume buttons and the power button until you enter recovery (depending on your device).

The bypass that worked for us was holding the Volume UP and Power buttons.

Once you’re in recovery, use the volume buttons on your phone to select “wipe cache partition” or “wipe cache,” then select the option using the power button.

The process should only take a few seconds. Once it’s done, reboot your phone.

Reset Your Phone’s Network Connection

A simple and powerful fix for data not working on your Android device is to enter an SCRTN (Special Code to Reset the Network). Note that this fix will only work for phones using CDMA networks. In the U.S., these networks are T-Mobile, Verizon and US Cellular.

Assuming you’re with a CDMA network, go to your phone dial pad and enter the following code, depending on your device:

• Google Pixel, Moto G7: *#*#72786#*#*
• Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Moto G5: #*#*72786##
• Other Android phones: ##72786#

Note that phone carriers are slowly trying to phase out CDMA networks, as they seek to move wholly onto the faster, more recent LTE standard, so this particular fix may not exist for much longer.

Also read: How to Fix the Obtaining IP Address Error on Android

Enable the Right Network Mode

Starting with the simplest solution, it’s possible that during an update, or simply in the phone’s default settings, the network mode (3G, 4G, etc.) of your phone is set to one that doesn’t offer optimal coverage.

If you have a 4G phone, for example, you should always make sure 4G is selected in your network modes to catch those sweet 4G rays. Or if your phone isn’t 4G but you’re running on an OS that features it as a network mode (by rooting, for example), your phone may be trying to connect to 4G signals that it’s not capable of.

Changing this is simple. Go to “Settings -> Network & Internet -> Mobile network -> Preferred network type,” then switch to the one that best suits your phone. As my phone is a 4G, I go for 2G/3G/4G Auto so that it always tries to connect to the best signal available.

Also read: How to Fix Android Delayed Notifications Issue

Remove and Re-Insert Your SIM Card

Some will scoff at the very mention of suggestions like “reboot your phone” and “remove and reinsert your SIM card,” but these should always be the first port of call when trying to fix mobile data issues. Another option is to test your phone with another SIM card to see if the issue originates in the phone or the card.

There’s also an extra little trick to rebooting your phone that could help:

• Before rebooting, turn on Airplane Mode.
• Wait for 30 seconds, then turn Airplane Mode off.
• If you still don’t have data, turn airplane mode back on, turn your phone off, wait for a minute, turn your phone back on, turn airplane mode off, wait for 30 seconds, then turn mobile data on.

If this fails, then try the following fixes.

Do You Have a Mobile Data Limit?

Every Android phone lets you set your own mobile data limits and warnings for when you’re about to reach your limit. These aren’t usually switched on by default, but maybe you set a limit previously, have since upgraded your tariff, and have forgotten to update your mobile data limit accordingly. To check this:

Go to “Settings -> Network & Internet -> Mobile network.”

Make sure “Mobile data” is switched on, then tap “Data warning & limit.”

Here you need to make sure that “Set data limit” is switched off, or at least that it isn’t any lower than the limit provided by your network.

There it is: the key to getting you back online just when you thought you’d have to start resorting to paper maps and pigeon mail to communicate with people.

Also read: How to Eliminate the “Unfortunately, App Has Stopped” Messages

Now that you have mobile data working again, why not put it to the test with one of these Internet speed test apps. Alternatively, check out our list of the best Firefox for Android add-ons.

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Content Manager at Make Tech Easier. Enjoys Android, Windows, and tinkering with retro console emulation to breaking point.

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