{"id":151603,"date":"2026-04-02T00:01:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:01:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?p=151603"},"modified":"2026-04-02T00:01:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:01:23","slug":"how-to-stop-windows-from-stealing-bandwidth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-stop-windows-from-stealing-bandwidth\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Stop Windows From Stealing Bandwidth"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"daves-3721205206\" class=\"daves-single-post-before-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><p>Last week, we talked about how you could create a QR code in Microsoft Word. If you missed that one, you can find it here:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-create-qr-code-in-word\/\">How To Create QR Code In Word<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Now I want to jump over to another Microsoft subject that I think is important. &#8216;<em>What are you teaching us this week?<\/em>&#8216; Good question! Have you noticed that sometimes your internet lags for no reason? This could be because Windows is using your bandwidth to update other computers. That is right, there is a setting that allows them to use your Bandwidth to send updates to other computers around the world. That seems like something I don&#8217;t want them doing, and I think you might not either. Before I start our Windows lesson, make sure to check out these other articles I have created for all of you:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-manage-your-google-profile-visibility\/\">How To Manage Your Google Profile Visibility<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-remove-third-party-apps-from-google\/\">How To Remove Third-Party Apps from Google<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-enable-clipboard-alerts-on-samsung\/\">How To Enable Clipboard Alerts on Samsung<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-blur-house-on-google-maps\/\">How To Blur House On Google Maps<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-disconnect-app-from-chatgpt\/\">How To Disconnect App From ChatGPT<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Time to pull out those Windows computers and stop Microsoft from using up our bandwidth.<\/p><div id=\"daves-2088685417\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<h2>How To Stop Windows From Stealing Bandwidth<\/h2>\n<p>I will be showing you how to do this on my Windows 11 laptop. This was also tested on Windows 10.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 1<\/strong>:\u00a0 Once on your computer, look to the bottom left. Click on the <strong>Windows<\/strong> icon, and a menu will pop up. From this menu, find the <strong>Settings<\/strong> link. Click it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151638 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link-640x805.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-settings-link\" width=\"640\" height=\"805\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link-640x805.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link-318x400.jpg 318w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link-119x150.jpg 119w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Settings-Link.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 2<\/strong>: On the next screen, look at the left menu. Find the <strong>Windows Update,<\/strong> which is at the bottom. Click it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Update-Link.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151639 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Update-Link.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-update-link\" width=\"334\" height=\"700\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Update-Link.jpg 334w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Update-Link-191x400.jpg 191w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Update-Link-72x150.jpg 72w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 334px) 100vw, 334px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 3<\/strong>:\u00a0 Under the <strong>Windows Update<\/strong> screen, look in the middle for the option called <strong>Advanced Options<\/strong>. Click that.<\/p><div id=\"daves-1200327431\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-2 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151640 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link-640x411.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-advanced-options-link\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link-640x411.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link-350x225.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Advanced-Options-Link.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 4<\/strong>: Once on the <strong>Advanced Option<\/strong> screen, look for the section called <strong>Additional options<\/strong> and find <strong>Delivery Optimization <\/strong>under that. Click it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151641 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link-640x343.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-delivery-optimization-link\" width=\"640\" height=\"343\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link-640x343.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link-350x188.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link-150x80.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Delivery-Optimization-Link.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 5<\/strong>: Here is where all the magic happens.\u00a0 You are given a few options on this screen, but the ones I want to cover are the top two. We will start with the first one.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Delivery Optimization downloads updates from Windows, Microsoft store, and other products quickly and reliably.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li>Allow downloads from other devices (If you turn this on, your device may send parts of previously downloaded Windows Updates and apps to devices on your local network or on the internet.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is the one that will stop Microsoft from using your bandwidth to update other people&#8217;s computers. Make sure you click the <strong>Off switch<\/strong> to the right of it. Now let&#8217;s move on to the last one I want to show you.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151642 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link-640x411.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-download-options-link\" width=\"640\" height=\"411\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link-640x411.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link-350x225.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link-150x96.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Link.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 6<\/strong>: If you look down a little further, you will see an option called <strong>Download Options<\/strong>. They offer two choices on the pull-down menu to the right. Click the down arrow.<\/p><div id=\"daves-3199019310\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-3 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<ul>\n<li>Absolute bandwidth limit<\/li>\n<li>Percentage of measurement bandwidth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For this article, we will choose the second option. <span style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 400;\">Click on that one.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-151683\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Percentage-Option-640x268.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-download-percentage-option\" width=\"640\" height=\"268\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Percentage-Option-640x268.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Percentage-Option-350x147.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Percentage-Option-150x63.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Percentage-Option.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Step 7<\/strong>: Once you have clicked on that, you will be given two options:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Background Limit as a % (Limit how much bandwidth is used downloading background updates)<\/li>\n<li>Foreground limit as a % (Limit how much bandwidth is used downloading foreground updates)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can change the percentage here. Make sure to check the box to the left of both options so they are activated. All Done!<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-151643 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits-640x266.jpg\" alt=\"windows-11-download-options-limits\" width=\"640\" height=\"266\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits-640x266.jpg 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits-350x146.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits-150x62.jpg 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Windows-11-Download-Options-Limits.jpg 700w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This will save you some bandwidth by keeping Microsoft from using it. Time to share your new knowledge with your friends.<\/p><div id=\"daves-669199688\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-4 daves-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p>\n<div id=\"daves-1019573411\" class=\"daves-after-content daves-entity-placement\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3225321574\" \ndata-ad-format=\"autorelaxed\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last week, we talked about how you could create a QR code in Microsoft Word. If you missed that one, you can find it here: How To Create QR Code In Word Now I want to jump over to another Microsoft subject that I think [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1985,"featured_media":136136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[28,478,4293,10797],"tags":[14834,14832,14831,14833,3146],"class_list":["post-151603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-internet","category-microsoft-windows","category-win10","category-win11","tag-control-bandwidth-windows-11","tag-data-usage-windows","tag-windows-bandwidth","tag-windows-settings","tag-windows-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1985"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151603"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151603\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}