--- title: "How much data does a work video call use | Gigapass" description: "An hour-long meeting, screen sharing and sitting in a room with fifteen people don't cost the same. The figures, and how to get through a working day." url: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/how-much-data-does-a-video-call-use markdown: https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/how-much-data-does-a-video-call-use.md lang: en site: Gigapass generated: 2026-10-24 languages: es: https://getgigapass.com/blog/cuantos-datos-consumen-las-videollamadas-de-trabajo de: https://getgigapass.com/de/blog/wie-viele-daten-verbraucht-ein-videoanruf it: https://getgigapass.com/it/blog/quanti-dati-consuma-una-videochiamata fr: https://getgigapass.com/fr/blog/consommation-data-visioconference pt: https://getgigapass.com/pt/blog/quantos-dados-consome-uma-videochamada nl: https://getgigapass.com/nl/blog/hoeveel-data-verbruikt-een-videogesprek ja: https://getgigapass.com/ja/blog/web-kaigi-data-ryo ko: https://getgigapass.com/ko/blog/hwasang-hoeui-data zh-hans: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hans/blog/shipin-huiyi-liuliang pl: https://getgigapass.com/pl/blog/ile-danych-zuzywa-rozmowa-wideo sv: https://getgigapass.com/sv/blogg/hur-mycket-data-drar-ett-videosamtal no: https://getgigapass.com/no/blogg/hvor-mye-data-bruker-en-videosamtale da: https://getgigapass.com/da/blog/hvor-mange-data-bruger-et-videoopkald tr: https://getgigapass.com/tr/blog/goruntulu-arama-ne-kadar-veri-harcar ru: https://getgigapass.com/ru/blog/skolko-trafika-videozvonki zh-hant: https://getgigapass.com/zh-hant/blog/shixun-huiyi-yongliang ar: https://getgigapass.com/ar/mudawana/istihlak-mukalamat-alfidyu he: https://getgigapass.com/he/blog/tsricha-sichot-video index: https://getgigapass.com/llms/en.txt --- # How much data work video calls use > An hour-long meeting, screen sharing and sitting in a room with fifteen people don't cost the same. The figures, and how to get through a working day. [Home](https://getgigapass.com/en) › [Blog](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog) › How much data work video calls use Before you buy An hour-long meeting, screen sharing and sitting in a room with fifteen people don't cost the same. The figures, and how to get through a working day. **Claudia Ferrán** 10 Aug 2026 6 min Photo by Mike Enerio on Unsplash In this article › The figures › A working day from abroad › Four things that work › And latency, which isn't the same as data If you're going to work from abroad, this is the figure that decides the size of your plan. And it isn't one figure: a video call uses very different amounts depending on how many people are on it, who's sharing their screen and what quality it's set to. ## The figures | Situation | Per hour, roughly | | --- | --- | | Voice call with no video | 30 to 60 MB | | One-to-one video call | 500 MB to 1 GB | | Group meeting with cameras on | 1 to 1.5 GB | | Sharing your screen | 300 to 800 MB | | Camera off, just listening | 50 to 150 MB | That last row is the most useful of the lot: turning your camera off and listening cuts usage to roughly a tenth. ## A working day from abroad With three hours of meetings a day and the rest of the time on email, cloud documents and messaging, a day runs between 2 and 4 GB. Over a working week, 10 to 20. That's why people working while travelling usually need an unlimited or a large plan, while a holidaymaker gets by on very little. ## Four things that work 1. Turn your camera off when you aren't speaking. It saves more than anything else by a distance. 2. Dial in by audio when the meeting is informational. 3. Pause cloud syncing while you're on a call, or it'll compete for the connection. 4. If you're tethering a laptop, mark the network as metered in the system settings. What a laptop tethered to your phone uses is in [tethering from an eSIM](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/tethering-with-an-esim). ## And latency, which isn't the same as data A connection can have plenty of data and still handle a video call badly if latency is high, which happens on congested mobile networks or a long way from the server. If the meeting matters, test the connection a while beforehand and not five minutes before. On a work trip, checking your accommodation's connection on arrival day saves you the classic of discovering at nine in the morning that the flat's wifi can't hold a meeting. Know where you're going? Pick your destination, days and data. Install it before you leave and pay once. [See destinations](https://getgigapass.com/en#destinos) Claudia FerránLong trips and remote work She has worked from wherever she happened to be for six years. She works out the data for a trip the way you'd work out the petrol, and she rarely gets it wrong. ## Frequently asked questions **How much data does an hour-long video call use?** Between 500 MB and 1 GB on a one-to-one call, and up to 1.5 GB in a group meeting with several cameras on. **How do I use less in meetings?** Turn your camera off when you aren't speaking and dial in by audio for informational meetings. It cuts usage to roughly a tenth. **How much data do I need to work abroad for a week?** Between 10 and 20 GB with three hours of meetings a day, plus email, documents and messaging. **Does screen sharing use a lot?** Less than camera video: between 300 and 800 MB an hour, depending on how much moves on the shared screen. **Why is my video call bad when I have signal?** Because call quality also depends on latency, not just speed. On congested mobile networks it can be poor with plenty of data available. ## Keep reading - [Before you buy](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/sim-not-working-abroad) | My SIM isn't working abroad: the checklist | 5 min - [Before you buy](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/local-sim-or-regional-plan) | A local SIM per country or a regional plan: which wins on a multi-stop trip | 5 min [Before you buy How much data TikTok uses per hour 6 min](https://getgigapass.com/en/blog/how-much-data-does-tiktok-use)