Windows 10 Fall Creators Update introduces bandwidth usage restrictions for updates

Although Win 10 can automatically adjust bandwidth usage for downloading and uploading the latest Windows 10 updates, failure to set network connection controls on a restricted Internet connection might result in exceeding data limits when updating to the latest version of Windows 10.

However, with the Win 10 Fall Creators Update, users can limit bandwidth usage during updates. Microsoft has added additional options to specify the amount of bandwidth your device uses for downloading (and uploading) system and app updates, eliminating concerns about exceeding data limits.

In the Upload settings

section, not only can you set the percentage of bandwidth you want to use for uploading updates to other computers, but you can also adjust the upload limit in gigabytes. (If your device is configured to receive updates from other computers and the “Monthly upload limit” is not activated, your computer can upload up to 500 GB of data.)

With Windows 10 Fall Creators Update allowing bandwidth usage limits during updates, once set up and you update the operating system, if you reach the limit you've configured, your device will stop downloading and uploading updates for Windows 10 and apps until the next monthly cycle.

Activity monitor

The Activity monitor page doesn't contain any configuration settings, but you can track and review download and upload statistics for a specific month here.

In the Download Statistics section, you can view the amount of data downloaded from Microsoft and from your computer on the local network or the Internet.

In the Upload Statistics section, you can see the bandwidth usage your device employs to upload updates to other computers on the local network and the Internet.

While Windows Update cannot be completely disabled, Windows 10 Fall Creators Update introduces bandwidth usage limits during updates as a useful additional feature, allowing users to control updates to prevent exceeding data limits.

Furthermore, on the Windows 10 Creators Update, you can also disable the Share Experience feature if you don't want your work to be interrupted by other devices, minimizing tasks running on the system.

During data upload and download processes, bandwidth consumption is significant, as evident if you've used Onedrive. To minimize excessive bandwidth usage during file uploads, you can refer to the Onedrive bandwidth limitations article here.