Use cellular data on your iPhone or iPad

Find out how much cellular data that you're using and how to turn it on or off for all apps or individual apps.

Turn cellular data on or off

To turn cellular data on or off, go to Settings and then tap Cellular or Mobile Data. If you're using an iPad, you may see Settings > Cellular Data. If you're using a Dual SIM iPhone, you'll need to set one of your plans as the primary data number in order to see how much cellular data you've used.

Depending on your carrier and device, you may have additional options listed under Cellular Data Options:

  • Enable LTE, 4G or 3G. You can select what type of network connection to use for voice and data. Find out more about these options.
  • Turn Voice Roaming on or off: With CDMA networks, you can turn off Voice Roaming to avoid charges from using other carrier's networks.
  • Turn data roaming on or off: When you're travelling internationally, you can turn off data roaming to avoid roaming charges. If you have an international data plan, you may need to keep data roaming on. Find out more about travelling internationally with your iPhone or iPad.

Depending on your carrier, data roaming may be used if you travel domestically. Contact your carrier for more information about your data roaming policy or other cellular data settings. You can turn cellular data on or off to limit apps and services from using the cellular network to connect to the internet. When cellular data is turned on, apps and services will use your cellular connection when Wi-Fi isn't available. As a result, you may be charged for using certain features and services with cellular data. Contact your carrier for more information about possible charges.

View how much cellular data you're using

To see how much cellular data that you've used, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. If you're using an iPad, you may see Settings > Cellular Data instead.

  • Scroll down to find which apps are using cellular data. If you don't want an app to use cellular data, you can turn it off for that app. When cellular data is turned off, apps will only use Wi-Fi for data.
  • To see the cellular data usage for individual System Services, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data. Then scroll to the bottom of the screen and tap System Services. Cellular data can't be turned on or off for individual System Services.
  • You can view the data usage statistics for an app from a current period, or view app data statistics for apps that used data when you were roaming. To reset these statistics, go to Settings > Cellular or Settings > Mobile Data, and tap Reset Statistics.
    To get the most accurate cellular data usage from a current period, contact your carrier.

Get help

  • If you're still unable to connect to a cellular network, find out what to do.
  • If you're using an Exchange ActiveSync account, it may continue to use cellular data even if you've turned it off for Mail and Calendar. To see the cellular data usage of your Exchange ActiveSync account, go to Settings > Cellular > System Services.
  • If it's activated, Wi-Fi Assist will automatically switch to using cellular data when Wi-Fi connectivity is poor. Wi-Fi Assist is turned on by default. This may result in additional cellular data usage, which could incur further charges depending on your data plan. You can turn off Wi-Fi Assist in Settings. For more information, see About Wi-Fi Assist.

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