How to Stop Windows 11 From Eating Your Internet data subscription: Managing BITS

We’ve all been there: you’re right in the middle of an important task, a gaming session, or a client video call, and suddenly your internet connection drops to a crawl. You open up your Task Manager to find the culprit, only to see a mysterious system process called Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) completely hogging your bandwidth.

By default, Windows 11 uses BITS to download system updates, app packages, and telemetry data in the background. While it’s technically designed to only use “idle” bandwidth, it can easily choke slower or metered connections.

If you want to take back control of your data, here are the three best ways to stop BITS from draining your internet on Windows 11, ranging from a quick soft-block to completely shutting it down.

Method 1: The Fast and Safe Fix (Set a Metered Connection)

If you don’t want to completely break system updates but want to immediately force Windows to stop using BITS for heavy background downloads, this is the best route. It essentially tells Windows, “Hey, my data is limited, don’t download anything unless I say so.”

1. Open Settings (Press Windows Key + I).

2. Go to Network & internet in the left-hand menu.

3. Click on Wi-Fi or Ethernet (whichever connection you are currently using).

4. Click on your connected network’s properties.

5. Find the Metered connection toggle and switch it to On.

Windows 11 will immediately throttle back BITS and prevent non-essential updates from starting without your permission.

Method 2: The Permanent Kill Switch (Disabling the Service)

If you want to completely stop BITS from running altogether, you can disable the system service entirely.

⚠️ Note: Disabling BITS will temporarily stall Windows Update. If you ever want to check for updates manually, you’ll need to turn this back on.

1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog, type services.msc, and hit Enter.

2. Scroll through the list to find Background Intelligent Transfer Service.

3. Right-click it and select Properties.

4. In the General tab, change the Startup type dropdown menu to Disabled.

5. If the service status is currently running, click the Stop button.

6. The Windows 11 Trick: Go to the Recovery tab at the top. Change First failure, Second failure, and Subsequent failures all to Take No Action. This keeps Windows from quietly restarting the service behind your back.

7. Click Apply and OK.

Method 3: Choke the Bandwidth (For Windows 11 Pro Users)

If you are running Windows 11 Pro, Enterprise, or Education, you have access to the Local Group Policy Editor. This allows you to keep BITS running but artificially limit its maximum download speed to effectively zero.

1. Press Windows Key + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.

2. Navigate down the left sidebar using this path: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS)

3. On the right-hand panel, double-click on Limit the maximum network bandwidth for BITS background transfers.

4. Change the toggle at the top left to Enabled.

5. Look at the options panel below. Change the limit rate to 0 (to block it entirely) or 1 (to give it a microscopic 1 Kbps limit) for both the scheduled hours and off-peak times.

6. Click Apply and restart your computer.

Bonus Tip: Tracking Down Other Data Hogs

If you’ve tackled BITS and your network still feels sluggish, Windows 11 has a built-in tracker that will show you exactly which app is stealing your bandwidth.

Head over to Settings > Network & internet > Advanced network settings > Data usage. Here, you’ll get a clear, ranked list of every app and process that has used data over the last 30 days. It’s the easiest way to spot a rogue app running in the background!