Google Meet can use both Wi-Fi and cellular data on a phone. If you need to protect a mobile data allowance, first decide whether your goal is lower usage or no cellular usage. Meet’s data-saving option reduces demand, while a device-level cellular setting controls whether cellular connectivity remains available.
Start with the intended connection
Connect to an appropriate trusted Wi-Fi network before joining when available. Google’s guidance warns that Meet can still use a small amount of mobile data on Wi-Fi to maintain continuity if Wi-Fi drops. A Wi-Fi icon therefore does not establish that the meeting uses absolutely no cellular data. Consider that behavior when a plan has a strict allowance.
Find the meeting data-use setting
In the Android or iOS Meet app, open the menu and Settings. Google’s meeting-specific instructions place Limit data usage under General for Business and Education accounts, or under Meeting settings for personal accounts. These instructions differ from the legacy-calling settings. Select the control appropriate to the meeting experience you are actually using.
Verify the tradeoff and the data result
Test whether speech remains understandable and required material stays usable after enabling the limit. Check your device’s data-usage information over a representative interval; the setting is not a promise of a fixed cost per meeting. If cellular use must stop entirely, review the device’s documented mobile-data control and understand that a Wi-Fi failure may then interrupt the call. Coordinate that decision with any other phone functions you need. Do not repeatedly reconnect simply to chase a lower counter while the discussion is in progress.
References
Reviewed against the linked official product guidance on November 4, 2026. Features, limits, screen labels, and access can vary by account, platform, region, and organization policy.