Find Which Programs Are Using the Internet and Bandwidth on Windows

You are working on your computer, and your bandwidth is incredibly low. The article that you read for reference takes a lot of time to load, and you end up losing some precious minutes. You check for open programs, but you are shocked to see all other programs are closed. In this post, we will share a list of programs that allow you to find such applications, including one built into Windows. It works on Windows 11, Windows 10, and earlier versions of Windows.

Find Which Programs Are Using the Internet and Bandwidth on Windows

Here is the list of free software that you can use to find what is taking all the bandwidth of your internet connection.

  1. TCPView
  2. Proc-net-Monitor
  3. CurrPorts
  4. Windows Task Manager

Make sure not to kill or stop programs that are genuinely consuming data. Some programs might be downloading an update and will appear on the top of the list.

1] TCPView

TCP view colours

TCPView is a lightweight software that shows you which program uses bandwidth in real-time. The following video shows it visually.

In the above video, notice programs are highlighted in red, yellow, and green. I am sure you are wondering why is it so? So here are those colors with what they represent.

  • Red represents a program that is deleted.
  • Yellow represents a program that changes state from one update to another.
  • Green represents a new program.

A setting that I would recommend you to disable is unconnected endpoints under the options menu.  It makes sure that connected programs are only displayed and any new program comes up in the list.

Download from Microsoft

2] Proc-Net Monitor

Released in 2015, Proc-net-Monitor is a software that shows you in real-time view of apps in the system is using your Network.

proc net monitor

Features:

  • Locate file location with a right-click.
  • Find any processes with open TCP/UDP ports & active network connections.
  • Quick actions including Kill Process, Online Scan, View Properties are integrated into the right-click menu.
  • Online Scan is available for all the processes to find more information about it immediately.
  • Port Finder allows you to search for any process using it.
  • Export in HTML and XML is available

Download Proc-net-Monitor

3] CurrPorts

CurrPorts is a decent replacement for TCPView. It shows users the applications that are using its bandwidth in real-time view. Any new endpoint that is established gets in green for a few moments.

curr ports

CurrPorts offers you the option to select and delete together with the unwanted endpoints that appear on the screen. You need to choose multiple programs by pressing the Ctrl key, and the next step is to encourage the red cross icon on the Top-Left

Download CurrPorts

4] Windows Task Manager

if you do not want to install third-party software, you can use the Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc).  Windows offers it as an in-built software that can reveal the internet usage for each app.

task manager bandwidth consumption

Open Task Manager, and in the Process list, look at the Network column. Sort it by descending to ascending order to reveal which process is consuming more bandwidth.

The task manager offers you to stop a program from within the application itself, which is useful when your program is no longer taking hardware inputs like key presses and clicks.

I hope the article helped you to figure out the software which is using the Internet and bandwidth.

What factors affect Internet bandwidth?

Internet bandwidth refers to the amount of information that can be transferred per second over an Internet connection. Several factors affect bandwidth, including the type of Internet connection and the type of computer.

Internet Usage: The number of Internet-based processes that you use on your computer directly affects your bandwidth consumption. The speed of each Internet task can decrease when you have several jobs running at once.

Background Internet Usage: Your computer’s background downloads and uploads are also factors that affect the bandwidth experience of your Internet connection.

Wireless Bandwidth: The maximum bandwidth of a wireless connection depends on other technical factorsDepending on its proximity to the router, a device’s bandwidth can be affected. Distance from the router affects maximum bandwidth more than the distance from the router itself.

What’s the difference between bandwidth and Internet Speed?

The first thing we need to understand is that bandwidth is not the same as speed. Although closely related, they are different. It is possible to summarize the difference between bandwidth and speed in a single sentence. The amount of bandwidth available on the Internet determines how much data we can upload or download. The speed of our connection determines how fast we can upload or download data.

Can the number of users affect bandwidth?

Internet speed shouldn’t be slowed down by multiple devices connected to Wi-Fi. However, in practice, as more devices connect to the Internet, the bandwidth is shared, which affects speed. If you’re closer to the access point, your bandwidth should be higher than someone farther away.

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