How to save data while browsing in Desktop ?

There are a few good options to save your data while browsing on your desktop.

1. Use plug-ins to reduce data
You can use Click to play plug in on your browser. Most of the sites have flash enabled content. They normally tend to be slower and larger in size. You can white list some of the websites which you would want to play flash content straightaway.

2. Disable images
Images consume more data than text. You can disable image loading when you are on a limited data plan. Almost all browsers including Chrome, Opera and Firefox do have settings to disable image loading.

3. Opera Turbo
If you are on Opera browser, you can opt for Opera Turbo. This is a unique feature on Opera browsers that route the pages you visit through a proxy server. The proxy server optimises the Web page by compressing the images and other components of the Web page before loading it on your desktop. You need not worry about your secure websites as they will never be routed through the server.

4. Data saver extension on Chrome
Similar to Opera Turbo, Chrome too can route your Web pages through the proxy server and optimise the pages. However, you need to install an extension for the purpose. You need to visit https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/data-saver/pfmgfdlgomnbgkofeojodiodmgpgmkac?hl=en to get the extension.

5. Use metered connection
Windows 8 ( and 10) have settings to make a network connection metered. By setting it up as metered connection, you are stopping most of the background processes which can drain your data. You can do it by right clicking on the network name and selecting Set as metered connection.

6. Use Mobile version of websites
Many websites provide mobile versions of their websites. For instance, the mobile version of Facebook is m.Facebook.com. The mobile views consume less bandwidth and as such would be better for data saving.
However, please note that the appearance may not be pleasing on the larger resolution of your desktop.

Those were a few methods to save on your data on a Desktop browser. You may also note that Chrome works faster than the default Internet Explorer. Using it will definitely use less data. Make it a point to use chrome along with the plug ins and extensions mentioned above.

Here are some of the common options for you to save bandwidth while browsing the internet.

Chrome Data Saver : Chrome has this add-on called "Data saver". You can use this to reduce the size of webpage being served on your browser. By default it is enabled when you install the add-on. The way this works is you have to browse as normal and the pages are served by the Google's servers by doing zip compression.

Opera Turbo : This feature is offered on both Opera Mini and Desktop browser. Opera has a proxy server where the data is compressed and you get the low data sent on your browser. The compression goes around 60-80% of the page. Enable the opera turbo from the bottom toolbar.

Mobile View Some of the websites such as facebook and others have different mobile view for browsers which doesn't support AJAX and javascript. e.g. facebook has m.facebook.com where you can save data and also view the facebook normally. If you have google chrome browser installed then you can force mobile view.

Limit Outgoing requests Use the firewall of your anti virus and limit the outgoing requests. This way you can limit the outgoing requests by stopping the app to auto update etc. You can do this per application basis. And this is one of the feature that can save your data and time. You can also stop the Windows update or other application update.

Disable Rich Media You can disable the images and view the sites but that would make your browsing experience less effective. Images, Flash and Videos can be disabled to save the bandwidth. You can disable plugins for such media and save the bandwidth.

Use Email client Use Outlook or thunderbird to download all your mails from all email IDs. This way you don't have to waste time browsing the pages and wasting the bandwidth.

Note: You can use browsers like lynx etc and save more bandwidth as these are text based browsers. But such browsers don't help when you have lot of rich media enabled for even logging into the portal.

These are some of the common ways you can save the time and bandwidth. In case of limited data plans these methods help a lot in saving your bandwidth.

There are plenty of ways which you can implement to save your internet data while browsing.

There are normally plugins for every task available out there. You have to only list your requirements and start searching. I have listed some plugins which will solve you issue.

1. Switching User-Agent
Normally, Desktop web application uses more data because they have to download more images and CSS files compared to mobile and tablet devices. To solve this issue download "User-Agent Switcher" plugin which is available for both Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome as well on their respective extension store. By using this plugin you can change your user agent to Mobile or Tablet and reduce data download over internet.
Google Chrome - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg
Mozilla Firefox - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/user-agent-switcher/

2. Disable Images
You can download plugin named "Disable Images" from your browser respected store and use it to disable images. You will not be able to see images online but will be able to see all the text and internet speed will be much faster.
Google Chrome - https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/images-onoff/nfmlhilnjccdggifdbhnhkffmjgalbgg
Mozilla Firefox - https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/image-block/

3. Opera Turbo
Download Opera Browser for your Operating System and enable "Opera Turbo". It will save internet pages on cloud, compress it and deliver to you.
You can download Opera browser from there respective website.