Does Paying Your Phone Bill Early Reset Your Data?

You’re halfway through your billing cycle and have already used most of your monthly data allowance. You’d love to get a fresh start on your data usage but still have over a week until your next billing date. If you pay your wireless phone bill early will it reset your data allowance right away?

Unfortunately the answer is no. Paying your phone bill early does not reset your data allowance for the current billing cycle you’re in. Here’s a closer look at how data allowances work and when yours will reset.

How Wireless Data Allowances Work

Most wireless carriers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint give customers a set amount of high-speed data to use each month. For example:

• 5GB of data per month
• 10GB of shared family data
• Unlimited data

This is your monthly data allowance. Once your allowance is used up, you may see slower speeds or be charged more for going over your limit.

Your data allowance resets at the beginning of each new billing cycle, not when you pay your bill. Your billing cycle is typically 30 days or one month. For example, if your billing cycle runs from the 5th of each month to the 4th of the next month, your data will reset on the 5th regardless of when you pay your bill.

When Does My Data Allowance Reset?

Even if you pay your bill early, your data usage and limit will start over at the start of the new billing period. Here are the specifics on data reset times:

• Verizon – Data allowances reset at midnight between the last day of your current billing cycle and the first day of your new billing cycle. For example, if your cycle ends on the 30th, your data will reset at 12:00 am on the 31st.

• AT&T – If your month runs from the 10th to the 9th, your data will be erased at midnight on the 10th.

• T-Mobile – Data generally resets at 12:00 am Pacific Time on the first day of your new billing cycle.

• Sprint – Data allowances reset between 11:59 pm CT on the last day of your billing cycle and 12:00 am CT of your new cycle.

Unless you have an unlimited data plan, it’s important to track your usage and know exactly when your data allowance will reset each month. Exceeding your data too often can result in overage fees or slower speeds.

Does Anything Else Reset My Data Allowance?

Aside from starting a new billing cycle, there are a couple scenarios where your cellular data allowance may reset early:

• Carrier change: If you switch wireless carriers in the middle of a billing cycle, your data usage and allowance will restart at zero with the new provider. This gives you fresh data on your new network.

• Plan change: Upgrading or downgrading your data plan can sometimes trigger an early reset of your data usage and allowance, depending on carrier policies. Check with your provider.

• Account owner change: If you remove or add someone to your family plan or shared data pool, a data reset may occur. Again, carrier policies vary.

Outside of these situations, you’ll need to wait for your billing cycle date before getting a clean slate on data usage. Paying early doesn’t accelerate a reset.

Tips for Managing Data Use Each Month

Since paying early won’t provide more data right away, you’ll need other strategies to avoid overages until your allowance resets:

• Track usage: Monitor your data use in your carrier account and get alerts at 75% or 90% of your allowance.

• Use WiFi: Connect devices to WiFi whenever available to conserve cellular data.

• Reduce streaming: Temporarily limit video and music streaming which eat up data. Download content while on WiFi.

• Add data: Some carriers let you buy a data top-up if you really need more before your cycle resets.

• Upgrade plan: If you regularly run over, switch to an unlimited data plan or one with a higher allowance.

While paying your phone bill early won’t reset your data, being proactive about tracking and managing your usage can help avoid surprise overages. Know when your billing cycle ends and data resets so you can start fresh.