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Windows 11 Delivery Optimization does not reserve a fixed slice of your internet connection. It downloads eligible Microsoft content over HTTP, drawing from Microsoft’s internet sources and, when peer sharing is enabled, potentially from a local cache or other devices. Microsoft describes default targets of up to 45% of available bandwidth for background downloads and 90% for user-initiated foreground downloads. Those are dynamic targets—not guaranteed hard caps—and peer-to-peer sharing is configurable.
What Delivery Optimization does
Delivery Optimization is Windows’ HTTP downloader for updates and other supported Microsoft content. Rather than always fetching every piece from an internet content source, it can obtain pieces from Microsoft’s content delivery network (CDN), a Microsoft Connected Cache, and eligible peer devices. Those sources can be used in parallel; the internet source remains the fallback. Microsoft says peer-to-peer distribution is optional and can reduce bandwidth use across devices that need the same content. Microsoft’s Delivery Optimization overview and its workflow documentation describe the process.
This is a content-delivery service, not a permanent reservation of, for example, 45% of your connection. Its network use depends on whether eligible content is downloading, the download’s priority, available sources, configured policies, and current network conditions.
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Microsoft’s Delivery Optimization FAQ says the default target is no more than 45% of available bandwidth during background downloads, or 90% during interactive, foreground downloads initiated by the user. Microsoft does not state a publication year for the FAQ. These figures describe targets, not promises that every device’s traffic will be capped at those percentages in every circumstance. The FAQ says the measurement reflects throughput available to the source, rather than simply the speed of the device’s network card.
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During a download, Delivery Optimization runs a dynamic speed test every few minutes, according to Microsoft, and can adjust its behavior as network congestion changes. That is why measured use may vary over the course of a download rather than tracking one fixed limit. Microsoft’s FAQ explains the targets and test behavior.
Background versus foreground downloads
- Background: Windows update activity and other eligible background downloads use the 45% default target described by Microsoft.
- Foreground: A user-initiated interactive download uses the 90% default target. This does not mean that all foreground traffic will always consume 90% of the connection.
These are operational defaults in Microsoft’s FAQ. They should not be confused with policy settings: in the policy reference, a configured limit of zero means Delivery Optimization adjusts dynamically, rather than specifying either FAQ percentage. Administrators can configure percentage-based or absolute speed limits. Microsoft recommends absolute limits in KB/s for low-bandwidth environments, where a percentage of a changing or small connection can be less predictable. See the policy reference and configuration documentation.
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Why a peer download may behave differently
Microsoft says download throttling applies to internet HTTP sources and Group peers, but not LAN peers. In the default LAN mode, eligible peers are devices behind the same NAT/public IP. Microsoft does not calculate a target download speed for LAN peers or apply this throttling to them. As a result, a peer-sourced download may not follow the same target behavior as a download from an internet source.
What can upload from your PC
When peer sharing is enabled, Delivery Optimization can upload cached pieces of eligible content to other devices. In the default LAN mode, sharing is limited to devices behind the same public IP/NAT. Configured Group or Internet modes can extend the peer scope; those modes depend on administrator configuration.
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Microsoft’s policy reference documents a 20 GB monthly internet-peer upload cap as the default value for the DOMonthlyUploadDataCap policy; setting it to zero means unlimited uploads. That policy value should not be read as a guaranteed setting on every unmanaged home PC. The same reference gives 20 MB/s as the default for DOMinBackgroundQoS, a policy related to when HTTP connections are dropped as peers meet the threshold. These are documented policy defaults, not measurements of what a particular computer will use. Microsoft’s policy reference lists the settings.
Choose whether and how devices share content
Peer scope is determined by Delivery Optimization mode. The options documented by Microsoft are:
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| Mode | What it permits |
|---|---|
| 0 | HTTP-only downloads; no peer-to-peer sharing. |
| 1 | Peers on the local network, limited in default LAN mode to devices behind the same public IP/NAT. |
| 2 | Peers in a configured Group. |
| 3 | Internet peers. |
Modes for broader peer sharing are configuration choices, not evidence that every Windows 11 PC shares with internet strangers. Administrators can also control download limits, business-hour percentages, and upload exposure through policies. For lower-capacity links, Microsoft recommends absolute KB/s limits rather than percentage-based limits. See how the workflow operates and how to configure it.
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- Open Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization.
- Select Activity Monitor.
- Review the source breakdown, average download speed, and upload statistics for the current month.
The monitor helps distinguish content obtained from different sources and shows current-month upload statistics; it is not a promise of a future rate. For administrative review across devices, Microsoft documents Windows Update for Business Delivery Optimization reporting, which reports observed bandwidth savings over the past 28 days, as well as PowerShell cmdlets for checking download mode and bandwidth. Details are in Microsoft’s configuration guide and monitoring documentation.
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How to stop peer sharing without stopping downloads
If the concern is uploading or receiving content from other PCs, use HTTP-only mode rather than bypassing Delivery Optimization. Microsoft documents DownloadMode 0 for disabling peer-to-peer while retaining the Delivery Optimization HTTP downloader and its hash checks. On a personally managed device, the available user-facing settings are under Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization; organization-managed settings may be controlled by an administrator.
Turning off peering is not the same as pausing updates: eligible downloads can continue from Microsoft’s HTTP sources. To pause particular products’ updates, use the applicable controls or policies for those products, such as Windows Update, Microsoft Store, or Edge. Microsoft warns that DownloadMode 100 (Bypass) is deprecated in Windows 11 and can cause some content downloads to fail, so it is not a recommended shortcut. See Microsoft’s FAQ.
What Delivery Optimization shares—and what it does not
Microsoft says Delivery Optimization does not access personal files or folders and cannot be used to send or download personal content. Peer pieces are verified against metadata before use. At the same time, the service handles device and content metadata to coordinate peer matching. Microsoft’s workflow documentation lists content identifiers, a random device GUID, private/internal IP address and subnet mask, a group ID when configured, device-profile attributes, and download or transfer attributes among information registered with the Delivery Optimization cloud service. See Microsoft’s workflow documentation.
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