I’m facing a serious issue and could really use some guidance.
Whenever I share my mobile internet with my PC (via Wi-Fi hotspot or USB tethering), the data consumption becomes insanely high. Even with all applications closed, no browser, no downloads, no visible updates, data keeps being consumed in the background. I’ve had cases where around 500 MB are gone in less than one minute — it literally vanishes.
This only happens when the phone is connected to Zorin OS. When using the phone normally, data usage is stable. It feels like some background service, system process, sync, or automatic update is silently draining data without warning.
On top of that, I’m also having persistent Bluetooth issues. Receiving files on the PC is very unreliable:
sometimes devices won’t pair
sometimes they pair but file transfers fail
other times the receive prompt never shows up on Zorin
If anyone has experience with this, I’d appreciate help on:
how to identify exactly what’s consuming data in the background
how to limit or block excessive data usage
how to fix or stabilize Bluetooth file transfers on Zorin OS
I really like the system, but with mobile data this behavior is painful and expensive. Any tips, tools, or known fixes are welcome.
You could enable "metered connection" at network settings for wlan when you are connected with your phone to see if that helps. If it doesn't help you could go to Software&Updates >tab updates and disable automatic updates.
Also disable automatic updates in gnome software manager. Open software manager, click on the Hamburger menu, select preferences and disable automatic updates.
Because of Your Bluetooth: Did You take a Look at the ''Additional Drivers'' Tab if there is a Driver for Your Bluetooth offered? Does Your System run in Wayland or X11? You can check that with the Terminal Command echo $XDG_SESSION_TYPE
Then, I would suggest to try it with switching to X11/Xorg.
To do that, go to the Login Screen. Click there on Your Profile so that the Password Fiels appears. When it is appeared, You should see a Gear Icon in the bottom right Corner. Click on it and choose the Option ''Zorin Desktop on Xorg'' and then log in.
As a start, I would check the background services of the Software Store.
It runs silently in the background, in order to check for updates so that all packages in the store are up to date.
If you have a lot of Flatpak or Snap packages installed - it increases traffic, as well.