---
title: "Bandwidth limit and files at once"
url: https://storagestudio.us/wiki/bandwidth-and-files-at-once
category: "Data Transfers"
tags: ["data transfers", "bandwidth", "cloud accounts"]
summary: "Advanced options in New Transfer let you cap a transfer's speed (for example 10M for about 10 MB/s), choose how many files move in parallel (1 to 32, default 8) and how many streams fetch one large file (1 to 16, default 4)."
updated: 2026-10-01T05:33:53.000Z
---

# Bandwidth limit and files at once

Advanced options in New Transfer let you cap a transfer's speed (for example 10M for about 10 MB/s), choose how many files move in parallel (1 to 32, default 8) and how many streams fetch one large file (1 to 16, default 4).

**Advanced options**, at the bottom of the New Transfer sheet, control how hard a transfer pushes: a **Bandwidth limit** caps its speed, **Parallel transfers** sets how many files move at the same time, and **Streams per file** splits one large file into several pieces fetched together. The defaults suit most connections, so you only need these when a transfer is slowing other things down or a big file is slow to arrive.

## The settings

| Setting | What it controls | Range | Default |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| **Bandwidth limit** | The top speed for this transfer | Any value, or empty | Empty, meaning no limit |
| **Parallel transfers** | How many different files move at the same time | 1 to 32 | 8 |
| **Streams per file** | How many pieces of one large file are fetched at the same time | 1 to 16 | 4 |

**Parallel transfers** is the "files at once" setting. It isn't shown when you choose **Download**, because a download is a single file and the setting can't speed it up.

## Writing a bandwidth limit

Type a number followed by a letter:

- `10M` — about 10 megabytes a second (roughly 80 megabits a second). Use a capital **M** for megabytes.
- `100k` — about 100 kilobytes a second. Use a lowercase **k** for kilobytes.
- Leave it empty for no limit.

The limit applies to the transfer as a whole, not to each file. A transfer's details show its limit under **Bandwidth**, or **Unlimited** if there isn't one.

## Choosing values

- **Your internet feels slow while a transfer runs:** set a **Bandwidth limit** below your connection's upload or download speed, or lower **Parallel transfers**.
- **Many small files, such as photos or documents:** the default of 8 parallel transfers is a good balance. More can help on a fast connection to a fast service.
- **A slow or shared connection:** drop **Parallel transfers** to 1 to be as gentle as possible.
- **One very large file:** **Parallel transfers** won't help. Raise **Streams per file** instead — more streams are usually faster until the server or your connection becomes the limit. Only larger files, roughly above 256 MB, are split into streams.

```mermaid
%% caption: Which advanced setting to change
flowchart TD
  A{What's the problem?} -->|Other apps or people slowed down| B[Set a Bandwidth limit or lower Parallel transfers]
  A -->|Lots of small files feel slow| C[Raise Parallel transfers]
  A -->|One huge file feels slow| D[Raise Streams per file]
  A -->|Nothing, it's fine| E[Leave the defaults]
```

*Flowchart — Which advanced setting to change. Outline:*

- What's the problem?
  - Other apps or people slowed down: leads to Set a Bandwidth limit or lower Parallel transfers
  - Lots of small files feel slow: leads to Raise Parallel transfers
  - One huge file feels slow: leads to Raise Streams per file
  - Nothing, it's fine: leads to Leave the defaults

## Things to know

- **Settings are fixed for a transfer once it starts.** **Sync again**, **Run again** and scheduled runs reuse the same values. To change them, set the transfer up again from **New Transfer**.
- **Up to two transfers run at the same time.** Others wait as **Queued**, so the limits you set apply per transfer, not across all of them.
- **Scheduled runs are already gentle.** They run in the background at low priority so your own work comes first, whatever you set here. See [Scheduling a transfer](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/transfer-schedules).
- **Some services limit how fast an app may go.** If a cloud account starts refusing requests because of its own limits, fewer parallel transfers can help. See [A transfer failed](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-transfer-failed).

More answers: https://storagestudio.us/faq

See also: [Data Transfers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-transfers) · [Copying between two cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/copying-between-two-cloud-accounts) · [Why Storage Studio works slowly on purpose](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/a-lazy-background-utility)

## What links here

- [Copying between two cloud accounts](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/copying-between-two-cloud-accounts)
- [Data Transfers](https://storagestudio.us/wiki/data-transfers)