What is a bits and bytes unit converter?

A bits and bytes unit converter transforms measurements between digital data units like bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes. It's essential for understanding storage capacity, data transfer rates, and digital file sizes.

What is the difference between a bit and a byte?

A bit (b) is the smallest unit of digital data, representing a single 0 or 1. A byte (B) consists of 8 bits and can represent 256 different values (2⁸). One byte typically stores one character of text in ASCII encoding.

Why are there different units for digital data?

Different scales serve different purposes: bits for data transfer rates (Mbps), bytes for file sizes (MB), and larger units (GB, TB) for storage capacity. Using appropriate units keeps numbers manageable and meaningful.

What is the difference between MB and MiB?

MB (megabyte) uses decimal prefixes: 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes. MiB (mebibyte) uses binary prefixes: 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes (2²⁰). Storage manufacturers use MB; operating systems often use MiB, causing apparent discrepancies.

Why does my hard drive show less space than advertised?

Hard drive manufacturers use decimal (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes), but operating systems often display binary (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes). A '500 GB' drive shows as about 465 GB in Windows—same actual capacity, different measurement.

How do I convert between bits and bytes?

Divide bits by 8 to get bytes, or multiply bytes by 8 to get bits. For example, 100 Mbps (megabits per second) internet equals 12.5 MB/s (megabytes per second) maximum download speed.

What is the difference between Mbps and MBps?

Mbps (megabits per second) measures data transfer rate—used for internet speeds. MBps (megabytes per second) is 8× larger and often used for file transfer speeds. 100 Mbps internet = 12.5 MBps maximum throughput.

How large is a petabyte?

A petabyte (PB) equals 1,000 terabytes or 1 quadrillion bytes. It could store about 500 billion pages of text, 4,000 years of MP3 audio, or 13 years of HD video. Major data centers store exabytes (1,000 PB).

What comes after exabyte?

The progression continues: zettabyte (ZB, 10²¹ bytes), yottabyte (YB, 10²⁴ bytes), ronnabyte (RB, 10²⁷ bytes), and quettabyte (QB, 10³⁰ bytes). Global data creation in 2020 was approximately 64 zettabytes.

Why do we use powers of 2 for digital storage?

Computers operate in binary (0s and 1s), making powers of 2 natural for memory addressing. RAM is always in powers of 2 (8, 16, 32 GB) because memory addresses require exact binary alignment for efficient access.

Bits & Bytes Unit Converter

Convert between different computing units bits, bytes, megabytes, terabytes...etc

Digital data is measured in bits and bytes, the fundamental units of computing. From the kilobytes of a text file to the petabytes of a data center, understanding these units is essential for working with computers, networks, and storage. Our converter handles both binary (traditional computing) and decimal (storage marketing) interpretations of data units.

History & Background

The term 'bit' (binary digit) was coined by Claude Shannon in 1948. The byte (8 bits) became standard in the 1960s with IBM's System/360. As storage grew, confusion arose between binary (1 KB = 1,024 bytes) and decimal (1 KB = 1,000 bytes) definitions. In 1998, IEC introduced binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) to clarify, though adoption remains inconsistent.

How to Convert

Bits to Bytes

bytes = bits ÷ 8

Divide the number of bits by 8 to get bytes.

Example: 1,000 bits ÷ 8 = 125 bytes

Bytes to Kilobytes (binary)

KB = bytes ÷ 1,024

Divide bytes by 1,024 to get kilobytes (binary).

Example: 2,048 bytes ÷ 1,024 = 2 KB

Megabits to Megabytes

MB = Mb ÷ 8

Divide megabits by 8 to get megabytes.

Example: 100 Mbps ÷ 8 = 12.5 MBps

Gigabytes to Terabytes

TB = GB ÷ 1,024

Divide gigabytes by 1,024 to get terabytes (binary).

Example: 2,048 GB ÷ 1,024 = 2 TB

Real-World Examples

4K Movie File

A typical 4K movie file is about 50-100 GB.

75 GB=0.073 TB

MP3 Song

An average 4-minute MP3 song is about 4 megabytes.

4 MB=32 Mb

Smartphone Photo

A high-resolution smartphone photo is typically 3-5 MB.

4 MB=4,096 KB

Internet Speed

A 100 Mbps internet connection can download at 12.5 MB per second.

100 Mb=12.5 MB

RAM Module

A typical modern computer has 16 GB of RAM.

16 GB=16,384 MB

External Hard Drive

A common external hard drive holds 2 terabytes.

2 TB=2,048 GB

Did You Know?

•The entire text of the US Library of Congress (38 million books) would fit in about 10 terabytes—less than a modern high-capacity hard drive.
•A single human genome sequence contains about 3 billion base pairs, requiring roughly 750 megabytes to store without compression.
•In 1956, IBM's 305 RAMAC was the first commercial hard drive, storing just 3.75 MB and costing $10,000 per megabyte per year to lease.
•The entire content of Wikipedia (text only) compresses to about 22 GB—small enough to fit on a smartphone.
•Global internet traffic exceeded 400 exabytes per month in 2022—equivalent to streaming 100 million years of HD video.

Bits & Bytes conversion table

1 B = 8 b	1 bytes equals 8 bits	1 * 8 = X b
1 B = 0.0078125 Kb	1 bytes equals 0.0078125 kilobits	1 * 0.0078125 = X Kb
1 B = 0.0009765625 KB	1 bytes equals 0.0009765625 kilobytes	1 * 0.0009765625 = X KB
1 B = 0.00000762939453125 Mb	1 bytes equals 0.00000762939453125 megabits	1 * 0.00000762939453125 = X Mb
1 B = 9.5367431640625e-7 MB	1 bytes equals 9.5367431640625e-7 megabytes	1 * 9.5367431640625e-7 = X MB
1 B = 7.450580596923828e-9 Gb	1 bytes equals 7.450580596923828e-9 gigabits	1 * 7.450580596923828e-9 = X Gb
1 B = 9.313225746154785e-10 GB	1 bytes equals 9.313225746154785e-10 gigabytes	1 * 9.313225746154785e-10 = X GB
1 B = 7.275957614183426e-12 Tb	1 bytes equals 7.275957614183426e-12 terabits	1 * 7.275957614183426e-12 = X Tb
1 B = 9.094947017729282e-13 TB	1 bytes equals 9.094947017729282e-13 terabytes	1 * 9.094947017729282e-13 = X TB
1 B = 7.105427357601002e-15 Pb	1 bytes equals 7.105427357601002e-15 petabits	1 * 7.105427357601002e-15 = X Pb
1 B = 8.881784197001252e-16 PB	1 bytes equals 8.881784197001252e-16 petabytes	1 * 8.881784197001252e-16 = X PB
1 B = 6.938893903907228e-18 Eb	1 bytes equals 6.938893903907228e-18 exabits	1 * 6.938893903907228e-18 = X Eb
1 B = 8.673617379884035e-19 EB	1 bytes equals 8.673617379884035e-19 exabytes	1 * 8.673617379884035e-19 = X EB

F.A.Q. - Frequently Asked Questions

Popular bits-bytes Conversions

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Bits & Bytes Unit Converter | Rapid Unit Converter