Kilobits to Gigabits (kb to Gb)
1 kilobit equals 0.000001 gigabits exactly.
How to convert kilobits to gigabits
To convert kilobits to gigabits, multiply the number of kilobits by 0.000001. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply gigabits by 1,000,000.
gigabits = kilobits × 0.000001
Example: 10 kilobits = 0.00001 gigabits.
Decimal prefixes (kB, MB, GB) are powers of 1,000; binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) are powers of 1,024. Storage makers use decimal; Windows reports binary but labels it GB.
About these units
Kilobit (kb)
1,000 bits (125 bytes). Used for data rates and sizes in telecommunications.
Kilobit means a thousand bits, and in telecommunications data rates are usually measured in decimal SI multiples. The article on the bit gives a handy example: a channel capacity of 8 kbit/s is 1 kB/s, so dividing kilobits by eight gives kilobytes. The binary counterpart, the kibibit, is 1,024 bits, but it is seldom used.
Symbols cause trouble. The IEC standard says to write kbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends a lowercase b, giving kb, and the lowercase b may be confused with capital B for byte. On this site a kilobit is 125 bytes. The history behind it is that of the bit itself: Ralph Hartley proposed a logarithmic information measure in 1928, and Claude Shannon first used the word in 1948, crediting John W. Tukey.
1 kilobit = 125 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Bit; Wikipedia: Kilobit
Gigabit (Gb)
1,000,000,000 bits (125 MB).
Gigabit is one billion bits, or 125 million bytes. In the IEC notation it is written Gbit, while IEEE 1541-2002 recommends Gb, which may be confused with GB for gigabyte. The binary counterpart, the gibibit, is 2 to the thirtieth bits. Network links and fiber are usually rated in gigabits per second, because data transfer rates are measured in decimal SI multiples.
Memory is where gigabits and binary habits collide. Chip capacity is often given in binary multiples using the ambiguous G prefix rather than the IEC Gi, so a DRAM chip advertised as 1 GB has 2 to the thirtieth bytes. The Wikipedia article on the bit says this was still causing difficulty for software designers as of 2022. When you see a gigabit rate, divide by eight for gigabytes per second.
1 gigabit = 125,000,000 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gigabit; Wikipedia: Bit
Related conversions
- Gigabits to kilobits (reverse)
- Kilobits to bytes
- Kilobits to kilobytes
- Kilobits to megabytes
- Kilobits to gigabytes
- Kilobits to terabytes
- Kilobits to bits
- Kilobits to petabytes
- Kilobits to kibibytes
- Kilobits to mebibytes
- Kilobits to gibibytes
- Kilobits to tebibytes
- Kilobits to megabits
- Bytes to gigabits
- Kilobytes to gigabits
- Megabytes to gigabits
- Gigabytes to gigabits
- Terabytes to gigabits
- Bits to gigabits
- Petabytes to gigabits
- Kibibytes to gigabits
- Mebibytes to gigabits
- Gibibytes to gigabits
- Tebibytes to gigabits
- Megabits to gigabits
See all digital storage units.