Kilobits to Megabits (kb to Mb)
1 kilobit equals 0.001 megabits exactly.
How to convert kilobits to megabits
To convert kilobits to megabits, multiply the number of kilobits by 0.001. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply megabits by 1,000.
megabits = kilobits × 0.001
Example: 10 kilobits = 0.01 megabits.
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
Megabit (Mb)
1,000,000 bits (125,000 bytes). Internet speeds are advertised in megabits per second.
Megabit is the unit behind most internet plans: speeds are quoted in megabits per second, while files are sized in megabytes. Since a byte is eight bits, a megabit is one eighth of a megabyte, which is 125,000 bytes in decimal units, and an advertised speed in Mbit/s therefore looks eight times larger than the same rate in megabytes per second. Data transfer rates are usually measured in decimal SI multiples.
Writing it is tricky. The IEC symbol is Mbit and the IEEE recommends Mb, but a capital M with lowercase b is easy to confuse with MB, the megabyte. The binary counterpart, the mebibit, is rarely used. Memory chips are sometimes sized in megabits too, so check which unit a spec sheet is using before comparing numbers.
1 megabit = 125,000 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Bit; Wikipedia: Megabit
Related conversions
- Megabits 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 gigabits
- Bytes to megabits
- Kilobytes to megabits
- Megabytes to megabits
- Gigabytes to megabits
- Terabytes to megabits
- Bits to megabits
- Petabytes to megabits
- Kibibytes to megabits
- Mebibytes to megabits
- Gibibytes to megabits
- Tebibytes to megabits
- Gigabits to megabits
See all digital storage units.