Bytes to Kilobits Converter

Bytes to Kilobits

Convert bytes (B) to kilobits (Kb). Both measure digital storage, and the conversion comes up in computing, storage, internet work.

The Formula

`` kilobits = bytes × 0.008 bytes = kilobits × 125 `

One byte is 0.008 kilobits, and one kilobit is 125 bytes.

Conversion Table

Bytes	Kilobits
1 B	0.008 Kb
2 B	0.016 Kb
5 B	0.04 Kb
10 B	0.08 Kb
25 B	0.2 Kb
50 B	0.4 Kb
100 B	0.8 Kb
500 B	4 Kb
1,000 B	8 Kb

The Other Direction

Kilobits	Bytes
1 Kb	125 B
2 Kb	250 B
5 Kb	625 B
10 Kb	1,250 B
25 Kb	3,125 B
50 Kb	6,250 B
100 Kb	12,500 B
500 Kb	62,500 B
1,000 Kb	125,000 B

What Each Unit Is

Bytes (B) — 8 bits. Coined at IBM in 1956 for the group of bits encoding one character.

Kilobits (Kb) — 1,000 bits in decimal (SI) usage. The telecoms convention, where powers of ten have always been used.

A Sense of Scale

• One ASCII character is 1 byte
• A UTF-8 emoji is often 4 bytes
• Dial-up peaked at 56 kbit/s
• Audio bitrates are in kbit/s

Precision

The factor 0.008 is rounded. For engineering work carry more digits than the table above, and round only at the end — rounding at each step compounds.

In Code

`javascript const byteToKilobit = (value) => value * 0.008; ``

Where This Conversion Comes Up

• Computing
• Storage
• Internet
• Media
• Backups

How Many Decimals Do You Need?

Rounding the factor costs accuracy, and how much depends on the factor. Converting 137 B with the factor truncated at each decimal place:

Decimals kept	Factor	137 B becomes	Error
0	0	0	100.0000%
1	0	0	100.0000%
2	0.01	1.37	25.0000%
3	0.008	1.096	—
4	0.008	1.096	—

A rule that holds for any conversion: round once, at the end. Rounding the factor and then multiplying compounds the error through every subsequent calculation, while carrying full precision and rounding the final answer does not.

The right number of significant figures is set by your input, not by the converter. If you measured bytes to three significant figures, the answer in kilobits is only good to three — writing more digits claims precision the measurement never had.

Other Conversions From Bytes

The same value in every other unit this converter supports for data:

From	To	Unit
1 B	8 b	Bits
1 B	0.001 KB	Kilobytes
1 B	8.0000e-6 Mb	Megabits
1 B	1.0000e-6 MB	Megabytes
1 B	1.0000e-9 GB	Gigabytes
1 B	1.0000e-12 TB	Terabytes

Chaining conversions works — bytes to metres to feet gives the same answer as bytes to feet — but each step rounds, so a chain of three conversions carries three roundings. Convert directly where a direct factor exists.