bytes to bits converter

How to convert bytes to bits

One byte is 8 bits. Multiply by 8. The factor table stores a bit as 0.125 bytes so that every data unit, decimal and binary, shares one base. Ten bytes is 80 bits. A kilobyte of 1000 bytes is 8000 bits, not 1000, and not 1024. Networking quotes megabits per second. File sizes quote megabytes. The gap people feel on a '100 Mb/s' link is mostly the factor of 8, plus protocol overhead this page does not add.

Turning a file size into a transfer estimate, or reading a register width. A 1 MB file is 8,000,000 bits at the decimal megabyte. At 100 megabits per second that payload is 0.08 seconds before headers. A 64-bit word is 8 bytes, which is the same ×8 in the other direction.

Exact formula

Formulabits = bytes × 8

bits = bytes × 8 One B is 8 bit. Ten B is 80 bit. The worked example below uses that same conversion.

Conversion table

The bytes column runs from 1 B (8 bit) through 65536 B (524288 bit).

Worked example: Bytes to Bits

One byte is 8 bit. The factor is exactly 8, and the table stores a bit as 0.125 byte so every other data unit can share one base. Ten bytes is 80 bit. A kibibyte of 1024 bytes is 8192 bit, while a decimal kilobyte of 1000 bytes is 8000 bits. A '100 Mb/s' link quotes megabits. Dividing by 8 estimates the payload bytes and still ignores packet headers. There is no 10-bit byte in this table. Baud is not a synonym you can multiply.

Pitfalls for bytes to bits

• There are 8 bits in a byte, not 10. Baud and bit are not a place to invent a decimal byte.
• Mb/s is megabits per second. MB/s is megabytes per second. The capital B matters.
• A kibibyte is 8192 bits (1024 × 8). A kilobyte is 8000 bits (1000 × 8).
• Encoding overhead, RAID, and packet headers are extra bytes. This page converts the unit only.