Kilobytes (kB) to Kilobits (kbit) Conversion
Kilobytes
The kilobyte (kB) is a unit of digital information equal to 1,000 bytes in the SI decimal system. In the binary convention historically used by operating systems, 1,024 bytes was called a kilobyte — now formally named a kibibyte (KiB). Hard drive manufacturers use the decimal definition, while operating systems historically used binary values, making a "500 GB" drive appear as roughly 465 GB in Windows. Plain-text documents, small images, and configuration files are measured at the kilobyte scale.
Kilobits
The kilobit (kbit) is a unit of digital information equal to exactly 1,000 bits in the SI decimal system. It is used primarily in data transfer rate specifications for slow connections — dial-up modems operated at 56 kbps (kilobits per second). The kilobit is distinct from the kilobyte (kB): there are 8 kilobits in one kilobyte, a difference that routinely causes confusion when comparing internet speed in Mbps against download speeds in MB/s.
| Kilobytes (kB) | Kilobits (kbit) |
|---|---|
| 0.1 kB | 0.8 kbit |
| 1 kB | 8 kbit |
| 2 kB | 16 kbit |
| 3 kB | 24 kbit |
| 5 kB | 40 kbit |
| 10 kB | 80 kbit |
| 20 kB | 160 kbit |
| 30 kB | 240 kbit |
| 50 kB | 400 kbit |
| 100 kB | 800 kbit |
| 1000 kB | 8000 kbit |