Bits to Bytes

Convert Bits to Bytes

"Bits to Bytes" Calculator

How to convert bits to bytes

Worked example: 8 bits = 1 byte

8 bits ÷ 8 = 1 byte

Rule: bytes = bits ÷ 8 — exact: 1 B = 8 bits.

Most asked values
Bits	Bytes
8 bits	1 byte
16 bits	2 bytes
32 bits	4 bytes
64 bits	8 bytes
128 bits	16 bytes
256 bits	32 bytes
1,024 bits	128 bytes

FAQ

How many bits are in one byte?

One byte holds 8 bits. The eight-bit byte became the de facto standard with the IBM System/360 in 1964 and is fixed by the IEC 80000-13 standard, which uses the name "octet" whenever the width has to be unambiguous.

What is the formula to convert bits to bytes?

Divide the number of bits by 8: bytes = bits ÷ 8. For example, 8 bits ÷ 8 = 1 byte and 1,000 bits ÷ 8 = 125 bytes. The reverse conversion multiplies bytes by 8.

Why does a 100 Mbit/s connection give only about 12.5 MB/s?

Link speed is quoted in bits per second (lowercase b, as in Mbit/s), while download managers show bytes per second (uppercase B, as in MB/s), so the figure has to be divided by 8: 100 Mbit/s ÷ 8 = 12.5 MB/s. Mixing up "Mb" and "MB" is the most common mistake in this conversion.