Kbps to Mbps converter, and what that is in bytes.

To convert kbps to Mbps, divide by 1,000. So 128 kbps is 0.128 Mbps, 1,500 kbps is 1.5 Mbps and 5,000 kbps is 5 Mbps. To go back, multiply the Mbps by 1,000. Both units count bits, not bytes. If you want kilobytes or megabytes per second, the cards under the result do that step for you.

How to use the converter

1. Type the speed in the Kilobits per second (kbps) box.
2. The big result shows Megabits per second (Mbps). The cards show bits, gigabits, kilobytes and megabytes per second.
3. Type Mbps in the second box to get kbps, or press S to swap.
4. Click a row in Common values to load it. The Up and Down keys add or take off 1, and with Shift they move by 10.
5. Use Copy result, Copy link or Print chart.

Why it is 1,000 and not 1,024

NIST, metric SI prefixes lists kilo as 10³ and mega as 10⁶, so 1 Mbps is 1,000 kbps. Page checked 19 Oct 2026. The number 1,024 belongs to a different set of prefixes. NIST, prefixes for binary multiples lists kibi, mebi and gibi as powers of two (2¹⁰, 2²⁰ and 2³⁰) and says they are not part of the SI. Divide 5,000 kbps by 1,024 and you get 4.88281, which is 2.34 percent too low. The correct answer is 5. Keep to 1,000 for bit rates.

From bits to bytes

NIST, prefixes for binary multiples gives "1 B = 2³ bit = 8 bit", so a byte is 8 bits. A speed in bytes per second is the speed in bits divided by 8. That is why a connection of 8 Mbps moves 1 MB each second, and why a file of 1 MB takes 8 megabits to send.

Worked examples

• 128 kbps. 128 ÷ 1,000 = 0.128 Mbps, or 16 kB/s.
• 1,500 kbps. 1.5 Mbps, which is 187.5 kB/s.
• 8,000 kbps. 8 Mbps, which is 1 MB/s.
• 100,000 kbps. 100 Mbps, which is 12.5 MB/s.
• 0.75 Mbps back to kbps. 0.75 × 1,000 = 750 kbps.

kbps to MB: how big is the file

A common reason to look up kbps is to guess a file size. A rate is bits per second, so multiply by the seconds, then divide by 8 to get bytes. In megabytes the sum is kbps × seconds ÷ 8,000. For 5,000 kbps over 60 seconds that is 5,000 × 60 ÷ 8,000 = 37.5 MB. The table uses the sum for a minute and an hour. It counts only the rate you type, so any other track in the file adds to it.

For a whole video with sound and a target size, use the Video bitrate calculator. To go the other way and fit a file to a limit, see Compress video for email. For the size units themselves, see MB to GB.

When a program shows KiB/s or MiB/s

Some programs count a rate in 1,024 steps and write KiB/s or MiB/s, the binary units of the NIST page. They are not the same as kB/s and MB/s. 1 KiB/s is 1,024 bytes a second, which is 8.192 kbps. 1 MiB/s is 8,388.608 kbps, or 8.38861 Mbps. Check the letters before you convert, because the i changes the answer by about 2.4 percent per step, and it compounds at each prefix.

Mistakes that are specific to kbps and Mbps

The first is mixing bits and bytes. 5,000 kbps is 0.625 MB/s, not 5 MB/s, and the factor between them is 8. The second is the letters. A small k, as in kbps, is the SI form. NIST writes the byte as a capital B and the bit as bit, so kB/s and MB/s are bytes per second. The third is dividing by 1,024 as shown above. The fourth is reading a speed in Mbps as the size of a download in MB. A speed is per second and a size is not.

Who uses kbps to Mbps

Anyone setting a bitrate for audio or video, reading a speed on a router or an app, or comparing two figures given in different units. Video makers often choose a bitrate in kbps and need the Mbps figure for an upload form. For a full bitrate plan, use the Video bitrate calculator.