Convert megabits to megabytes

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32 Mbit is 4 MB, because a byte has eight bits. Type a number of megabits, such as the size of a memory chip or a game cartridge, and the converter gives it in megabytes.

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What are a megabit and a megabyte?

A bit is the smallest piece of data, a single 0 or 1, and a byte is a group of eight bits[1]. A megabit (Mbit) is a million bits, and a megabyte (MB) is a million bytes, so a megabyte holds eight times as much data as a megabit.

The two are easy to mix up because only the case of one letter differs: a lower-case b means bit and a capital B means byte. So 32 Mb is 32 megabits, while 32 MB is 32 megabytes, eight times more. A connection speed in Mb/s is a different quantity altogether: it tells you how many megabits flow each second, not how much data something holds.

How many megabytes are in a megabit?

1 Mbit is 0.125 MB, one eighth of a megabyte. The formula is simple: MB = Mbit ÷ 8. A 128 Mbit memory chip therefore holds 16 MB.

There is no switch between the decimal and binary standards here, because it would not change anything. Both fields share the same prefix, so if the megabit is counted in powers of two, so is the megabyte, and the ratio stays at 8. A chip labelled 32 Mbit holds 4 MB whether its maker counts in decimal or in binary.

In Excel, =CONVERT(A2,"Mbit","Mbyte") does the job, because the function takes the M prefix with both the bit and the byte[2]. The MB to Mbit converter works the other way, single bits are covered by the bits to bytes converter, and the data unit converter handles any other pair, including bits straight to megabytes.

How many megabytes did SNES cartridges hold?

The capacity of Super Nintendo cartridges was given in megabits, from 2 to 48 Mbit[3]. In megabytes that is 0.25 MB to 6 MB, so a game on a 16 Mbit cartridge took up 2 MB. Dividing by 8 lets you compare these games with later ones, whose size is given in megabytes.

Two grey Super Nintendo cartridges stacked on top of each other, with their edge connectors visible
A North American SNES cartridge on top of a Super Famicom cartridge, both seen from the connector end. Inside each is a ROM chip of 2 to 48 Mbit, which is 0.25 to 6 MB. Photo: Evan-Amos, public domain.

How many megabytes is a given number of megabits?

The results are exact, because dividing by 8 always ends within three decimal places.
MegabitsMegabytes
1 Mbit0.125 MB
2 Mbit0.25 MB
4 Mbit0.5 MB
8 Mbit1 MB
12 Mbit1.5 MB
16 Mbit2 MB
20 Mbit2.5 MB
24 Mbit3 MB
32 Mbit4 MB
48 Mbit6 MB
64 Mbit8 MB
100 Mbit12.5 MB
128 Mbit16 MB
256 Mbit32 MB
330 Mbit41.25 MB
512 Mbit64 MB
716 Mbit89.5 MB
Adafruit fits its SPI FLASH Breakout with a chip it lists as “W25Q64 - 64 Mbit / 8 MByte”[4], the 64 Mbit row of this table.

Which ways of writing megabits does this converter accept?

Type or paste the number of megabits as you have it: with a decimal point, with commas between thousands, as a fraction or together with a unit. The field reads each of these and converts it for you, and the table shows exactly what it does with each one. The converter worked out every result itself.
What you typeWhat the converter showsHow we read it
1.50.1875 MBThe point marks the decimal part, so the field holds one and a half megabits.
1,50.1875 MBA comma before a single digit can only be a decimal comma, as used across most of Europe, so the result is the same as for 1.5.
1,500187.5 MBA comma before three digits separates thousands, so we count one thousand five hundred megabits. A hint appears below the field in case you meant 1.5.
2½0.3125 MBA ½ sign copied from text is added to the number in front of it, so we count two and a half megabits.
330 Mbit41.25 MBThe Mbit symbol after the number is dropped, because it is the field's own unit.
32 Mb4 MBMb with a lower-case b means megabits, so the number goes into the field unchanged.
48 megabits6 MBThe full unit name after the number is dropped too, so we count 48 megabits.
1e3125 MBScientific notation from a spreadsheet is read as it stands: 1e3 is a thousand megabits.
4 MB4 MBMegabytes pasted into the megabit field become 32 Mbit, a line below the field says so, and the result comes back as 4 MB.
1 Gbit125 MBWe count a gigabit in decimal, so the field changes it to 1000 Mbit and a line below says so.

Convert other units to Megabytes

KB to MBGB to MBMiB to MB

Sources

  1. Byte — Wikipedia
  2. CONVERT function — Microsoft
  3. Super Nintendo Entertainment System Game Pak — Wikipedia
  4. Adafruit SPI FLASH Breakout - W25Q64 - 64 MBit / 8 MByte — Adafruit Industries

Every figure in the tables was computed from the unit definitions and checked arithmetically before publication. Historical values and the names of local units come from the sources listed above.

Content last reviewed: · written and checked by the Arteon team

Frequently asked questions about megabits and megabytes

How many kilobytes are in a megabit?

A decimal megabit is a million bits, which is 125,000 bytes or 125 kB. A binary megabit has 2²⁰ bits, which is 131,072 bytes or 128 KiB.

Arteon free tool screenshot: Convert megabits to megabytes

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