Convert kbps to Mbps

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1000 kbps is exactly 1 Mbps, so you divide kilobits per second by 1000. Type a value and the result appears straight away: 320 kbps, the highest music quality on Spotify, gives 0.32 Mbps.

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How many Mbps is 1000 kbps?

One thousand kilobits per second is one megabit per second. You divide the kbps figure by 1000: Mbps = kbps ÷ 1000[1].

Three examples show that division in figures. A value of 500 kbps gives 0.5 Mbps. A value of 2000 kbps is 2 Mbps. A value of 10,000 kbps comes to a round 10 Mbps.

You meet kilobit figures in fields that want an exact number: an audio quality setting, the bitrate box in streaming software or a router configuration page. You know your line speed in megabits, so only the conversion shows how much of the line that value will take.

In your head, move the decimal point three places to the left. A value of 3500 kbps turns into 3.5 Mbps, and 128 kbps into 0.128 Mbps.

A speed written in megabits goes back to kilobits in the Mbps to kbps converter.

What is a kilobit per second, and what is a megabit per second?

A kilobit per second says how many thousands of bits pass through a line in one second. A bit is the smallest piece of information, a single zero or one, so 1 kbps means a thousand of those digits every second. The quantity both units measure is called bit rate[2].

A megabit per second describes the same thing in millions of bits. Providers quote line speeds in this unit and speed tests report their result in it. One megabit per second is a million bits per second, because the kilo and mega prefixes keep their SI values of a thousand and a million when they sit next to bits[1].

English-language software writes the same unit in three ways. YouTube help writes Mbps for line speeds[3] and Kbps for audio[4], Spotify help gives audio quality in kbit/s[5], and OBS Studio labels a streaming service’s limit Maximum Video Bitrate, with the value in kbps[6]. All three count bits, and the Mbps to MB/s converter turns them into bytes per second.

Studio microphone in a shock mount against a grey wall
A studio microphone hangs in a shock mount against a grey wall. The bitrate of the sound it records, in a file or in a stream, is given in kilobits per second. Photo: Jacob Hodgson, Unsplash.

kbps to Mbps conversion table

The rows run from 56 kbps up to one million kbps, which is a gigabit line. Each result is written the way the converter field shows it.
Speed in kbpsThe same in Mbps
56 kbps0.056 Mbps
64 kbps0.064 Mbps
100 kbps0.1 Mbps
128 kbps0.128 Mbps
200 kbps0.2 Mbps
256 kbps0.256 Mbps
300 kbps0.3 Mbps
384 kbps0.384 Mbps
400 kbps0.4 Mbps
500 kbps0.5 Mbps
512 kbps0.512 Mbps
600 kbps0.6 Mbps
768 kbps0.768 Mbps
800 kbps0.8 Mbps
900 kbps0.9 Mbps
1,000 kbps1 Mbps
1,024 kbps1.024 Mbps
2,000 kbps2 Mbps
2,500 kbps2.5 Mbps
3,000 kbps3 Mbps
3,072 kbps3.072 Mbps
3,500 kbps3.5 Mbps
4,000 kbps4 Mbps
4,096 kbps4.096 Mbps
5,000 kbps5 Mbps
6,000 kbps6 Mbps
8,000 kbps8 Mbps
8,192 kbps8.192 Mbps
9,000 kbps9 Mbps
10,000 kbps10 Mbps
12,000 kbps12 Mbps
15,000 kbps15 Mbps
20,000 kbps20 Mbps
25,000 kbps25 Mbps
30,000 kbps30 Mbps
35,000 kbps35 Mbps
40,000 kbps40 Mbps
50,000 kbps50 Mbps
80,000 kbps80 Mbps
100,000 kbps100 Mbps
200,000 kbps200 Mbps
500,000 kbps500 Mbps
1,000,000 kbps1,000 Mbps

How many Mbps do Spotify music, a Zoom call and a YouTube video take?

Spotify and Zoom quote their figures in kilobits per second, while you know your line in megabits. The Spotify setting names come from its help page, which calls the values approximate.
Patch panel with numbered ports and twisted pair cords plugged in
The patch panel ports are numbered, and blue twisted pair cords sit in two of them. Each port is a separate line with a speed of its own. Photo: Jordan Harrison, Unsplash.
Setting or requirementIn kbpsThe same in Mbps
Spotify, Low setting24 kbps0.024 Mbps
Spotify, Normal setting96 kbps0.096 Mbps
Spotify, High setting160 kbps0.16 Mbps
Spotify, Very high setting320 kbps0.32 Mbps
Spotify Premium in the web player, AAC256 kbps0.256 Mbps
Zoom, screen sharing only50–75 kbps0.05–0.075 Mbps
Zoom, one-to-one call in high quality600 kbps0.6 Mbps
YouTube, video at 360p700 kbps0.7 Mbps
The audio quality settings come from Spotify help[5], the call bandwidth from Zoom help[7] and the viewing requirement from YouTube help[3]. The live streaming values YouTube gives in megabits turn into kilobits in the Mbps to kbps converter.

How many bits per second are in a kilobit, a megabit and a kibibit?

The table puts the decimal units that telecommunications uses next to the binary units that carry the 1024 multiplier and have symbols of their own.
UnitBits per secondThe same in kbps
bit per second (bit/s)10.001
kilobit per second (kbps)1,0001
megabit per second (Mbps)1,000,0001,000
gigabit per second (Gbps)1,000,000,0001,000,000
kibibit per second (Kibit/s)1,0241.024
mebibit per second (Mibit/s)1,048,5761,048.576
NIST publishes the values of the binary prefixes and their symbols[1]. File sizes count the same prefixes differently, and the KB to MB converter handles those. Bits turn into bytes, eight to each byte, in the bits to bytes converter.

Which number formats does this converter accept?

The field reads every one of these formats and converts it, so there is nothing to tidy up before you paste. The table shows what the converter does with each entry, and the converter worked out every result itself.
What you typeWhat the converter showsNote
3200.32 MbpsA number on its own is read as kilobits per second, because that is the unit on the field.
96 kbit/s0.096 MbpsSpotify help writes the unit as kbit/s, and the field reads it as kilobits per second.
128 Kbps0.128 MbpsYouTube help writes Kbps with a capital K, and the field reads it the same way.
1411.21.411 MbpsThe decimal point separates the fraction, exactly as you would expect.
1411,21.411 MbpsA comma followed by one or two digits can only be a decimal comma, so the result is the same.
1.5000.0015 MbpsA single point is always read as a decimal point, so the field counts one and a half kilobits per second. A note under the field says: Read as 1.5. If you meant 1500, type 1500.
1,5001.5 MbpsA comma before three digits groups thousands in English, so this is fifteen hundred kilobits per second. A note under the field says: Read as 1500. If you meant 1.5, type 1.5.
1 5001.5 MbpsA space between the thousands, as written in much of Europe and in SI style, gives the same result as 1,500.
2 Mbps2 MbpsMegabits are turned into 2,000 kbps, a line under the field says so, and the answer comes back as 2 Mbps.
128 kB/s1.024 MbpsKilobytes per second from a download window are multiplied by eight, because a byte has eight bits, stored as 1,024 kbps and reported under the field.
AAC 256 kbit/s0.256 MbpsThe format name in front of the number is skipped, and the field takes the number right before the unit.

How do you convert kbps to Mbps in Excel?

The CONVERT function knows the bit unit and takes metric prefixes with it. The steps use a value of 3500 kbps.

  1. Enter the speed in kilobits

    Put the kbps figure in a cell, for example 3500 in cell A2.

  2. Write the formula with the unit codes

    The syntax is CONVERT(number, from_unit, to_unit), and the code for the information unit is bit[8]. The kilo prefix is written as k and mega as M[8]. The formula =CONVERT(A2,"kbit","Mbit") returns 3.5 for 3500 kbps.

  3. Drag the formula down the column

    Each row then converts its own value from column A, so a whole list of speeds moves to megabits without retyping the formula.

  4. Use the binary prefixes when you need the 1024 multiplier

    Alongside the metric prefixes the documentation lists binary ones: ki stands for 1024 and Mi for 1,048,576[8]. Where a unit does not support a binary prefix, the function returns the #N/A error value[8].

Convert other units to Megabits/s

MB/s to MbpsGbps to Mbps

Sources

  1. Prefixes for binary multiples — National Institute of Standards and Technology
  2. Bit rate — Wikipedia
  3. YouTube system requirements — Google
  4. Live encoder settings, bitrates and resolutions — Google
  5. Audio quality — Spotify
  6. OBS Studio interface strings, en-US.ini — OBS Project
  7. System requirements, including bandwidth — Zoom
  8. CONVERT function — Microsoft

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 kbps and Mbps

Which is faster, kbps or Mbps?

A megabit per second is a unit a thousand times larger than a kilobit per second[1]. A 1 Mbps line moves as much in one second as a 1000 kbps line. The same speed written in kilobits therefore always carries a number a thousand times higher.

Is 1 Mbps 1000 or 1024 kbps?

It is 1000 kbps. Next to bits per second the kilo and mega prefixes keep their SI values of a thousand and a million. NIST puts it plainly: some designers of local area networks have used megabit per second to mean 1,048,576 bits per second, but all telecommunications engineers use it to mean a million bits per second[1]. The 1024 multiplier has a name and a symbol of its own, the kibibit per second, written Kibit/s[1].

What is the difference between kbps and kB/s?

A kilobit per second counts bits and a kilobyte per second counts bytes, and one byte contains eight bits. That makes 8000 kbps the same as 1000 kB/s, or 1 MB/s. Your provider quotes the line in bits while a download manager reports progress in bytes, and the Mbps to MB/s converter moves between the two.

Arteon free tool screenshot: Convert kbps to Mbps

A question or a suggestion?

Write to us if you need another bandwidth unit converted or you spot a value in the tables worth correcting.