In 1 bits there are 1.25000e-16 petabytes. Meanwhile in 1 petabytes there are 8,000,000,000,000,000 bits. Keep reading to learn more about each unit of measure and how they are calculated. Or just use the Petabytes to Bits calculator above to convert any number.
* Values rounded to 6 decimal places for readability
To convert bits to petabytes (PB), you just move through two steps: bits to bytes, then bytes to petabytes.
Step 1: Convert bits to bytes
1 byte = 8 bits
bytes = bits ÷ 8
Step 2: Convert bytes to petabytes
There are two common meanings of “petabyte,” so pick the one you need.
Binary petabyte (often treated like a pebibyte)
1 PB = 2^50 bytes = 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes
PB = bytes ÷ 1,125,899,906,842,624
Combined: PB = bits ÷ (8 × 2^50) = bits ÷ 9,007,199,254,740,992
Decimal petabyte (SI)
1 PB = 10^15 bytes = 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes
PB = bytes ÷ 1,000,000,000,000,000
Combined: PB = bits ÷ (8 × 10^15) = bits ÷ 8,000,000,000,000,000
Use the binary rule when storage is shown in powers of two. Use the decimal rule when it follows SI units.
A bit is the smallest unit of digital data. It holds one of two values: 0 or 1. Computers use bits to store and move information.
A byte is a group of 8 bits. Most file sizes use bytes because they are easier to work with than single bits. One letter of plain text often takes about 1 byte, though it can vary.
After bytes, data sizes grow in larger steps:
These units help describe file sizes, storage space, and data use.
There are 8 bits in 1 byte. This is a fixed rule in modern computing. It’s one of the most common conversions in digital storage.
Bit uses a lowercase b (b). Byte uses an uppercase B (B). This case difference matters.
KB and KiB look close, but they use different bases.
The same pattern continues:
Drive makers often use base-10 units (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes). Many operating systems report space in base-2 units (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes) but may label it as GB. That makes the displayed size look smaller.
Common base-10 conversions are:
Base-2 (binary) versions use 1,024 steps, like KiB, MiB, and GiB.
A petabyte (PB) is 1,000 terabytes (TB) in base-10 terms. It’s used for very large data sets, like big backups, large media libraries, and data centers.
Divide by 8.
This helps when you compare internet speeds (often in bits) with file sizes (often in bytes).
Internet speeds are usually measured in bits per second, like Mbps or Gbps. File sizes are often measured in bytes, like MB or GB. That’s why a “100 Mbps” connection won’t download a 100 MB file in one second.
Advertised speeds are often in megabits per second (Mbps), while downloads may show megabytes per second (MB/s). Since 1 byte equals 8 bits, MB/s is smaller for the same connection speed. Overhead from Wi-Fi, network traffic, and server limits can also reduce real speeds.
A rough conversion is:
Example: 80 Mbps is about 10 MB/s under ideal conditions.
Use the unit that matches the scale:
Exact sizes vary by format and quality, but common ranges look like this:
Yes. Case changes the meaning.
Mixing them can lead to big errors in conversions.
Use these quick rules:
For large numbers, decide first if you want base-10 or base-2 results.
The Calculate Box tool to convert bits to petabytes uses the open source script Convert.js to convert units of measurement. To use this tool, simply type a bits value in the box and have it instantly converted to petabytes.