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Capacitance measures a component's ability to store electrical charge, and its SI base unit — the farad — is enormous relative to almost every real-world electronic component. A 1-farad capacitor is a genuinely large physical device (aside from modern high-capacity "supercapacitors"), so the overwhelming majority of capacitors used in everyday circuits, from tiny ceramic disc capacitors to electrolytic filter capacitors, are rated in picofarads, nanofarads, or microfarads instead. Because so many different scaled-down units are in everyday use — and because datasheets, schematics, and component labels don't always use the same one — converting between them accurately and quickly is a routine task for anyone reading electronics documentation, sourcing a replacement part, or working through a circuits course. This tool converts between all the standard decimal-metric capacitance units: picofarads (pF), nanofarads (nF), microfarads (µF), millifarads (mF), and farads (F).
How it works
Enter a value, choose the unit you're converting from, and the unit you want to convert to. Every supported unit is an exact decimal-metric fraction of the farad — for example, 1 microfarad equals exactly one-millionth of a farad, and 1 picofarad equals exactly one-trillionth of a farad — so the tool converts your input by first expressing it in farads internally, then converting that value into your chosen output unit.
- Enter value.
- Enter from.
- Enter to.
- Click Calculate to see your results.
Examples
A common ceramic capacitor
A 100 nanofarad (nF) capacitor equals 0.1 microfarads (µF) or 100,000 picofarads (pF) — all three values describe the exact same physical component, just using different scaled units.
An electrolytic filter capacitor
A 470 microfarad (µF) capacitor equals 0.00047 farads (F), or 470,000 nanofarads (nF) — showing how far apart the practical unit range spans compared to the base SI unit.
A datasheet using millifarads
A supercapacitor rated at 10 millifarads (mF) equals 10,000 microfarads (µF), since 1 mF is 1,000 times larger than 1 µF — a distinction worth double-checking since mF and µF symbols are easy to visually confuse.
Who should use it
- Converting a capacitor's printed value into the unit used elsewhere in a circuit design.
- Electronics coursework and hobbyist projects.
- Comparing capacitor specifications across different manufacturer datasheets.
Industry applications
- Electronics design
- Electrical engineering education
Advantages
- Covers the full standard range from picofarads to farads.
- Exact decimal-metric conversions.
- Handles any combination of the five supported units.
Limitations
- Does not account for capacitor tolerance, voltage rating, or dielectric type — pure unit conversion only.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Confusing mF (millifarad) with µF (microfarad) — they differ by a factor of 1000, and the symbols look similar at a glance.
- Misreading a capacitor's printed numeric code (common on small ceramic capacitors) as a direct value instead of the coded picofarad notation many manufacturers use.
- Assuming a capacitor's printed nominal value is exact, when real components carry a tolerance range around that nominal figure.
Best practices
- Match the unit convention used on your circuit's datasheet or schematic before ordering replacement components.
- Convert to a single consistent unit (commonly microfarads) when comparing capacitor specifications from multiple different sources.
- Double-check the tolerance rating alongside the capacitance value when sourcing a precise replacement part.
Tips
- When in doubt about a capacitor's markings, convert to microfarads (µF) first — it's the most commonly used unit in modern datasheets.
- Double-check mF vs. µF specifically, since it's the single most common capacitance-unit mix-up.