mL to Liters Converter
Convert milliliters to liters (mL to L) by moving the decimal point
1 milliliter = 0.001 liters, and 1,000 mL = 1 L. To convert mL to liters, divide by 1,000.
Milliliters to Liters converter
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How to convert milliliters to liters
The prefix milli means one thousandth, so a milliliter is 1/1,000 of a liter. Dividing by 1,000 is the same as moving the decimal point three places to the left: 750 mL becomes 0.750 L, 2,500 mL becomes 2.5 L and 45 mL becomes 0.045 L. Add leading zeros when you run out of digits. Cubic meters, gallons, cups and every other volume unit are on the volume converter.
The usual error is moving the decimal the wrong way or only two places. A quick check: liters are the bigger unit, so the number of liters must always be smaller. Another source of confusion is the decimal comma. Much of Europe writes 1,5 L for one and a half liters, while the US writes 1.5 L and uses the comma to group thousands, as in 1,500 mL. Check which convention a label follows before converting. For US kitchen measures, the mL to cups converter is the better fit.
Why convert at all? Liters make large amounts easier to compare. A pack of six 500 mL bottles is 3 L, a 1,750 mL bottle is 1.75 L, and a car's 4,500 mL oil capacity reads more naturally as 4.5 L. Product labels switch between the two freely, so converting both prices to a per-liter figure is also the simplest way to compare value on a store shelf.
Step by step
- Take the volume in milliliters.
- Divide by 1,000 (move the decimal point three places left).
- Write the result in liters, adding leading zeros if needed (45 mL = 0.045 L).
See it on a scale
Worked examples
A 250 mL glass, a 750 mL wine bottle and a 1,750 mL spirits bottle.
250 mL ÷ 1,000 = 0.25 L
= 0.25 L
750 mL ÷ 1,000 = 0.75 L
= 0.75 L
1,750 mL ÷ 1,000 = 1.75 L
= 1.75 L
Is it liter or litre?
Both spellings are correct and name the same 1,000 mL unit: liter is the American spelling used by NIST, and litre is the spelling of British English and of the BIPM's SI Brochure.
The split carries through to every prefixed unit, so milliliter and millilitre, or centiliter and centilitre, are interchangeable. Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK write litre; US product labels and US government documents write liter.
The spelling never changes the symbol or the value. A bottle marked 500 mL holds 0.5 L whichever way the word is spelled, and 1 L is 1,000 mL on both sides of the Atlantic. The meter follows the same pattern (meter and metre), so a document that uses one American spelling should use the other as well, and the same goes for the British forms.
Why is liter written with a capital L?
A capital L is allowed because a lowercase l looks almost identical to the digit 1; the CGPM approved L as an alternative symbol for the liter in 1979, and NIST recommends it in the United States.
The liter is an exception to the usual rule. SI symbols are normally capitalized only when a unit is named after a person, as with N for the newton or W for the watt, and the liter is not. It kept both symbols because 1 l on a label or a prescription is too easy to misread as 11.
Two related points often cause doubt. The script ℓ that appears on some packaging is not an approved symbol, so avoid it in anything formal. For milliliters, both mL and ml are accepted internationally, but mL is the standard form on US labels and in US medicine, and it is the form this page uses.
How many mL of liquid can you take on a plane?
In US carry-on bags, each liquid container can hold at most 3.4 fl oz (100 mL), and all of them must fit in one quart-size bag, under the TSA's 3-1-1 rule.
The numbers stand for 3.4 ounces per container, 1 quart-size bag and 1 bag per passenger. 100 mL is exactly 0.1 L, or 3.3814 US fl oz, which the TSA rounds to 3.4 oz. The size printed on the container is what counts, not the amount left inside, so a half-empty 200 mL bottle is still too big.
A US quart is 0.946 L, so the whole bag holds a little under a liter. Most other countries use the same 100 mL limit with a bag of about 1 L, but rules at airports with newer CT scanners have been changing, so check your departure airport before you pack. Medicines and baby formula are allowed in larger amounts, but declare them at screening.
mL to liters conversion chart
Milliliter amounts from a single dose to a 10 liter container, converted to liters. Every value is exact.
| Milliliters (mL) | Liters (L) |
|---|---|
| 1 mL | 0.001 L |
| 5 mL | 0.005 L |
| 10 mL | 0.01 L |
| 25 mL | 0.025 L |
| 50 mL | 0.05 L |
| 100 mL | 0.1 L |
| 150 mL | 0.15 L |
| 200 mL | 0.2 L |
| 250 mL | 0.25 L |
| 300 mL | 0.3 L |
| 330 mL | 0.33 L |
| 355 mL | 0.355 L |
| 400 mL | 0.4 L |
| 450 mL | 0.45 L |
| 500 mL | 0.5 L |
| 600 mL | 0.6 L |
| 700 mL | 0.7 L |
| 750 mL | 0.75 L |
| 800 mL | 0.8 L |
| 900 mL | 0.9 L |
| 1,000 mL | 1 L |
| 1,250 mL | 1.25 L |
| 1,500 mL | 1.5 L |
| 1,750 mL | 1.75 L |
| 2,000 mL | 2 L |
| 2,500 mL | 2.5 L |
| 3,000 mL | 3 L |
| 4,000 mL | 4 L |
| 5,000 mL | 5 L |
| 10,000 mL | 10 L |
Milliliters vs liters: when is each unit used?
Both are metric units of volume from the same system, so the difference is purely one of scale: a factor of exactly 1,000.
| Attribute | Milliliters | Liters |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol | mL | L |
| System | Metric | Metric |
| Defined as | 0.001 L | 1 L (0.001 m³) |
| One unit equals | 0.001 L | 1,000 mL |
| Equal to | 1 cm³, a cube 1 cm on each side | 1 dm³, a cube 10 cm on each side |
| Water at about 4 °C weighs | About 1 g | About 1 kg |
| Typical uses | Medicine doses, cosmetics, cans and bottles under 1 L, lab work | Bottled drinks, fuel, engine displacement, appliance and tank capacities |
| Measured with | Syringes, pipettes, dosing cups and small jugs | Measuring jugs, bottles, fuel pumps and flow meters |
| Everyday examples | 5 mL spoon, 330 mL can, 750 mL wine bottle | 1 L carton, 2 L soda bottle, 50 L fuel tank |
4 key differences
- A liter is exactly 1,000 milliliters, so converting between them only moves the decimal point three places.
- Both units rest on the same definition, the cubic decimeter, which is why the factor is exact and never needs rounding.
- Many labels show milliliters below one liter and liters above it, so a single product line can use both units.
- European drink bottles often add a third unit between the two, the centiliter, so a 750 mL bottle may read 75 cL.
Bottle, can and container sizes in liters
Drinks, toiletries and medicines are labelled in milliliters worldwide, and in the US often in fluid ounces too. Fluid ounces here are US fl oz of 29.5735 mL.
| Milliliters | Liters | US fl oz | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 mL | 0.005 L | 0.17 fl oz | Medicine dose spoon |
| 15 mL | 0.015 L | 0.51 fl oz | Tablespoon (about 14.8 mL) |
| 50 mL | 0.05 L | 1.69 fl oz | Miniature spirits bottle |
| 100 mL | 0.1 L | 3.38 fl oz | Carry-on liquids limit per container |
| 330 mL | 0.33 L | 11.16 fl oz | Standard European can |
| 355 mL | 0.355 L | 12 fl oz | US 12 fl oz can (354.9 mL) |
| 500 mL | 0.5 L | 16.91 fl oz | Water bottle |
| 750 mL | 0.75 L | 25.36 fl oz | Wine bottle |
| 1,000 mL | 1 L | 33.81 fl oz | One liter carton |
| 1,500 mL | 1.5 L | 50.72 fl oz | Magnum wine bottle |
| 1,750 mL | 1.75 L | 59.17 fl oz | Spirits “handle” |
| 2,000 mL | 2 L | 67.63 fl oz | Large soda bottle |
Metric volume prefixes: mL, cL, dL and L
Metric volume units differ by powers of ten. European bottles often use centiliters (75 cL = 750 mL), and Nordic recipes use deciliters (1 dL = 100 mL).
| Unit | Symbol | In liters | In milliliters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milliliter | mL | 0.001 L | 1 mL |
| Centiliter | cL | 0.01 L | 10 mL |
| Deciliter | dL | 0.1 L | 100 mL |
| Liter | L | 1 L | 1,000 mL |
| Cubic meter | m³ | 1,000 L | 1,000,000 mL |
How is a liter defined?
A liter is defined as exactly one cubic decimeter, a cube 10 cm on each side, a definition the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) fixed in 1964. Split that cube into 1 cm cubes and you get 10 × 10 × 10 = 1,000 of them, so 1 mL = 1 cm³ = 1 cc. That is why doctors, pharmacists and engine makers use cc and mL interchangeably: a 5 cc syringe holds 5 mL, and a 1,600 cc engine displaces 1.6 L.
A liter of water also has a mass of almost exactly 1 kilogram, so 500 mL of water weighs about 500 g. This handy link holds only for water and water-like liquids; oil is lighter and honey is heavier. To turn that weight into pounds, use the kg to lbs converter.
From liters up to cubic meters
For bigger volumes, 1,000 L = 1 m³. A bathtub might hold 150–200 L (0.15–0.2 m³), and water utilities in many countries bill per cubic meter. For cubic feet and cubic yards on building projects, the cubic feet to cubic yards converter takes over.
What are the most common mL and liter mistakes?
Confusing mL with mg, dropping a zero and treating a quart as a liter cause most real-world errors. Here is how to avoid each one:
- Confusing mL and mg. Milliliters measure volume; milligrams measure mass. They match only for water. A 5 mL dose of medicine is not 5 mg of the active ingredient.
- Dropping zeros. 50 mL is 0.05 L, not 0.5 L. Count three places.
- Treating a quart as a liter. A US quart is 0.946 L, about 5.4% short of a liter, so a recipe that swaps one for the other drifts.
- Mixing in spoons. A US tablespoon is 14.79 mL and a metric one is 15 mL; see the tablespoons to teaspoons converter for spoon math.
For large drink or fuel amounts in US units, continue with the liters to gallons converter.
Sources and further reading
The standards and references behind the numbers on this page. Links open in a new tab.
Standards and official sources
Further reading
- LiterWikipedia
mL to liters FAQs
Short, exact answers to what people ask most.
How many mL are in a liter?
There are exactly 1,000 milliliters in one liter.
How do I convert mL to liters?
Divide the milliliters by 1,000, or move the decimal point three places to the left. For example, 350 mL is 0.35 L.
Is 500 mL half a liter?
Yes. 500 mL is exactly 0.5 liters, half of 1,000 mL.
How many liters is 750 mL?
750 mL is 0.75 liters, the size of a standard wine bottle.
Is 1 mL the same as 1 cc?
Yes. One milliliter equals one cubic centimeter (cc or cm³) exactly, because a liter is defined as one cubic decimeter.
How many mL is 2 liters?
2 liters is 2,000 milliliters. To go from liters to mL, multiply by 1,000.
How many liters is 1,500 mL?
1,500 mL is exactly 1.5 liters, the size of a magnum wine bottle or a large water bottle.
What is 330 mL in liters?
330 mL is 0.33 liters, the volume of a standard European drinks can. In US measure it is about 11.16 fl oz.
Related conversions
Liter as one cubic decimeter (12th CGPM, 1964), the symbol L (16th CGPM, 1979) and SI prefixes from the BIPM SI Brochure and NIST SP 811; US fluid ounce and quart from NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C; carry-on liquid limits from the TSA 3-1-1 rule. Last updated . How we verify our numbers.