--- title: Metrics Units description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring. breadcrumbs: Docs > Metrics > Metrics Units --- # Metrics Units ## Overview{% #overview %} Metric units are displayed in places such as on timeseries graphs, query value widgets, and top lists. {% image source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/redis_dash_metrics_units.64bd5d1b9ac9b11f5dc927a0408396bf.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/redis_dash_metrics_units.64bd5d1b9ac9b11f5dc927a0408396bf.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x" alt="Redis dash metric units" /%} On timeseries graphs, you can hover your cursor over any graph to see the relevant units. Units must be specified manually, but if no unit is set, order-of-magnitude notation (for example: K, M, and G for thousands, millions, and billions, respectively) is used. If a unit is set, the raw data is automatically converted to readable display units using their relevant orders of magnitude. For example, if you have a datapoint that is 3,000,000,000: - If you haven't specified a unit for this datapoint, "3G" is displayed. - If you specified this datapoint is in bytes, "3GB" is displayed. Click the full screen button on the top right-hand corner of the graph to see the units displayed at the bottom: {% image source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/metrics_units.edc9cd3a405a2557c0a4ba349f057fc9.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/metrics_units.edc9cd3a405a2557c0a4ba349f057fc9.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x" alt="The units of a metric graph in full screen mode" /%} On a metric graph, click on the context menu (three vertical dots) to find the **Metrics Info** option. This opens a panel with a description of the metric. Clicking on the metric name in this panel opens the metric in the metric summary page for further analysis or edits. {% image source="https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/metrics_info.49eaa83cb50e7ba3d963d843912fb3a4.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850 1x, https://docs.dd-static.net/images/metrics/units/metrics_info.49eaa83cb50e7ba3d963d843912fb3a4.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=850&dpr=2 2x" alt="The Metrics Info option from the expanded context menu (three vertical dots)" /%} To change a metric unit, navigate to the [metric summary](https://app.datadoghq.com/metric/summary) page and select a metric. Click **Edit** under **Metadata** and select a unit, such as `bit` or `byte` from the dropdown menu. ## Unit list{% #unit-list %} The following units may be associated with metrics submitted to Datadog: | type | unit(s) | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | BYTES | bit / byte (b) / kibibyte(KiB) / mebibyte (MiB) / gibibyte (GB) / tebibyte (TiB) / pebibyte (PiB) / exbibyte (EiB) | | TIME | nanosecond (ns) / microsecond (μs) / millisecond (ms) / second (s) / minute (min) / hour (hr) / day / week (wk) | | PERCENTAGE | percent_nano (n%) / percent (%) / apdex / fraction | | NETWORK | connection (conn) / request (req) / packet (pkt) / segment (seg) / response (rsp) / message (msg) / payload / timeout / datagram / route / session / hop | | SYSTEM | process (proc) / thread / host / node / fault / service (svc) / instance / cpu | | DISK | file / inode / sector / block (blk) | | GENERAL | buffer / error (err) / read (rd) / write (wr) / occurrence / event / time / unit / operation (op) / item / task / worker / resource (res) / garbage collection (gc) / email / sample (smpl) / stage / monitor / location / check / attempt / device (dev) / update (up) / method (mthd) / job / container / execution / throttle / invocation / user / success / build / prediction / exception | | DB | table / index (idx) / lock / transaction (tx) / query / row / key / command (cmd) / offset / record / object / cursor / assertion (assert) / scan / document / shard / flush / merge / refresh / fetch / column (col) / commit / wait / ticket / question | | CACHE | hit / miss / eviction / get / set | | MONEY | dollar ($) / cent (¢) / microdollar (μ$) / euro (€) / pound (£) / pence (p) / yen (¥) | | MEMORY | page (pg) / split | | FREQUENCY | hertz (Hz) / kilohertz (kHz) / megahertz (MHz) / gigahertz (GHz) | | LOGGING | entry | | TEMPERATURE | decidegree celsius (d°C) / degree celsius (°C) / degree fahrenheit (°F) | | CPU | nanocore (ncores) / microcore (μcores) / millicore (mcores) / core / kilocore (Kcores) / megacore (Mcores) / gigacore (Gcores) / teracore (Tcores) / petacore (Pcores) / exacore (Ecores) | | POWER | nanowatt (nW) / microwatt (μW) / milliwatt (mW) / deciwatt (dW) / watt / kilowatt / megawatt / gigawatt / terrawatt | | CURRENT | milliampere (mA) / ampere (A) | | POTENTIAL | millivolt (mV) / volt (V) | | APM | span | | SYNTHETICS | run / step | ## Number formatting{% #number-formatting %} ### Unitless formatting{% #unitless-formatting %} For unitless metrics, Datadog uses the [SI prefixes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix#List_of_SI_prefixes) `K`, `M`, `G`, and `T`. After `T`, numbers are converted to exponential notation, which is also used for tiny numbers. By default, Datadog rounds to two decimal places. For exponential notation, the default is zero decimal places. #### Examples{% #examples %} | Raw value | Formatted | | ---------------------- | --------- | | 1 | 1 | | 2.7182818284 | 2.72 | | 1337 | 1.34K | | 31536000 | 31.54M | | 4294967296 | 4.29G | | 18446744073709552000 | 2e19 | | 0.001 | 1e-3 | | 2.3283064365386963e-10 | 2e-10 | | invalid | N/A | ### Unit handling{% #unit-handling %} Units are automatically formatted on your graphs for readability. To customize how your units are labeled, see [Customize your visualizations with unit override](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dashboards/guide/unit-override.md). #### Examples{% #examples-1 %} | Unit | Family | Raw Value | Formatted | | ---------- | --------- | -------------------- | ------------ | | byte | bytes | 1 | 1 B | | kibibyte | bytes | 1234235 | 1.18 GiB | | kibibyte | bytes | 45457878236741230000 | 40374.71 EiB | | hertz | frequency | 6345223 | 6.35 MHz | | cent | money | 1337 | 13.37 $ | | nanosecond | time | 0 | 0s | | second | time | 0.03212 | 32.12ms | ### Time formatting{% #time-formatting %} Time units between a minute and a year are split into multiple units to be more human-readable. The following conventions apply: - Short times are formatted in decimal form. - The smallest time unit is nanoseconds. - Long times are formatted as days in decimal form. #### Examples{% #examples-2 %} | Raw seconds | Formatted | | ----------- | ----------------------- | | 0.00123 | 1.23ms | | 0.00012345 | 123.45μs (microseconds) | | 1.2345e-9 | 1.23ns | | 95 | 1m 35s | | 3671 | 1h 1m | | 86390 | 1d | | 96400 | 1d 3h | | 52596400 | 608.75 days | ## Further Reading{% #further-reading %} - [Visualize your data to gain insight](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dashboards.md) - [Customize your visualizations with unit override](https://docs.datadoghq.com/dashboards/guide/unit-override.md)