diff --git a/dvc/remote/azure.py b/dvc/remote/azure.py
index c8dcd9777..2527b66ba 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/azure.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/azure.py
@@ -115,7 +115,9 @@ class RemoteAZURE(RemoteBASE):
     def _upload(
         self, from_file, to_info, name=None, no_progress_bar=False, **_kwargs
     ):
-        with Tqdm(desc_truncate=name, disable=no_progress_bar) as pbar:
+        with Tqdm(
+            desc_truncate=name, disable=no_progress_bar, bytes=True
+        ) as pbar:
             self.blob_service.create_blob_from_path(
                 to_info.bucket,
                 to_info.path,
@@ -126,7 +128,9 @@ class RemoteAZURE(RemoteBASE):
     def _download(
         self, from_info, to_file, name=None, no_progress_bar=False, **_kwargs
     ):
-        with Tqdm(desc_truncate=name, disable=no_progress_bar) as pbar:
+        with Tqdm(
+            desc_truncate=name, disable=no_progress_bar, bytes=True
+        ) as pbar:
             self.blob_service.get_blob_to_path(
                 from_info.bucket,
                 from_info.path,
diff --git a/dvc/remote/base.py b/dvc/remote/base.py
index b73e24b89..6790a9a65 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/base.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/base.py
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ class RemoteBASE(object):
         if not self.no_traverse:
             return list(set(checksums) & set(self.all()))
 
-        with Tqdm(total=len(checksums)) as pbar:
+        with Tqdm(total=len(checksums), unit="md5") as pbar:
 
             def exists_with_progress(path_info):
                 ret = self.exists(path_info)
diff --git a/dvc/remote/local/__init__.py b/dvc/remote/local/__init__.py
index e0e0cb3d6..3c22cbda9 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/local/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/local/__init__.py
@@ -348,7 +348,9 @@ class RemoteLOCAL(RemoteBASE):
         cache = []
         path_infos = []
         names = []
-        for md5, info in Tqdm(status_info.items(), desc="Analysing status"):
+        for md5, info in Tqdm(
+            status_info.items(), desc="Analysing status", unit="file"
+        ):
             if info["status"] == status:
                 cache.append(self.checksum_to_path_info(md5))
                 path_infos.append(remote.checksum_to_path_info(md5))
@@ -539,7 +541,7 @@ class RemoteLOCAL(RemoteBASE):
     def _create_unpacked_dir(self, checksum, dir_info, unpacked_dir_info):
         self.makedirs(unpacked_dir_info)
 
-        for entry in Tqdm(dir_info, desc="Created unpacked dir"):
+        for entry in Tqdm(dir_info, desc="Creating unpacked dir", unit="dir"):
             entry_cache_info = self.checksum_to_path_info(
                 entry[self.PARAM_CHECKSUM]
             )
diff --git a/dvc/remote/ssh/__init__.py b/dvc/remote/ssh/__init__.py
index 826a68591..2e18c5f5e 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/ssh/__init__.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/ssh/__init__.py
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ class RemoteSSH(RemoteBASE):
         if not self.no_traverse:
             return list(set(checksums) & set(self.all()))
 
-        with Tqdm(total=len(checksums)) as pbar:
+        with Tqdm(total=len(checksums), unit="md5") as pbar:
 
             def exists_with_progress(chunks):
                 return self.batch_exists(chunks, callback=pbar.update_desc)
diff --git a/dvc/remote/ssh/connection.py b/dvc/remote/ssh/connection.py
index 7243b694f..fbb0c2b7b 100644
--- a/dvc/remote/ssh/connection.py
+++ b/dvc/remote/ssh/connection.py
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ class SSHConnection:
         with Tqdm(
             desc_truncate=progress_title or os.path.basename(src),
             disable=no_progress_bar,
+            bytes=True,
         ) as pbar:
             self.sftp.get(src, dest, callback=pbar.update_to)
 
@@ -185,7 +186,7 @@ class SSHConnection:
             progress_title = posixpath.basename(dest)
 
         with Tqdm(
-            desc_truncate=progress_title, disable=no_progress_bar
+            desc_truncate=progress_title, disable=no_progress_bar, bytes=True
         ) as pbar:
             self.sftp.put(src, tmp_file, callback=pbar.update_to)
 
diff --git a/dvc/repo/checkout.py b/dvc/repo/checkout.py
index 0ddbfc4d7..2b4d036aa 100644
--- a/dvc/repo/checkout.py
+++ b/dvc/repo/checkout.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ def checkout(self, target=None, with_deps=False, force=False, recursive=False):
 
     with self.state:
         _cleanup_unused_links(self, all_stages)
-        with Tqdm(total=get_all_files_numbers(stages)) as pbar:
+        with Tqdm(total=get_all_files_numbers(stages), unit="file") as pbar:
             for stage in stages:
                 if stage.locked:
                     logger.warning(