Data Storage Converter
Convert between bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB and binary equivalents (KiB, MiB, GiB).
Examples
| Input | Result |
|---|---|
| 1 gigabyte (GB) | 1000 megabytes (MB) |
| 1 gibibyte (GiB) | 1024 mebibytes (MiB) |
| 1 terabyte (TB) | 931.323 gibibytes (GiB) |
| 500 megabytes (MB) | 476.837 mebibytes (MiB) |
About this tool
This converter handles both decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) data storage units. Decimal units (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) use powers of 1000, which is the standard used by drive manufacturers and network speeds. Binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) use powers of 1024, which matches how memory and operating systems actually address data.
The distinction between decimal and binary units matters more than most people realize. When you buy a 500 GB SSD, you get exactly 500,000,000,000 bytes. But your operating system reports that as roughly 465 GiB, because it divides by 1024 at each step instead of 1000. The IEC introduced the KiB/MiB/GiB notation in 1998 to clear up this confusion, but adoption has been slow. Windows still labels binary sizes as "GB", macOS switched to decimal "GB" in 2009, and Linux distros vary by distribution.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GB and GiB?
A gigabyte (GB) is 1,000,000,000 bytes (10^9), using the SI decimal definition. A gibibyte (GiB) is 1,073,741,824 bytes (2^30), using the binary definition. Operating systems often report sizes in GiB but label them "GB", which is why a "1 TB" drive shows up as about 931 GB in your OS.
Why does my hard drive show less space than advertised?
Drive manufacturers measure in decimal gigabytes (1 GB = 1 billion bytes), but most operating systems display sizes in binary gibibytes (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes). A 1 TB drive has 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, which is about 931 GiB.
How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?
In the SI (decimal) system, 1 GB = 1000 MB. In the binary system, 1 GiB = 1024 MiB. The difference between these two is about 7.4%.