Digital Storage Converter
Convert file sizes, storage capacity and data amounts between bits, bytes and their multiples. Both the decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) conventions are available, clearly separated in the unit list.
megabytes
1 GB = 1,000 MB
Popular data size conversions
Units in this converter
| Unit | Symbol | Equals (in bits) |
|---|---|---|
| Bit | bit | 1 bit |
| Byte | B | 8 bit |
| Kilobyte | kB | 8,000 bit |
| Megabyte | MB | 8,000,000 bit |
| Gigabyte | GB | 8,000,000,000 bit |
| Terabyte | TB | 8,000,000,000,000 bit |
| Petabyte | PB | 8,000,000,000,000,000 bit |
| Kibibyte | KiB | 8,192 bit |
| Mebibyte | MiB | 8,388,608 bit |
| Gibibyte | GiB | 8,589,934,592 bit |
| Tebibyte | TiB | 8,796,093,022,210 bit |
| Pebibyte | PiB | 9,007,199,254,740,000 bit |
Decimal vs binary units
Decimal units multiply by 1,000: 1 kB = 1,000 bytes, 1 MB = 1,000 kB, 1 GB = 1,000 MB. This is the SI convention, used by storage manufacturers, macOS and network speeds.
Binary units multiply by 1,024: 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1,024 KiB, 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB. Windows and RAM sizes use these binary amounts, but often label them KB, MB and GB, which causes the familiar “missing space” on new drives.
On Zunqari, kB, MB, GB, TB and PB always mean decimal units. Use KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB and PiB for binary amounts.
About the units
- Bit (bit)
- A bit is the smallest unit of digital information: a single 0 or 1. Internet and network speeds are measured in bits per second, such as 100 Mbps.
- Byte (B)
- A byte is 8 bits. File sizes, memory and storage capacity are all measured in bytes and their multiples.
- Kilobyte (kB)
- A kilobyte (kB) is 1,000 bytes under the SI decimal convention used on this site. Some software uses "KB" for 1,024 bytes; that size is properly called a kibibyte (KiB).
- Megabyte (MB)
- A megabyte (MB) is 1,000,000 bytes, or 1,000 kilobytes, under the decimal convention.
- Gigabyte (GB)
- A gigabyte (GB) is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Drive and phone manufacturers use this decimal gigabyte, while Windows reports sizes in binary units but labels them "GB". That is why a 1 TB drive shows up as about 931 GB.
- Terabyte (TB)
- A terabyte (TB) is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, or 1,000 gigabytes. It is the usual unit for hard drive and SSD capacity.
- Petabyte (PB)
- A petabyte (PB) is 10¹⁵ bytes, or 1,000 terabytes. Data centers and large archives are measured in petabytes.
- Kibibyte (KiB)
- A kibibyte (KiB) is 1,024 bytes. The binary prefixes kibi, mebi and gibi were standardized by the IEC in 1998 to end confusion with decimal kilo, mega and giga.
- Mebibyte (MiB)
- A mebibyte (MiB) is 1,024 KiB, or 1,048,576 bytes. It is about 4.9% larger than a decimal megabyte.
- Gibibyte (GiB)
- A gibibyte (GiB) is 1,024 MiB, or 1,073,741,824 bytes, about 7.4% more than a decimal gigabyte. Computer memory (RAM) comes in binary sizes such as 16 GiB, usually marketed as "16 GB".
- Tebibyte (TiB)
- A tebibyte (TiB) is 1,024 GiB, or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, about 10% more than a decimal terabyte.
- Pebibyte (PiB)
- A pebibyte (PiB) is 1,024 TiB, or 2⁵⁰ bytes, about 12.6% more than a decimal petabyte.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my 1 TB drive show about 931 GB?
The drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (decimal). Windows divides by 1,024³ instead of 1,000³ and still labels the result GB, so it shows 931 “GB”, which is really 931 GiB.
How many bits are in a byte?
Eight. This is why a 100 Mbps internet connection downloads at most 12.5 megabytes per second.