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Data Storage Converter

Convert between bits, bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, and binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB)

From
To
Result
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Enter a value to convert
Megabytes
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Terabytes
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Gibibytes
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Bits
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All Units Relative to 1 Byte
UnitSymbolIn Bytes1 Byte =
Decimal (SI) vs Binary (IEC) Units
Decimal (SI) — Powers of 1,000
1 KB = 1,000 B | 1 MB = 1,000² B | 1 GB = 1,000³ B
Binary (IEC) — Powers of 1,024
1 KiB = 1,024 B | 1 MiB = 1,024² B | 1 GiB = 1,024³ B
Bit ↔ Byte
1 Byte = 8 bits | 1 bit = 0.125 bytes
GB vs GiB
1 GB = 1,000,000,000 B | 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 B (≈7.37% larger)
Why they differ
Hard drives use decimal (GB), OS reports binary (GiB) — causing the "missing space" mystery

Real-World Reference

📧Plain Text Email~5 KB = 5,120 bytes
📷Photo (JPEG)~4 MB = 4,096 KB
🎵MP3 Song~6 MB = 6,144 KB
🎬HD Movie~4 GB = 4,096 MB
💾SSD Drive1 TB = 1,024 GB
☁️Data Center Rack~1 PB = 1,024 TB

Quick Conversion Table

GBMBContext
0.001 GB1 MBSingle photo
0.1 GB100 MBApp download
1 GB1,024 MB~200 photos
8 GB8,192 MBUSB flash drive
32 GB32,768 MBEntry phone storage
256 GB262,144 MBModern smartphone
1 TB1,048,576 MBLaptop SSD
4 TB4,194,304 MBDesktop hard drive

How to Use This Calculator

1

Choose the Source Unit

Pick the data-size unit you are converting from—bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and so on.

2

Enter the Amount

Type the numeric value you want to convert.

3

View the Conversion

The result displays in your chosen target unit, using either binary (1024-based) or decimal (1000-based) prefixes.

Formula & Methodology

Bytes to Bits

bits = bytes × 8

Each byte consists of eight bits, the fundamental unit of digital information.

Gigabytes to Megabytes (Binary)

MB = GB × 1024

In the binary convention used by operating systems, one gibibyte equals 1,024 mebibytes.

Terabytes to Gigabytes (Decimal)

GB = TB × 1000

Drive manufacturers use the decimal (SI) convention where 1 TB equals 1,000 GB.

About this calculation · Accuracy & Methodology

Key Terms

Bit
The smallest unit of data, representing a single binary value of 0 or 1.
Byte (B)
A group of 8 bits; enough to store a single ASCII character.
Kilobyte (KB)
1,000 bytes (SI) or 1,024 bytes (binary/KiB), roughly the size of a short text file.
Gigabyte (GB)
Approximately one billion bytes; a typical HD movie is 4–5 GB.
Petabyte (PB)
One quadrillion bytes; large cloud providers store data at the petabyte scale.

Real-World Examples

Example 1

Photo Library

256 GB

274,877,906,944 bytes (binary) — enough for roughly 64,000 high-resolution photos

Example 2

Internet Speed

100 Mbps

12.5 MB/s — megabits per second divided by 8 gives megabytes per second

Data Storage Unit Scale

UnitBytes (Decimal)Bytes (Binary)Example
1 KB1,0001,024Short email
1 MB1,000,0001,048,576A high-res photo
1 GB10&sup91,073,741,824HD movie episode
1 TB10¹²1,099,511,627,776Large external drive
1 PB10¹&sup51,125,899,906,842,624Enterprise data warehouse

Binary vs. Decimal: Why Your Drive Seems Smaller

The Two Counting Systems

Storage manufacturers label drives using SI (decimal) prefixes where 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. Operating systems, however, count in binary where 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. This discrepancy means a drive advertised as 1 TB shows roughly 931 GiB in your file manager. Neither side is wrong; they simply use different base systems.

Practical Implications

The gap widens with larger drives. A 4 TB drive appears as about 3.63 TiB. When planning storage for backups or media servers, always budget using the binary figure your OS reports. For network speeds, remember that ISPs quote megabits (Mb) while downloads display megabytes (MB)—divide by eight to reconcile the two.