Data Storage Converter
Convert between any two byte units in your browser — instant, accurate, and private.
Example
1 bit = 0.125 B. Switch the unit menus to convert between any pair.
How it works
Every value is converted through a single byte base unit using internationally defined conversion factors, so any from/to pair stays consistent.
Good to know
Data storage conversion comes up constantly in everyday computing: checking whether a 4 GB video will fit on a thumb drive, working out how many photos a 256 GB phone really holds, estimating cloud backup costs, or reading a download speed quoted in megabits versus a file size quoted in megabytes. Because this tool spans bits and bytes all the way from a single Bit up to the Tebibyte, it lets you move between the small units that describe network throughput and the large units that describe disks and archives in one step.
The tricky part is that two different families of units share confusingly similar names. The decimal (SI) units — kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte and so on — are defined in powers of 1,000, and are what hard-drive and SSD makers print on the box. The binary (IEC) units — kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, tebibyte — are defined in powers of 1,024, and are what most operating systems actually use when they report "free space." So a "1 TB" drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes by the maker's decimal definition, but your computer measures that same drive in binary and shows roughly 931 GiB.
A useful rule of thumb for the bit-versus-byte side: there are 8 bits in a byte, so divide a bit figure by 8 (or a byte figure multiply by 8). To translate between the decimal and binary families, the gap compounds about 2.4% per step — roughly 2% at kilo, 5% at mega, 7% at giga, and almost 10% at tera. That is why a 1 TB drive "loses" about 7 to 9 percent of its advertised capacity once your OS displays it.
The most common mistake is mixing the families without noticing — treating a gibibyte as if it were a gigabyte, or dividing a megabit internet speed by 1,024 instead of 8 to get megabytes. When in doubt, watch the spelling: an "i" in the middle (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) always means the power-of-1,024 binary unit, while the plain names (KB, MB, GB, TB) mean the power-of-1,000 decimal unit.
Frequently asked questions
What does the data storage converter do?
It converts between common byte units instantly. Pick a unit to convert from and a unit to convert to, type a value, and the result updates live.
Which units does this converter support?
It includes 11 units: Bit, Byte, Kilobyte, Megabyte, Gigabyte, Terabyte, Petabyte, Kibibyte, Mebibyte, Gibibyte, Tebibyte.
Is this converter free and private?
Yes. It runs entirely in your browser, so your inputs never leave your device, there is no sign-up, and it works offline once loaded.
Are the conversions exact?
Conversions use internationally defined factors and are exact where the definitions are exact (for example, 1 inch = 2.54 cm). Displayed results are rounded for readability.
People also ask
How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?
In decimal (SI) terms, 1 gigabyte equals 1,000 megabytes. In binary terms, 1 gibibyte (GiB) equals 1,024 mebibytes (MiB), which is what your operating system usually means.
Why does my 1 TB hard drive only show about 931 GB?
The manufacturer advertises 1 TB as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (decimal), but your OS measures in binary and divides by 1,024 three times, giving about 931 GiB. No space is missing — it is just two different definitions of the same bytes.
What is the difference between a megabyte (MB) and a mebibyte (MiB)?
A megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes (decimal), while a mebibyte is 1,048,576 bytes (1,024 x 1,024, binary). A mebibyte is about 4.9% larger than a megabyte.
How many bits are in a byte?
There are 8 bits in 1 byte. So 1 byte = 8 bits, and to convert bits to bytes you divide by 8.
Is internet speed measured in megabytes or megabits?
Internet speed is almost always quoted in megabits per second (Mbps), not megabytes. To estimate the download speed in megabytes per second, divide the Mbps figure by 8 — so a 100 Mbps connection delivers about 12.5 MB/s.
How many gigabytes are in a terabyte?
1 terabyte equals 1,000 gigabytes in decimal units. In binary units, 1 tebibyte (TiB) equals 1,024 gibibytes (GiB).
What is a petabyte and how big is it?
A petabyte (PB) is 1,000 terabytes, or 1,000,000 gigabytes, in decimal units. It is large enough to hold roughly 250 million typical 4 MB photos.
Should I use KB or KiB when calculating file sizes?
Use KB (1,000 bytes) for storage marketing, transfer rates, and most everyday quoting, and KiB (1,024 bytes) when matching what an operating system or memory module reports. Mixing them causes errors of about 2.4% per unit step.
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