About the Data Storage Converter
Convert between bits, bytes, and every common multiple — kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, petabytes, and beyond. Supports both the SI / decimal prefixes (1 KB = 1000 bytes) used by hard-drive and bandwidth marketing, and the IEC / binary prefixes (1 KiB = 1024 bytes) used by operating systems. Useful when sizing a database, comparing internet speeds, working out how many photos a memory card holds, or figuring out why your '500 GB' drive reports as 465 GB in Windows.
How to use it
- Choose the source unit (bit, byte, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB, or their binary counterparts).
- Choose the target unit.
- Type a number — the converted value appears instantly with full precision.
- Toggle between decimal (SI, base-1000) and binary (IEC, base-1024) prefixes if you need a specific one.
Common storage conversions
| 1 byte | 8 bits |
| 1 KB (decimal) | 1,000 bytes |
| 1 KiB (binary) | 1,024 bytes |
| 1 MB | 1,000 KB = 1,000,000 bytes |
| 1 MiB | 1,024 KiB = 1,048,576 bytes |
| 1 GB | 1,000 MB |
| 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 bytes (≈ 7.4% more than 1 GB) |
| 1 TB | 1,000 GB |
| 100 Mbps (megabit/s) | 12.5 MB/s download |
| 1 Gbps | 125 MB/s download |
Frequently asked questions
- Why does my '1 TB' hard drive show as ~931 GB in Windows?
- Drive manufacturers use the decimal terabyte (10¹² bytes = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes). Windows shows storage in binary tebibytes labelled 'TB' (2⁴⁰ bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes). The hardware really does contain 1,000,000,000,000 bytes — that's just about 931 of Windows's bigger 'gigabytes'.
- Are bits and bytes interchangeable?
- No. One byte is eight bits. Internet speeds are quoted in megabits per second (Mbps); file sizes are quoted in megabytes (MB). A 100 Mbps connection downloads at about 12.5 MB/s — eight times slower than the headline number suggests if you confuse the two.
- Should I use SI or IEC prefixes?
- For storage media, networks, and consumer marketing, SI (1 KB = 1000 B) is the convention. For RAM and operating-system file sizes, IEC binary (1 KiB = 1024 B) is closer to reality. Mixing them is the single most common source of 'where did my space go?' confusion.
Related tools
- Number Base — Binary, octal, decimal, hexadecimal.
- Unit Converter — Length, weight, temperature, volume, area, and speed.
- Calculator — Everyday arithmetic with a running history.