Digital storage
How to convert data storage
Data storage conversions depend on two choices: bits or bytes, and decimal or binary prefixes. Reading the unit symbol carefully prevents most errors.
Open the data storage converterBits and bytes are different
8 bits = 1 byte
A lowercase b normally means bits, while uppercase B means bytes. To convert bits to bytes, divide by 8. To convert bytes to bits, multiply by 8. For example, 80 megabits equals 10 megabytes before any prefix-system conversion.
Decimal and binary prefixes
Decimal units use powers of 1,000: 1 kB = 1,000 B, 1 MB = 1,000,000 B, and 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 B. Binary units use powers of 1,024: 1 KiB = 1,024 B, 1 MiB = 1,048,576 B, and 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 B.
As a result, 1 GiB equals 1.073741824 GB, and 1 GB equals about 0.931323 GiB.
Why the displayed capacity can differ
Storage vendors commonly state capacity in decimal GB or TB, while some operating systems report binary quantities using familiar decimal labels. A 500 GB drive contains 500,000,000,000 bytes, which is about 465.66 GiB. The bytes did not disappear; the scale changed.
Choose the unit before calculating
- Preserve capitalization when copying a specification.
- Use KiB, MiB, and GiB when you mean powers of 1,024.
- Convert through bytes when comparing unlike prefixes.
Convert with ToolPixels
The free Data Storage Converter converts the supported units in your browser. Enter a value, choose the source and target units, select the needed precision, and review the displayed formula before using the result.