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ToolBoxGenie

Data Storage Converter

Converters · Added 9 August 2026

Convert file and storage sizes across decimal and binary unit families, so a gigabyte and a gibibyte never get quietly confused.

Result

1 MB in gigabyte

0.001 GB

1 MB = 0.001 GB

The same value in every unit

Bit (bit)
8,000,000
Byte (B)
1,000,000
Kilobyte (KB)
1,000
Megabyte (MB)
1
Gigabyte (GB)
0.001
Terabyte (TB)
0.000001
Petabyte (PB)
1.0000e-9
Kibibyte (KiB)
976.5625
Mebibyte (MiB)
0.953674316
Gibibyte (GiB)
0.000931322575
Tebibyte (TiB)
9.0949e-7

Decimal units step by 1,000; binary units step by 1,024. Drive manufacturers sell decimal gigabytes while operating systems often report binary gibibytes, which is the whole reason a “1 TB” disk shows up as about 931 GB.

How to use the data storage converter

  1. 1Enter the size you want to convert.
  2. 2Choose its unit. The dropdown separates decimal SI units (KB, MB, GB) from binary IEC units (KiB, MiB, GiB) — picking the right family is the whole point of this tool.
  3. 3Select the target unit and read the result, with every other unit listed underneath.
  4. 4Copy result puts the conversion on your clipboard in a readable one-line form.

Examples

The missing space on a new drive

Input
1 terabyte (decimal TB)
Result
931.322575 gibibytes

This is why a drive sold as 1 TB shows as roughly 931 GB in Windows — the OS is reporting gibibytes but labelling them GB.

A video file

Input
4,500 megabytes
Result
4.5 gigabytes

Within the decimal family the steps are a clean 1,000, so these conversions are just a decimal point move.

Bandwidth versus file size

Input
100 megabytes
Result
800 megabits

Connection speeds are quoted in bits per second, files in bytes. The factor of 8 between them is why a 100 Mbps line downloads at about 12.5 MB/s at best.

About the data storage converter

Two counting systems wearing the same labels

Computers address memory in powers of two, so 1024 was a natural place to put a 'kilo'. The SI prefix kilo had already meant 1,000 for a century, and for small sizes the 2.4% discrepancy was easy to ignore. It stopped being ignorable as sizes grew: at kilobytes the error is 2.4%, at megabytes 4.9%, at gigabytes 7.4%, and at terabytes 10%.

The IEC introduced unambiguous binary prefixes in 1998 — kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi — precisely so that KiB and GiB could mean the power-of-two versions while KB and GB kept their SI meanings. Storage vendors adopted decimal units; operating systems largely did not adopt the new binary labels. The confusion is entirely a labelling failure, not a technical one.

Where the distinction actually costs you

Capacity planning is the common case. Provisioning storage for '500 GB of data' means something different depending on which unit the source figure used, and at scale the 7.4% gap becomes real money or a real shortfall.

The other is estimating transfer times. A file size in bytes divided by a connection speed in bits gives an answer eight times too optimistic. Convert one side before dividing: a 1 GB file over a 100 Mbps connection takes at least 80 seconds, not 10.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between GB and GiB?
A gigabyte (GB) is 1,000,000,000 bytes — a decimal unit. A gibibyte (GiB) is 1,073,741,824 bytes, which is 1024³ — a binary unit. GiB is about 7.4% larger, and the gap widens with every step up the scale: at the terabyte level it is nearly 10%.
Why does my 1 TB drive show as 931 GB?
The manufacturer sells you 1,000,000,000,000 decimal bytes, which is honest. Windows then divides by 1024 three times and displays the result with a 'GB' label, when it is really showing gibibytes. Nothing is missing — the two are just counting in different bases and using the same abbreviation.
Which family should I use?
Use decimal units for storage capacity, network speeds and anything a vendor advertises. Use binary units for RAM, and for file sizes as reported by Windows and most Linux tools. macOS has reported decimal units since 2009, which is why the same file can appear to change size between operating systems.
Why is a byte 8 bits?
It is a convention that hardened into a standard. Eight bits gives 256 distinct values, enough for a character set with room to spare, and it divides neatly into the power-of-two word sizes processors use. The distinction matters in practice because network speeds are quoted in bits and file sizes in bytes — a factor of 8 apart.

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