Data Converter

Two standards define data units: Decimal (SI) uses powers of 1,000 — 1 KB = 1,000 bytes. Binary (IEC) uses powers of 1,024 — 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes. The confusion between these standards is why a '1 TB' hard drive appears as ~931 GiB in Windows. Our converter shows both simultaneously.

1 byte = 8 bits. 1 KB = 1,000 bytes (decimal) or 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes (binary). 1 MB = 1,000 KB. 1 GB = 1,000 MB = 1 billion bytes. 1 TB = 1,000 GB = 1 trillion bytes. To convert Mbps to MB/s: divide by 8.

To convert bytes to larger units, divide by the appropriate power of 1,000 (decimal) or 1,024 (binary). In decimal (SI): 1 KB = 1,000 bytes, 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes, 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes, and 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. In the binary system standardized by IEC 80000-13, use powers of 1,024: 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes, and 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. So 5,000,000 bytes equals 5 MB (decimal) or roughly 4.77 MiB (binary). Always confirm which system your source uses before converting.

One byte equals exactly 8 bits, so to convert bits to bytes you divide by 8, and to convert bytes to bits you multiply by 8. The bit (binary digit) is the smallest unit of digital information, holding a single 0 or 1, while the byte is the smallest addressable unit of memory in most computer architectures. This 8:1 relationship is codified in the international standard ISO/IEC 80000-13, which the SI framework maintained by the BIPM references for information quantities. Network speeds are quoted in bits (Mbps), while file sizes are quoted in bytes (MB), so the factor of 8 matters when comparing them.

Divide megabits per second by 8 to get megabytes per second, because 1 byte = 8 bits. For example, a 100 Mbps connection delivers a maximum of 100 ÷ 8 = 12.5 MB/s, and a 1 Gbps (1,000 Mbps) link tops out near 125 MB/s. Internet and network throughput are advertised in decimal bits per second, following the SI convention used by the BIPM and referenced by IEEE networking standards. Real-world speeds run lower due to protocol overhead, congestion, and TCP/IP headers, so treat the divide-by-8 result as a theoretical ceiling rather than a guaranteed transfer rate.

A 1 TB drive shows about 931 GB in Windows because manufacturers advertise capacity in decimal units while Windows reports it in binary units labeled with decimal prefixes. The drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (1 TB decimal, per SI conventions), but Windows divides by 1,073,741,824 (1024³) to get roughly 931.32 GiB, then mislabels it as "GB." No space is missing — it is purely a difference in measurement systems. The IEC introduced the kibibyte, mebibyte, and gibibyte in standard IEC 80000-13 specifically to remove this ambiguity, though many operating systems still use the older decimal-prefix labels.

KiB (kibibyte), MiB (mebibyte), and GiB (gibibyte) are binary prefixes defined by the IEC where each step multiplies by 1,024 instead of 1,000. Specifically, 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes, and 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. The IEC introduced these prefixes in 1998 and formalized them in ISO/IEC 80000-13 to end the long-standing confusion between decimal kilobytes and binary "kilobytes." The SI system maintained by the BIPM reserves kilo-, mega-, and giga- strictly for powers of 1,000, so KiB/MiB/GiB give programmers and standards bodies an unambiguous way to express memory and RAM capacities that are naturally powers of two.

A data storage converter helps with everyday tasks like estimating cloud storage costs, planning backups, comparing hard drive and SSD capacities, and calculating file transfer times. Developers use it to size databases, allocate memory buffers, and interpret API payload limits, while IT teams convert between the decimal figures on datasheets and the binary figures reported by operating systems. Video editors estimate how many hours of 4K footage fit on a drive, and network engineers translate Mbps bandwidth into MB/s throughput. Because manufacturers follow SI decimal units and systems like Windows and Linux mix in IEC binary units, a converter that shows both prevents costly capacity miscalculations.

The most common mistake is mixing decimal and binary units — treating 1 GB as 1,073,741,824 bytes (the GiB value) instead of 1,000,000,000 bytes. Another frequent error is confusing bits and bytes: forgetting to divide network speeds in Mbps by 8 makes downloads appear eight times faster than reality. People also assume a formatted drive is defective when it shows less than the advertised capacity, when it is simply decimal-versus-binary reporting per IEC 80000-13. Finally, rounding too early compounds errors across large scales — always convert to bytes first, then to the target unit, and label results clearly as SI (KB) or IEC (KiB).

In the decimal (SI) system used by drive manufacturers and networks, 1 GB = 1,000 MB, so converting GB to MB means multiplying by 1,000 — for example, 4 GB = 4,000 MB. In the binary (IEC) system used by operating systems, 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB, so 4 GiB = 4,096 MiB. The SI prefixes giga- and mega- are strictly powers of 1,000 as defined by the BIPM, while the IEC gibi- and mebi- prefixes are powers of 1,024. Confirm which system a value uses before multiplying, because the choice changes the result by about 2.4% at each prefix step.

A terabyte (TB) equals 1,000 GB or 1,000,000,000,000 bytes in decimal, while a petabyte (PB) equals 1,000 TB or 10¹⁵ bytes — the next step up. In binary terms defined by IEC 80000-13, 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (1,024 GiB) and 1 PiB = 2⁵⁰ bytes (1,024 TiB). To visualize scale, a single terabyte can hold roughly 250,000 photos or 500 hours of HD video, and a petabyte is about 1,000 of those terabytes. These large-capacity prefixes follow the same SI decimal convention maintained by the BIPM, so multiply or divide by 1,000 to move between GB, TB, and PB.