💾 Data Storage Converter
Convert between bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, and PB in both binary (1024-based) and decimal (1000-based) systems.
Quick Reference
Understanding Data Storage Units
Data storage uses two measurement systems: decimal (base-10, used by storage manufacturers) and binary (base-2, used by operating systems). This is why a "1 TB" hard drive shows as approximately 931 GB in your OS.
Decimal vs Binary
| Decimal (SI) | Value in Bytes | Binary (IEC) | Value in Bytes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 KB | 1,000 | 1 KiB | 1,024 |
| 1 MB | 1,000,000 | 1 MiB | 1,048,576 |
| 1 GB | 1,000,000,000 | 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 |
| 1 TB | 1,000,000,000,000 | 1 TiB | 1,099,511,627,776 |
| 1 PB | 10¹⁵ | 1 PiB | 2⁵⁰ |
Real-World Storage Examples
- 1 MB — A high-quality JPEG photo, a minute of MP3 audio
- 1 GB — About 250 MP3 songs, or 1 hour of SD video
- 1 TB — About 500 hours of HD video, or 250,000 photos
- 1 PB — About 500 billion pages of text, or 13.3 years of HD video
Frequently Asked Questions
Drive manufacturers use decimal (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes), but your operating system uses binary (1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes). So 1 TB ÷ 1.0995 ≈ 931 GiB, which is what your OS reports.
KB (kilobyte) = 1,000 bytes (decimal, SI standard). KiB (kibibyte) = 1,024 bytes (binary, IEC standard). The "bi" in KiB stands for "binary." Windows traditionally labels binary values as "KB" which causes confusion.
In decimal: 1 GB = 1,000 MB. In binary: 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB. Most consumer contexts (ISPs, storage) use the decimal definition.