Data Storage Converter

Convert between different digital storage units with this easy-to-use converter.

Conversion Result

Common Data Size Conversions

From To Conversion Factor
1 Byte (B) Bits (b) 8 bits
1 Kilobyte (KB) Bytes (B) 1,000 bytes
1 Megabyte (MB) Kilobytes (KB) 1,000 KB
1 Gigabyte (GB) Megabytes (MB) 1,000 MB
1 Terabyte (TB) Gigabytes (GB) 1,000 GB
1 Kibibyte (KiB) Bytes (B) 1,024 bytes
1 Mebibyte (MiB) Kibibytes (KiB) 1,024 KiB
1 Gibibyte (GiB) Mebibytes (MiB) 1,024 MiB

About Data Storage Units

Decimal (SI) Units

Bit (b): The smallest unit of data, represents a single binary value (0 or 1).

Byte (B): A group of 8 bits. It can represent 256 different values (2^8).

Kilobyte (KB): 1,000 bytes. Often used for small text files.

Megabyte (MB): 1,000 kilobytes (1,000,000 bytes). Typically used for measuring document sizes, small images, etc.

Gigabyte (GB): 1,000 megabytes (1,000,000,000 bytes). Common unit for storage devices, large files, and app sizes.

Terabyte (TB): 1,000 gigabytes (1,000,000,000,000 bytes). Used for large storage devices and data collections.

Petabyte (PB): 1,000 terabytes (1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes). Used for massive data storage systems.

Binary (IEC) Units

Kibibyte (KiB): 1,024 bytes (2^10 bytes). The binary equivalent of kilobyte.

Mebibyte (MiB): 1,024 kibibytes (1,048,576 bytes). The binary equivalent of megabyte.

Gibibyte (GiB): 1,024 mebibytes (1,073,741,824 bytes). The binary equivalent of gigabyte.

Tebibyte (TiB): 1,024 gibibytes (1,099,511,627,776 bytes). The binary equivalent of terabyte.

Pebibyte (PiB): 1,024 tebibytes (1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes). The binary equivalent of petabyte.

Frequently Asked Questions

The main difference is the base unit of measurement. Kilobyte (KB), Megabyte (MB), etc. use the decimal system with a base of 1000, following the International System of Units (SI). Kibibyte (KiB), Mebibyte (MiB), etc. use the binary system with a base of 1024 (2^10), following the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) standard. This distinction is important because it creates a growing discrepancy as units get larger.

This discrepancy occurs because manufacturers use decimal units (KB, MB, GB) based on powers of 1000, while operating systems typically use binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB) based on powers of 1024. For example, a "1 TB" hard drive contains 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, but operating systems interpret this as approximately 931 GiB (binary gigabytes). Additionally, some space is used for file system overhead and formatting.

This varies greatly depending on file formats and quality, but as a rough estimate: 1 GB can store approximately 200-250 MP3 songs at standard quality, about 500-1000 JPEG photos from a typical smartphone, or approximately 30 minutes of 1080p HD video. Higher quality files will take up more space.

A bit (b) is the smallest unit of data, representing a single binary value: either 0 or 1. A byte (B) consists of 8 bits and can represent 256 different values (2^8). Internet speeds are typically measured in bits per second (bps, Kbps, Mbps, Gbps), while file sizes and storage capacities are measured in bytes (B, KB, MB, GB). This is why a "100 Mbps" internet connection downloads at around 12.5 MB per second (100 รท 8).