Data storage converter
Bits, bytes, KB, MB, GB and TB converted in real time, in both the decimal system (×1000) and the binary system (×1024) used by operating systems.
Enter an amount to see every conversion.
| Decimal (×1000) | Binary (×1024) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| bit | byte | ||
| KB | KiB | ||
| MB | MiB | ||
| GB | GiB | ||
| TB | TiB |
Why does a 1 TB drive show "only" 931 GB?
It's not a defect and nobody is cheating you, it's a units issue. Hard drive and SSD manufacturers use the decimal system, where 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Windows, however, measures space with the binary system (a Windows "GB" is really a gibibyte, i.e. 1,073,741,824 bytes): divide a trillion bytes by that figure and you get exactly 931 GiB. All the space is there, only the ruler used to measure it changes. macOS and Linux, on the other hand, have shown decimal GB since 2009, matching the number on the box.
Bits vs. bytes: watch out for internet plans
A byte is made of 8 bits, and the difference trips up plenty of people shopping for an internet plan: "gigabit" fiber runs at 1 gigabit per second, which is about 125 megabytes per second. A 4 GB movie, under ideal conditions, therefore downloads in roughly half a minute, not in 4. Rule of thumb: network speeds are quoted in bits (Mbps, Gbps), file sizes in bytes (MB, GB). This converter puts them side by side so you never mix them up.