Convert Between Units of Computer Data Storage
Computer data storage measures how much information is stored, such as files on a drive or memory in a device. Common units include bytes (B), kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), and terabytes (TB), plus binary variants like kibibytes (KiB), mebibytes (MiB), and gibibytes (GiB). Converting storage units helps when comparing drive capacity, memory usage, and file sizes across tools that use different conventions.
About Computer Data Storage Conversions
Helpful context and notes for converting Computer Data Storage units.
Storage is where decimal versus binary prefixes cause confusion. Drive manufacturers often use decimal units (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes), while operating systems frequently report binary units (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes). That is why a “1 TB” drive may show as about 931 GiB in an OS. Neither is wrong, but mixing them without noticing leads to mismatched expectations. Also remember that 1 byte equals 8 bits, which matters when comparing storage size to network speeds.
Practical tip: when comparing capacity across devices, confirm whether the tool is showing GB or GiB. For rough mental math, treat 1 GiB as about 1.074 GB. If you are estimating transfer time, convert the storage size to megabits or convert the link speed to megabytes per second, then calculate time. If the numbers look inconsistent, it is often a decimal vs binary prefix mismatch rather than a faulty drive.
Frequently Asked Questions
Fun Fact
The Trans-Siberian Railway spans 5,771 miles - long enough to make you rethink complaining about your commute.
Supported Units
Common and engineering-specific units supported for this conversion.
- b (bits)
- B (bytes)
- EB (exabytes)
- GB (gigabytes)
- kB (kilobytes)
- MB (megabytes)
- PB (petabytes)
- QB (quettabytes)
- RB (ronnabytes)
- TB (terabytes)
- YB (yottabytes)
- ZB (zettabytes)
Unit Categories
Explore the types of units you can convert on this site.