Byte converter

How to use

Bytes come in two families that look alike and are not: decimal units, where 1 kB is 1,000 bytes, and binary units, where 1 KiB is 1,024 bytes. Storage makers sell in decimal units and operating systems often display binary ones, which is why a 1 TB drive appears as roughly 931 GiB.

• Understand why a drive shows less capacity than the box says.
• Convert a file size to the unit a service or limit uses.
• Compare a data plan quoted in GB with the size of a download.

1. Enter the value and the unit it is written in.
2. Choose the unit you want to read it in.
3. Decimal units (kB, MB, GB) use powers of 1,000; binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB) use powers of 1,024.

Formula

1 kB = 1,000 B · 1 KiB = 1,024 B · 1 GB = 1,073,741,824 B · 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 B

Example

5 GB is 5,000,000,000 bytes, which is 4.66 GiB. A 500 kB photo has about 488 KiB.

Limitations

• There is no internet connection involved: the value you type is the value converted.
• Bits and bytes are different things — one byte holds eight bits, and connections are usually quoted in bits per second.

Frequently asked questions