Data Storage Converter

Convert file and storage sizes in both decimal units (1,000) and binary units (1,024).

From

1 gigabyte = 1,000 megabytes

Formula: MB = GB × 1,000

The same amount in other units

Unit	Value
Bit	8,000,000,000
Byte (B)	1,000,000,000
Kilobyte (kB)	1,000,000
Megabyte (MB)	1,000
Gigabyte (GB)	1
Terabyte (TB)	0.001
Petabyte (PB)	0.000001
Kibibyte (KiB)	976,562.5
Mebibyte (MiB)	953.6743164
Gibibyte (GiB)	0.9313225746
Tebibyte (TiB)	0.0009094947018
Megabit (Mb)	8,000
Gigabit (Gb)	8

Popular conversions

Why there are two kinds of gigabyte

Storage is measured in two systems. In the decimal system, used by drive and phone makers and by macOS, a kilobyte is 1,000 bytes, a megabyte is 1,000 kilobytes and so on. In the binary system, used by Windows and many programs, each step is 1,024 instead. Officially, binary units have their own names, such as kibibyte (KiB), mebibyte (MiB) and gibibyte (GiB), but Windows labels them KB, MB and GB.

That's why a new 1 TB drive shows up as about 931 GB in Windows. Nothing is missing; it's the same number of bytes counted in binary units.

Internet speeds use bits, not bytes. There are 8 bits in a byte, so a 100 megabit per second (Mbps) connection downloads at most 12.5 megabytes per second.

Units in this converter

Bit: The smallest unit of digital information, a single 0 or 1. Internet speeds are measured in bits per second.
Byte (B): 8 bits, enough to store one character of basic text.
Kilobyte (kB): 1,000 bytes in the decimal system. Windows often uses KB to mean 1,024 bytes, officially a kibibyte (KiB).
Megabyte (MB): 1,000,000 bytes in the decimal system. Used by storage makers and macOS.
Gigabyte (GB): 1,000,000,000 bytes in the decimal system. Phone and drive capacities are sold in these units.
Terabyte (TB): 1,000 gigabytes in the decimal system. Used for hard drives and cloud storage.
Petabyte (PB): 1,000 terabytes in the decimal system. Used for data centers.
Kibibyte (KiB): 1,024 bytes, the binary counterpart of the kilobyte.
Mebibyte (MiB): 1,024 KiB, or 1,048,576 bytes.
Gibibyte (GiB): 1,024 MiB, or 1,073,741,824 bytes. Windows shows sizes in this unit but labels it GB.
Tebibyte (TiB): 1,024 GiB, or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes.
Megabit (Mb): 1,000,000 bits, one eighth of a megabyte. Internet speeds are given in megabits per second (Mbps).
Gigabit (Gb): 1,000 megabits, one eighth of a gigabyte. Used for fast internet connections and networks.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my 1 TB drive show only 931 GB?

The drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (decimal terabyte). Windows divides by 1,024 at each step instead of 1,000 and shows the result as "GB", so the same bytes appear as about 931 GB.

Is 1 GB 1,000 MB or 1,024 MB?

In the decimal system, 1 GB is exactly 1,000 MB. In the binary system, 1 GiB is 1,024 MiB. Windows uses binary but writes GB and MB, which causes the confusion.

How fast is 100 Mbps in megabytes per second?

12.5 megabytes per second, because a byte is 8 bits. In practice, downloads are a little slower than that.