💾 Binary Data Storage Converter 2026
Convert between bits, bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and petabytes
1 GB = 1,024 MB
Formula: value × 1024
Using Binary Standard (1 KB = 1024 bytes)
📊 All Conversions
Binary vs Decimal Comparison
| Unit | Binary (IEC) | Decimal (SI) | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kilobyte (KB/KiB) | 1,024 bytes | 1,000 bytes | +2.4% |
| Megabyte (MB/MiB) | 1,048,576 bytes | 1,000,000 bytes | +4.9% |
| Gigabyte (GB/GiB) | 1,073,741,824 bytes | 1,000,000,000 bytes | +7.4% |
| Terabyte (TB/TiB) | 1,099,511,627,776 bytes | 1,000,000,000,000 bytes | +10.0% |
| Petabyte (PB/PiB) | 1,125,899,906,842,624 bytes | 1,000,000,000,000,000 bytes | +12.6% |
Understanding Data Units
💡 Bit (b)
Smallest unit. Binary digit: 0 or 1. All digital data is bits. Network speeds usually measured in bits/second (Mbps).
📦 Byte (B)
8 bits = 1 byte. One character of text. File sizes measured in bytes. Capital B for bytes, lowercase b for bits.
🔢 Binary (1024)
Powers of 2: 1024 = 2¹⁰. Used by RAM, operating systems. IEC names: KiB, MiB, GiB. Traditional computing standard.
📊 Decimal (1000)
Powers of 10: 1000 = 10³. Used by hard drive manufacturers, network speeds. SI standard. "Marketing" sizes.
Common File Sizes
| File Type | Typical Size |
|---|---|
| 📄 Text document | 10-100 KB |
| 🖼️ Photo (JPEG) | 2-10 MB |
| 🎵 MP3 song | 3-10 MB |
| 📽️ HD video (1 hour) | 2-4 GB |
| 🎮 Video game | 20-100+ GB |
| 💿 Blu-ray disc | 25-50 GB |
Frequently Asked Questions
How many bytes in a kilobyte?
Binary: 1,024 bytes (2¹⁰). Decimal: 1,000 bytes.
Windows uses binary; hard drive labels use decimal. That's why your "1 TB" drive shows ~931 GB.
How many bytes in a megabyte?
Binary: 1,048,576 bytes (1024²). Decimal: 1,000,000
bytes. Binary MB is ~4.9% larger than decimal MB.
How many bytes in a gigabyte?
Binary: 1,073,741,824 bytes (1024³). Decimal:
1,000,000,000 bytes. ~7.4% difference. 1 GB = 1024 MB (binary).
How many MB in a GB?
Binary: 1,024 MB per GB. Decimal: 1,000 MB per
GB. Use binary for RAM/OS, decimal for storage marketing.
How many GB in a TB?
Binary: 1,024 GB per TB. Decimal: 1,000 GB per
TB. A "1 TB" hard drive is 1,000 GB decimal ≈ 931 GiB binary.
What is the difference between bits and bytes?
8 bits = 1 byte. Bits (b) for speeds: 100 Mbps. Bytes (B) for
storage: 100 MB. Note capitalization: b=bit, B=byte.
Why is my hard drive smaller than advertised?
Different standards! Manufacturers use decimal (1 GB = 10⁹ bytes).
OS uses binary (1 GiB = 2³⁰ bytes). 1 TB drive shows ~931 GB in Windows.
What is binary vs decimal storage?
Binary: Powers of 1024 (2¹⁰). Traditional computing, RAM.
Decimal: Powers of 1000 (10³). Hard drives, network speed. ~10% difference at TB scale.
What are KiB, MiB, GiB?
IEC binary prefixes: Kibibyte, Mebibyte, Gibibyte. Unambiguous
binary notation. 1 KiB = 1024 bytes. 1 MiB = 1024 KiB. Used by Linux, some apps.
How do I convert MB to GB?
Divide by 1024 (binary) or divide by 1000
(decimal). 500 MB = 0.488 GiB (binary) = 0.5 GB (decimal).
How do I convert Mbps to MBps?
Divide by 8. Mbps = megabits per second. MBps = megabytes per
second. 100 Mbps ÷ 8 = 12.5 MBps max download speed.
What is a petabyte?
1,024 terabytes (binary) or 1,000 terabytes
(decimal). ≈ 500 billion pages of text. Used for enterprise storage, data centers.
What comes after petabyte?
Exabyte (EB), then Zettabyte (ZB), then Yottabyte (YB). Global
data is ~120+ zettabytes (2023). Each is 1000× (or 1024×) previous.
How much is 1 byte?
8 bits. Stores one ASCII character (letter, number, symbol). Text
file with "Hello" = 5 bytes minimum (plus encoding overhead).
Which standard should I use?
Binary (1024) for: RAM, cache, operating system displays.
Decimal (1000) for: hard drive labels, network speeds, marketing.
Why is 1024 used in computing?
2¹⁰ = 1024. Computers use binary (base 2). 1024 is closest power
of 2 to 1000. Memory chips naturally have 2ⁿ addresses.
How accurate is this converter?
Uses exact conversions. Binary: powers of 1024. Decimal: powers of
1000. Precise for all data storage calculations.