All Calculators
Home / Digital Storage Converter

Digital Storage Converter

Convert between bits, bytes, and both decimal (KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) and binary (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB, PiB) units

About the Digital Storage Converter

The Digital Storage Converter handles both decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) units for digital information. It supports bits, bytes, and all major multiples: kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), petabytes (PB) using the decimal system (powers of 1000), and kibibytes (KiB), mebibytes (MiB), gibibytes (GiB), tebibytes (TiB), pebibytes (PiB) using the binary system (powers of 1024).

Understanding the difference between decimal and binary units is crucial for accurately comparing storage specifications. Hard drive manufacturers typically use decimal units, while operating systems often report capacity in binary units. This converter helps resolve that confusion by supporting both systems in a single tool.

How to Use This Calculator

  1. Enter the digital storage value in the "From" input field.
  2. Select the unit from the "From Unit" dropdown (both decimal and binary units are included).
  3. Select the target unit from the "To Unit" dropdown.
  4. Click "Convert" to see the result using bytes as the base reference.

FAQs

What is the difference between a gigabyte (GB) and a gibibyte (GiB)?

A gigabyte (GB) equals 1,000,000,000 bytes using the decimal system (powers of 1000). A gibibyte (GiB) equals 1,073,741,824 bytes using the binary system (powers of 1024). This is why a 500 GB hard drive shows as approximately 465 GiB in your operating system — the OS reports in binary units while the drive is advertised in decimal units.

How many bytes are in a kilobyte: 1000 or 1024?

In the decimal (SI) system, a kilobyte equals 1,000 bytes — this is used by storage manufacturers and most network speeds. In the binary (IEC) system, a kibibyte equals 1,024 bytes — this is used by operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux for reporting file sizes and memory capacity. This converter includes both so you can use whichever is appropriate.