Byte Size Converter
Convert between bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, terabytes, and petabytes. Supports both decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) units (KB vs KiB).
Display mode:
Conversions
1,000,000,000 bytes| Unit | Decimal (1000-based) | Binary (1024-based) |
|---|---|---|
| B / B | 1,000,000,000 B | 1,000,000,000 B |
| KB / KiB | 1,000,000 KB | 976,562.5 KiB |
| MB / MiB | 1,000 MB | 953.67432 MiB |
| GB / GiB | 1 GB | 0.931323 GiB |
| TB / TiB | 0.001 TB | 0.000909 TiB |
| PB / PiB | 1.0000e-6 PB | 8.8818e-7 PiB |
Decimal vs Binary Reference
| SI Unit | Bytes (decimal) | IEC Unit | Bytes (binary) |
|---|---|---|---|
| KB | 1,000 | KiB | 1,024 |
| MB | 1,000,000 | MiB | 1,048,576 |
| GB | 1,000,000,000 | GiB | 1,073,741,824 |
| TB | 1,000,000,000,000 | TiB | 1,099,511,627,776 |
| PB | 1,000,000,000,000,000 | PiB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 |
How to Use Byte Size Converter
- 1Enter a value and select the source unit (bytes, KB, MB, etc.).
- 2See all conversions in both decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) units.
- 3Toggle between decimal (1000-based) and binary (1024-based) display.
- 4Copy any converted value.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between KB and KiB?▾
KB (kilobyte) has two conflicting definitions: SI/decimal: 1 KB = 1,000 bytes (the International System of Units standard). Binary: 1 KB = 1,024 bytes (historically used in computing). IEC 80000-13 (2008) introduced new prefixes to eliminate ambiguity: KiB (kibibyte) = 1,024 bytes, MiB (mebibyte) = 1,048,576 bytes, GiB (gibibyte) = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Hard drive manufacturers use decimal (1 TB = 1 trillion bytes); operating systems often use binary (Windows shows GiB as GB, macOS shows real GB since macOS 10.6).
Why do hard drives show less capacity than advertised?▾
A 1 TB hard drive contains 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (1 trillion bytes). Windows displays this using binary prefixes without the "i": 1,000,000,000,000 ÷ 1,073,741,824 ≈ 931 GiB — but Windows shows "931 GB". macOS (since 10.6 Snow Leopard) correctly shows "1 TB" using decimal. Linux shows the binary value in GiB. The difference grows with size: 1 TB decimal = ~931 GiB binary.
What is a petabyte and how big is it?▾
Decimal: 1 PB = 1,000 TB = 1,000,000 GB = 10^15 bytes. Binary: 1 PiB = 1,024 TiB. Context: the entire Library of Congress print collection ≈ 10 TB. All internet traffic in 2022 ≈ 4.8 ZB (zettabytes). Facebook stores ~100 PB of photos. Google processes ~20 PB/day. The human genome ≈ 3 GB uncompressed. A standard 4K movie (HDR) ≈ 50-100 GB.
What are the storage unit prefixes beyond petabyte?▾
Decimal: KB (10^3), MB (10^6), GB (10^9), TB (10^12), PB (10^15), EB (10^18), ZB (10^21), YB (10^24). Binary (IEC): KiB (2^10), MiB (2^20), GiB (2^30), TiB (2^40), PiB (2^50), EiB (2^60), ZiB (2^70), YiB (2^80). Practical context: global data sphere in 2025 ≈ 175 ZB. World's most powerful supercomputers have petabyte-scale storage. Typical laptop SSD: 512 GB - 2 TB.
How do file systems report size?▾
Windows Explorer: uses binary values but labels them "GB" (should be "GiB") — a 1 TB drive shows ~931 GB. macOS Finder (10.6+): uses decimal values correctly — 1 TB drive shows 1 TB. Linux (df command): uses 1K-blocks by default, shows sizes in GiB with -H flag. AWS S3: uses decimal bytes for billing. RAM is always measured in binary: 16 GB RAM is 16 GiB (16,384 MiB). Network speeds use decimal bits: 1 Gbps = 10^9 bits/second.