Storage Converter
Convert between storage units: bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB. Binary and decimal standards.
Storage Conversion
Your Results
Binary (1024) is used by OS. Decimal (1000) by manufacturers. 1 TB drive = ~931 GB in binary.
What is a Storage Converter?
A storage converter converts between different units of digital storage: bytes, kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and petabytes (PB). It supports both binary (base 1024) and decimal (base 1000) standards—important because operating systems and drive manufacturers use different conventions.
Binary vs Decimal
Binary (Base 1024)
- Used by: Windows, macOS, Linux
- 1 KB = 1024 bytes
- 1 MB = 1024 KB = 1,048,576 bytes
- 1 GB = 1024 MB
Decimal (Base 1000)
- Used by: drive manufacturers, storage marketing
- 1 KB = 1000 bytes
- 1 MB = 1000 KB = 1,000,000 bytes
- 1 GB = 1000 MB
Why It Matters
A “1 TB” drive advertised by a manufacturer is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (decimal). Your computer shows it as ~931 GB because it uses binary (1024³ = 1,073,741,824 bytes per GB).
Conversion Examples
| Binary | Decimal |
|---|---|
| 1 KB = 1024 B | 1 KB = 1000 B |
| 1 MB = 1024 KB | 1 MB = 1000 KB |
| 1 GB = 1024 MB | 1 GB = 1000 MB |
| 1 TB = 1024 GB | 1 TB = 1000 GB |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my 1TB drive show as 931GB?
Drive manufacturers use decimal (1000). Your OS uses binary (1024). 1 TB (decimal) ÷ 1.074 = ~931 GB (binary).
Which standard should I use?
Use binary when working with OS-reported sizes (file sizes, disk space). Use decimal when comparing to advertised drive capacities.
What is the difference between KB and KiB?
KB = kilobyte (can mean 1000 or 1024). KiB = kibibyte (always 1024). The binary standard uses KiB, MiB, GiB for clarity, but we use KB/MB/GB with binary factors for simplicity.