Data Storage Converter

Common Data Storage Conversions

Understanding Data Storage Units

Data storage is measured in units based on the byte, which consists of 8 bits. A bit is the smallest unit of digital information, representing a single binary value of 0 or 1. There are two standard systems for measuring data: the decimal (SI) system using powers of 1,000, and the binary (IEC) system using powers of 1,024. The distinction matters because the difference grows larger at higher magnitudes — a terabyte (TB) is about 9.1% smaller than a tebibyte (TiB).

Decimal (SI) Prefixes — Base 10

Decimal prefixes follow the International System of Units (SI), where each step is a factor of 1,000. These are the units used by storage manufacturers to label hard drives, SSDs, and USB devices.

• Byte (B): 8 bits. The fundamental unit of digital information, enough to encode a single ASCII character.
• Kilobyte (KB): 1,000 bytes (10³). A few kilobytes can store a short text document or a small image thumbnail.
• Megabyte (MB): 1,000,000 bytes (10⁶). Typical size for a high-resolution photo or a short audio clip.
• Gigabyte (GB): 1,000,000,000 bytes (10⁹). A standard unit for RAM capacity, app sizes, and mobile data plans.
• Terabyte (TB): 10¹² bytes. Common capacity for consumer hard drives and SSDs.
• Petabyte (PB): 10¹⁵ bytes. Used in data centers and large-scale enterprise storage.
• Exabyte (EB): 10¹⁸ bytes. Used to describe global data traffic and hyperscale cloud storage.

Binary (IEC) Prefixes — Base 2

Binary prefixes were standardized by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) in 1998 to eliminate ambiguity. Each step is a factor of 1,024 (2¹⁰). Operating systems like Windows traditionally report storage in binary units but label them with SI names, which causes the well-known "missing space" confusion.

• Kibibyte (KiB): 1,024 bytes (2¹⁰).
• Mebibyte (MiB): 1,048,576 bytes (2²⁰).
• Gibibyte (GiB): 1,073,741,824 bytes (2³⁰).
• Tebibyte (TiB): 1,099,511,627,776 bytes (2⁴⁰).
• Pebibyte (PiB): 2⁵⁰ bytes. Used in high-performance computing and large-scale storage.
• Exbibyte (EiB): 2⁶⁰ bytes. Theoretical scale for massive data systems.

Why Your Hard Drive Shows Less Space

When you buy a "1 TB" hard drive, the manufacturer means 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (decimal). However, your operating system may report capacity in binary units while still labeling them "GB." This creates a visible discrepancy:

Real-World Storage Examples

References

The conversion factors and definitions used in this converter are based on internationally recognized standards:

• IEC 80000-13 - Prefixes for Binary Multiples (International Electrotechnical Commission)
• BIPM - SI Prefixes (Bureau International des Poids et Mesures)
• NIST - SI Units and Prefixes
• IEEE 1541 - Prefixes for Binary Multiples
• NIST - Prefixes for Binary Multiples

Related Calculators