Data Size Converter

1 KB = 1024 bytes · 1 MB = 1024 KB · 1 GB = 1024 MB

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How to Use This Tool

Digital Data Size Conversion

Convert between digital storage units. This converter uses the binary (1024-base) system: 1 KB = 1024 bytes, 1 MB = 1024 KB, etc. This is the convention used by operating systems like Windows and most file managers.

The Two Conventions

There are two competing conventions for data size units:

  • Binary (1024-base): 1 KB = 1024 bytes. Used by Windows, RAM manufacturers, and most file managers.
  • Decimal (1000-base): 1 KB = 1000 bytes. Used by storage manufacturers (hard drives, SSDs, USB drives) and the SI standard.

The IEC standard introduced new unit names (KiB, MiB, GiB) for binary units to disambiguate, but the older KB/MB/GB usage remains common in everyday software.

Formula & Explanation

This converter uses the binary convention (1024-base). If you need decimal (1000-base) conversions, divide the binary result by 1.024 at each step.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does my 1 TB hard drive show only 931 GB in Windows?

Hard drive manufacturers use the decimal convention (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes), while Windows uses the binary convention (1 TB = 1024^4 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes). So 1 trillion bytes / 1024^4 u2248 0.909 TB, which Windows displays as '931 GB'.

How many bytes are in a kilobyte?

In the binary convention (used by Windows): 1 KB = 1024 bytes. In the decimal convention (used by storage manufacturers): 1 KB = 1000 bytes. The IEC unit 'KiB' unambiguously means 1024 bytes.

How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?

In the binary convention: 1 GB = 1024 MB. So a 4 GB file occupies 4096 MB of disk space.