Data Storage Converter (KB, MB, GB vs KiB, MiB, GiB)
Calculates storage conversions between metric SI units (KB, MB, GB, TB) and binary IEC units (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB).
Data Storage Converter & Drive Discrepancy Calculator
Calculates precise conversions between SI Metric Decimal (1000³) and IEC Binary (1024³), explaining the real-world drive capacity gap
Why Does My Drive Show Less Space in Windows?
Drive manufacturers (Samsung, Western Digital, Seagate, Apple) market drive sizes using SI metric decimals (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes). However, Microsoft Windows measures files in IEC binary units (1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes) but labels them confusingly as "TB" or "GB". Your drive is not broken or missing space — it is purely a unit definition difference!
Network Transfer & Download Time Estimator
How long will it take to download or transfer this amount of data?
Full Decimal (SI) vs Binary (IEC) Conversion Table
1-click copy for any converted measurement value
| Unit Standard | Converted Value | Action |
|---|---|---|
| Bits (b) | 8,000,000,000,000 | |
| Bytes (B) | 1,000,000,000,000 | |
| Kilobytes (KB) | 1,000,000,000 | |
| Kibibytes (KiB) | 976,562,500 | |
| Megabytes (MB) | 1,000,000 | |
| Mebibytes (MiB) | 953,674.3164 | |
| Gigabytes (GB) | 1,000 | |
| Gibibytes (GiB) | 931.3226 | |
| Terabytes (TB) | 1 | |
| Tebibytes (TiB) | 0.909495 | |
| Petabytes (PB) | 0.001 | |
| Pebibytes (PiB) | 0.000888 |
Data Storage Units: Decimal vs Binary
Hard drive manufacturers advertise capacities using metric decimal prefixes (1 TB = 10¹² bytes), while computer operating systems (like Windows) measure capacity in binary powers of 2 (1 TiB = 2⁴⁰ bytes).
Formula & Step-by-Step Calculation
SI decimal prefixes vs IEC binary prefixes.
Worked Step-by-Step Examples
Why does a 1 TB hard drive show as ~931 GB in Windows?
Common Real-World & Academic Use Cases
- ✓ Storage server capacity planning
- ✓ Cloud S3 bucket volume billing calculations
- ✓ RAM module memory addressing bounds
How to Use the Data Storage Converter (KB, MB, GB vs KiB, MiB, GiB)
Input Storage Value
Enter numerical quantity.
Select Unit
Choose GB, TB, GiB, TiB, etc.
Compare Decimal vs Binary
Review exact equivalent sizes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is a Gibibyte (GiB)?
A Gibibyte is 2³⁰ = 1,073,741,824 bytes, established by the IEC in 1998 to resolve confusion with the decimal Gigabyte (10⁹ bytes).