- Enter Value — Type any numeric value into the input field. The tool accepts whole numbers and decimals.
- Select Units — Choose the source unit (From) and target unit (To) from 12 data size units including bits, bytes, kilobytes (KB), kibibytes (KiB), megabytes (MB), mebibytes (MiB), gigabytes (GB), gibibytes (GiB), terabytes (TB), tebibytes (TiB), petabytes (PB), and pebibytes (PiB). Use the swap button to reverse the direction.
- See Results — The conversion happens in real-time as you type. The main result is displayed prominently, with all other unit conversions shown simultaneously below.
- Copy Result — Click 'Copy' to copy the converted value to your clipboard.
Data Size Converter — Convert Between Digital Storage Units
The Data Size Converter is a free, instant-use tool that converts between 12 digital storage units, supporting both the decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) standards. Whether you're calculating server storage requirements, understanding hard drive capacities, converting network bandwidth figures, or working with file sizes, this tool provides accurate real-time conversions between all common data size units.
Understanding the difference between decimal (KB, MB, GB) and binary (KiB, MiB, GiB) units is crucial for developers, system administrators, and anyone working with digital storage. This converter displays both standards side-by-side, making it easy to understand and convert between them.
Supported Units
- Bit (b) — The smallest unit of digital information, representing a single binary digit (0 or 1). Used primarily for data transfer rates (e.g., 100 Mbps internet).
- Byte (B) — 8 bits. The fundamental unit of computer storage, typically representing a single character in ASCII encoding.
- Kilobyte (KB) / Kibibyte (KiB) — 1,000 bytes (decimal) or 1,024 bytes (binary). Small files, text documents, and configuration files are typically measured in KB.
- Megabyte (MB) / Mebibyte (MiB) — 1,000,000 bytes (decimal) or 1,048,576 bytes (binary). Photos, songs, and small applications are measured in MB.
- Gigabyte (GB) / Gibibyte (GiB) — 1 billion bytes (decimal) or approximately 1.074 billion bytes (binary). Movies, games, and operating systems are measured in GB.
- Terabyte (TB) / Tebibyte (TiB) — 1 trillion bytes (decimal) or approximately 1.1 trillion bytes (binary). Hard drives and SSDs are commonly sold in TB sizes.
- Petabyte (PB) / Pebibyte (PiB) — 1 quadrillion bytes (decimal) or approximately 1.126 quadrillion bytes (binary). Used for datacenter storage, cloud infrastructure, and large-scale data processing.
Binary vs Decimal: Why Two Standards?
Computer memory is organized in powers of 2 (binary), so 1 kilobyte of RAM is actually 1,024 bytes. However, the metric system uses powers of 10 (decimal), so storage manufacturers define 1 kilobyte as 1,000 bytes. The IEC introduced the binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) in 1998 to resolve this ambiguity:
- Decimal (SI) — Used by storage manufacturers, network speeds, and marketing: 1 KB = 1,000 B, 1 MB = 1,000 KB, 1 GB = 1,000 MB
- Binary (IEC) — Used by operating systems and memory: 1 KiB = 1,024 B, 1 MiB = 1,024 KiB, 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB
This discrepancy explains why a "500 GB" hard drive shows as approximately 465 GiB in your operating system. This converter helps you understand and convert between both standards.
Key Features
- 12 Units — Complete coverage from bits to petabytes/pebibytes, including both decimal and binary standards.
- Real-Time Conversion — Results update instantly as you type, with no button clicks needed.
- All-Unit View — Enter a value and see all 11 other conversions simultaneously.
- Swap Button — Quickly reverse conversion direction with one click.
- Smart Number Formatting — Large numbers use locale-aware formatting with thousand separators. Very large or very small numbers use scientific notation.
- Copy to Clipboard — Copy results for use in documentation, emails, or spreadsheets.
Common Use Cases
- Storage Calculations — Calculate how many files fit on a drive, estimate backup sizes, or plan storage purchases.
- Network Bandwidth — Convert between bits/second (network speeds) and bytes/second (download speeds). Remember: 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s.
- Cloud Computing — Estimate cloud storage costs by converting between units used by AWS, Azure, and GCP pricing models.
- System Administration — Plan disk partitions, calculate RAID array capacities, or estimate database sizes.
- Development — Calculate API payload sizes, database row sizes, or image file dimensions.
Privacy and Support
All calculations run in your browser using JavaScript. No data is transmitted to any server. Works in all modern browsers offline.