How to use this data storage converter
Enter a byte-based quantity and choose the source and destination units. Decimal units use powers of 1,000; binary units use powers of 1,024. The converter handles bytes rather than bits, so network bit rates require a separate factor of eight.
How the calculation works
Decimal prefixes follow SI scaling: 1 kB is 1,000 bytes and 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Binary IEC prefixes follow powers of two: 1 KiB is 1,024 bytes and 1 GiB is 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Storage manufacturers commonly advertise decimal units, while some software displays binary quantities using either IEC labels or familiar decimal-looking labels. Knowing the base explains why the displayed capacity can appear numerically smaller.
Formulas
Decimal units
Binary units
Worked examples
Convert 1 GB to GiB
1,000,000,000 ÷ 1,073,741,824 ≈ 0.931323 GiB.
Convert 1 GiB to MiB
Because both are binary units, 1 GiB equals exactly 1,024 MiB.
Common uses
Drive and device capacity
Compare advertised decimal storage with binary-scaled software displays and understand why the numerical labels may differ for the same byte count.
Files, backups, and transfers
Estimate storage requirements for media, archives, and backups using a clearly stated decimal or binary prefix system.
Memory and technical specifications
Translate byte-based RAM, cache, image, and dataset sizes while keeping bytes distinct from bits and storage distinct from network transfer rates.
Accuracy and limitations
Conversions use exact powers of 1,000 for SI decimal prefixes and exact powers of 1,024 for IEC binary prefixes. JavaScript number precision limits extremely large entered quantities.
Reported usable space can also reflect formatting, file-system metadata, recovery partitions, compression, allocation size, and reserved capacity; unit conversion alone does not model those effects.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between GB and GiB?
GB uses one billion bytes; GiB uses 2³⁰ or 1,073,741,824 bytes.
Are bytes and bits the same?
No. One byte contains eight bits. Lowercase b usually denotes bits and uppercase B denotes bytes.
Why does a drive appear smaller in software?
The manufacturer may use decimal units while software reports a binary-scaled number, even if its label is ambiguous.
Does formatting reduce capacity?
File systems and system partitions also use space, but this calculator only converts the stated raw quantity.
Is the data storage converter free to use?
Yes. NumUtility is free, requires no account, and places no limit on ordinary calculations.
Are my entries stored?
No. The calculation runs in your browser. Values entered into the tool are not sent to NumUtility or saved by us.