webutilkit

Data Storage Converter

Convert between decimal (KB, MB, GB) and binary (KiB, MiB, GiB) data storage units.

1.073741824

How it works

Every unit is defined as a number of bytes, then values convert through bytes as a common base. Decimal units — kilobyte, megabyte, gigabyte, terabyte — scale by 1000 each step. Binary units — kibibyte, mebibyte, gibibyte, tebibyte — scale by 1024 each step instead.

Why two systems exist

Computer memory is naturally organized in powers of two, which is why 1024-based units took hold early in computing. Storage manufacturers and networking standards later settled on the more familiar decimal system, leaving two different conventions in everyday use for what people often call the same thing.

Reading a “missing” gigabyte

A 500 GB drive (500,000,000,000 bytes, decimal) shows as roughly 465.7 GiB in an operating system that reports binary units but labels them “GB” — no storage is actually missing, only the unit definition changed.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my drive show less space than advertised?

Manufacturers list capacity in decimal gigabytes (1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes), while operating systems often display it in binary gibibytes (1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes) but label them "GB". The bytes are the same either way — only the label and the math behind it differ.

Which one should I use?

Decimal units (KB, MB, GB) are standard for storage capacity and network speeds. Binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB) are more common for memory and file sizes as reported by an operating system.