Data Storage Converter
Convert between bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes — decimal (KB/MB/GB, what storage drives use) or binary (KiB/MiB/GiB, what your OS usually shows) — instantly, in your browser.
Convert between bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, gigabytes, and terabytes — both decimal (what storage drives are labeled with) and binary (what your operating system usually reports). Enter a value below — the result updates instantly, entirely in your browser.
Formula — and why your “1 TB” drive shows less than 1 TB
Decimal units (KB, MB, GB, TB) are defined as powers of 1000, matching how storage manufacturers label drives (this is the SI/international standard): 1 KB = 1000 B, 1 MB = 1000² B, and so on. Binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) are defined as powers of 1024, matching what most operating systems actually display: 1 KiB = 1024 B, 1 MiB = 1024² B, and so on.
Worked example: a drive labeled “1 TB” (1,000,000,000,000 bytes, decimal) shows as roughly 0.909 TiB (909 GiB) in an operating system that reports binary units — the drive isn’t smaller than advertised, the two units just measure “1 million” differently.
FAQs
Why does my computer show less storage than I paid for?
It’s usually not missing storage — it’s a unit mismatch. Manufacturers label drives in decimal TB/GB (1000-based); Windows and macOS typically display binary TiB/GiB (1024-based) but often still label them “TB”/”GB”, making a real, correctly-sized drive appear smaller than advertised.