What is the difference between binary and decimal byte units?

Binary units use a factor of 1024 between each level (1 KiB = 1024 bytes, 1 MiB = 1024 KiB). Decimal units use a factor of 1000 (1 KB = 1000 bytes, 1 MB = 1000 KB). Binary units are what your operating system reports. Decimal units are what hard drive and SSD manufacturers use on packaging. This discrepancy is why a drive advertised as 1 TB shows roughly 931 GiB in your OS.

What are IEC units like KiB, MiB, and GiB?

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) introduced distinct names for binary units to eliminate ambiguity. KiB (kibibyte) means exactly 1024 bytes, MiB (mebibyte) means 1024 KiB, GiB (gibibyte) means 1024 MiB, TiB (tebibyte) means 1024 GiB, and PiB (pebibyte) means 1024 TiB. These names distinguish binary values from decimal KB, MB, GB, TB, and PB values that use factors of 1000.

Why does my 1 TB hard drive only show 931 GB in Windows?

Hard drive manufacturers use decimal (1000-based) units, so 1 TB means exactly 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Windows reports sizes in binary (1024-based) units but labels them GB instead of GiB. When you divide 1,000,000,000,000 bytes by 1024 three times, you get approximately 931 GiB. The data is all there — it is just a difference in how the units are defined.

Which standard does RAM use?

RAM always uses binary units. When you buy 16 GB of RAM, you get exactly 16 GiB (17,179,869,184 bytes). This is because memory chips are built in powers of 2. Storage devices like hard drives and SSDs use decimal units because they are not constrained by powers of 2 in manufacturing.

How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?

In decimal (SI) units, 1 GB equals exactly 1000 MB. In binary (IEC) units, 1 GiB equals exactly 1024 MiB. The difference between the two grows larger at bigger scales. At the petabyte level, the difference between PB and PiB is about 12.6 percent.

Is this tool accurate for very large or very small values?

Yes. The tool handles values from single bytes up to petabytes accurately. For extremely small results, it switches to scientific notation (e.g., 1.0000e-4) to preserve precision. For large values, it uses locale-formatted numbers with commas and up to two decimal places.

Free tool

Byte converter

Convert between bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, and PB instantly. Toggle binary (1024) vs decimal (1000) units and see all conversions at once.

100% free
No sign-up
No limits
Instant results

Value

Unit

Standard

Conversions

UnitBinary (1024)Decimal (1000)

Bytes

1,073,741,8241,073,741,824

KiBKB

1,048,5761,073,741.82

MiBMB

1,0241,073.74

GiBGB

11.07

TiBTB

0.0009765630.00107374

PiBPB

9.5367e-70.00000107374

Real-world context

context

≈745.65 floppy disks (1.44 MB)

≈1.53 CDs (700 MB)

≈0.228456 DVDs (4.7 GB)

≈0.0429497 Blu-ray discs (25 GB)

≈0.0167772 USB drives (64 GB)

What this tool does

Convert to all units simultaneously
Binary (KiB/MiB/GiB) and decimal (KB/MB/GB) modes
Real-world size comparisons
One-click copy any value
Real-time conversion as you type
100% browser — no server calls

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The short version

What is Byte Converter?

A byte converter is a utility that translates digital storage sizes between different units of measurement.

Computers store data in bytes, but humans work with larger units like kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB), gigabytes (GB), terabytes (TB), and petabytes (PB). The confusion arises because there are two competing standards: the binary standard (base 1024) used by operating systems and RAM manufacturers, where 1 KiB equals 1024 bytes, and the decimal standard (base 1000) used by storage manufacturers and network providers, where 1 KB equals 1000 bytes. This is why a 1 TB hard drive shows up as 931 GiB in your operating system. This tool converts your input to every unit simultaneously and shows both binary and decimal values side by side, so you can see exactly how much storage you are dealing with in any context. It also provides real-world comparisons like how many floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, or Blu-ray discs your data would fill. All conversions happen instantly in your browser with zero server calls.

Step by step

How to use Byte Converter

1
Enter a value and select a unit
Type a number into the input field and pick your starting unit from the dropdown: Bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, or PB. The tool converts your value in real time as you type.
2
Choose binary or decimal mode
Toggle between Binary (1024-based, KiB/MiB/GiB) and Decimal (1000-based, KB/MB/GB) to set how your input value is interpreted. Both conversion columns always display regardless of which mode you select.
3
Read results and copy values
All six unit rows update instantly with both binary and decimal equivalents. Your input unit is highlighted. Click the copy button on any row to copy that value to your clipboard. Check the real-world context section for physical media comparisons.

What's inside

Everything this tool
does for you

Converts to all six units (Bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB) simultaneously
Shows both binary (1024-based) and decimal (1000-based) values side by side
Toggle input interpretation between binary and decimal standards
One-click copy button on every conversion row
Real-world size comparisons with floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs
Input unit row highlighted for quick reference
Real-time conversion updates as you type with zero delay
Fully client-side processing with no data sent to any server

Keep going

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Questions

Frequently asked questions

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What is Byte Converter?

How to use Byte Converter

Enter a value and select a unit

Choose binary or decimal mode

Read results and copy values

Everything this tooldoes for you

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Number Base Converter

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Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between binary and decimal byte units?

What are IEC units like KiB, MiB, and GiB?

Why does my 1 TB hard drive only show 931 GB in Windows?

Which standard does RAM use?

How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?

Is this tool accurate for very large or very small values?

This tool fixed one thing.Now fix the whole site.

Everything this tool
does for you

This tool fixed one thing.
Now fix the whole site.