Data Size Converter

Understanding Digital Storage Units

Digital storage is measured in units based on the binary system (base-2), meaning units increase by a factor of 1024 (2¹⁰). While hard drive manufacturers often use the decimal system (base-10, where 1 KB = 1000 bytes), operating systems and developers almost exclusively use the binary system.

This tool uses the Binary (1024) standard, which is standard for RAM, file systems, and internet speeds (in terms of data volume).

Common Units Explained

• Bit (b): The smallest unit of data. A single binary digit (0 or 1).
• Byte (B): 8 Bits. Usually represents one character of text.
• Kilobyte (KB): 1024 Bytes. Roughly the size of a short paragraph of text.
• Megabyte (MB): 1024 KB. Roughly the size of a 1-minute MP3 song or a high-resolution photo.
• Gigabyte (GB): 1024 MB. The standard unit for modern smartphones and USB drives.
• Terabyte (TB): 1024 GB. Common for hard drives and SSDs.

Why is my 1TB drive only 931GB?

This is the difference between the Decimal and Binary systems.

Manufacturers define 1 TB as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes (Decimal). However, your computer defines 1 GB as 1,073,741,824 bytes (Binary). When you divide the manufacturer's bytes by the computer's GB, you get roughly 931 GB.