Data Volume Conversion
Online calculator for Bit and Byte units of measurement (SI & IEC standards)
Data Volume Converter
Bit & Byte Converter
Select the unit of measurement that you know and enter its value. The calculator supports Bit, SI (1000-based), and IEC (1024-based) standards.
Data Units - Overview
Base Unit: Byte (B)
Two different standards: SI (1000) and IEC (1024)
SI Standard
1000-based
1 kB = 10³ B
DecimalIEC Standard
1024-based
1 KiB = 2¹⁰ B
BinaryImportant Difference
- 1 GB (SI) = 1,000,000,000 bytes
- 1 GiB (IEC) = 1,073,741,824 bytes
- Difference: ~7.4% (grows with size)
- Windows uses 1024-based (but calls it GB)
SI Standard (1000-based)
The SI standard uses decimal multiples (powers of 10):
- 1 kB = 1,000 bytes = 10³ B
- 1 MB = 1,000,000 bytes = 10⁶ B
- 1 GB = 1,000,000,000 bytes = 10⁹ B
- 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes = 10¹² B
- Used by: Hard drive manufacturers, networks
IEC Standard (1024-based)
The IEC standard uses binary multiples (powers of 2):
- 1 KiB = 1,024 bytes = 2¹⁰ B
- 1 MiB = 1,048,576 bytes = 2²⁰ B
- 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes = 2³⁰ B
- 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes = 2⁴⁰ B
- Used by: Operating systems (RAM, disk), computers
Historical Context
Originally, "kilo" in computing meant 1024 (2¹⁰). In 1996, IEC proposed new binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) to avoid confusion. The SI prefixes (kB, MB, GB) should mean 1000-based, but Microsoft Windows still uses 1024-based and calls it GB instead of GiB, causing confusion.
Practical Impact
Example: 1 TB Hard Drive
- Manufacturer states: 1 TB = 1,000 GB
- Windows shows: ~931 GB (actually GiB)
- Reason: 1,000,000,000,000 ÷ 1,073,741,824 ≈ 931
- No data is missing - just different standards!
Storage Capacity Prefixes
For data memories with binary addressing, storage capacities based on powers of two (2ⁿ bytes) are specified. The actually decimal SI prefixes were used to designate storage capacities (for kilos = 1024 instead of 1000).
To avoid ambiguity, the IEC proposed new unit prefixes for binary prefixes in 1996. The prefix is supplemented by the syllable "bi", which clarifies that they are binary multiples. Example: 1 Kibibyte (KiB) = 1024 bytes, 1 Mebibyte (MiB) = 1024 × 1024 bytes.
In practice, the recommendation was only partially implemented. Microsoft continues to use the SI prefixes for binary storage capacities (kilos = 1024). Other systems use both the old and the new variant.
Data Volume
1 B = 8 b
(1 Byte = 8 Bit)
SI (1000-based)
1 kB = 10³ B
1 MB = 10⁶ B
1 GB = 10⁹ B
1 TB = 10¹² B
1 PB = 10¹⁵ B
IEC80000-13 (1024-based)
1 KiB = 2¹⁰ B
1 MiB = 2²⁰ B
1 GiB = 2³⁰ B
1 TiB = 2⁴⁰ B
1 PiB = 2⁵⁰ B
Comparison Table SI vs IEC
| SI (Decimal) | Value in Bytes | IEC (Binary) | Value in Bytes | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 kB | 1,000 | 1 KiB | 1,024 | +2.4% |
| 1 MB | 1,000,000 | 1 MiB | 1,048,576 | +4.9% |
| 1 GB | 1,000,000,000 | 1 GiB | 1,073,741,824 | +7.4% |
| 1 TB | 1,000,000,000,000 | 1 TiB | 1,099,511,627,776 | +10.0% |
| 1 PB | 1,000,000,000,000,000 | 1 PiB | 1,125,899,906,842,624 | +12.6% |
Who Uses Which Standard?
SI Standard (1000-based):
- Hard drive manufacturers
- SSD manufacturers
- Network speeds (Mbps, Gbps)
- Cloud storage providers (often)
- Scientific applications
IEC Standard (1024-based):
- Windows operating system
- macOS (uses proper KiB, MiB, GiB)
- Linux (often uses proper notation)
- RAM specifications
- Programming and computer science
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