§ 01 / TOOL
Data Size Converter.
STATUS READYUNITS 11BASE BYTE
> CONVERT
// FROM
=
// TO
0.931323
RESULT.
GB → GiB
0.931323 GiB.
1 GB = 0.931323 GiB
§ 02 / ABOUT
How it works.
The converter that finally answers 1 GB or 1 GiB? — both are listed, correctly. SI (decimal) units use 1000 as the base; IEC (binary) units use 1024. Same byte count underneath; different naming convention.
// THE TWO SCALES
- Decimal / SI — KB, MB, GB, TB, PB. Each step ×1000. Used by hard drive manufacturers, ISPs, and Apple’s Finder.
- Binary / IEC — KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB. Each step ×1024. Used by RAM specs, Linux/BSD utilities, Windows file properties.
// THE GAP GROWS WITH SCALE
The decimal vs binary discrepancy is small at the kilobyte level (2.4%) but compounds. By the terabyte level it’s ~10%. A “1 TB” drive advertised in TB (decimal) shows as ~931 GiB in Windows. Both numbers are correct; they’re measuring the same bytes with different rulers.
// BITS VS BYTES
Network speeds are usually quoted in bits per second (Mbps, Gbps). File sizes are in bytes. To translate: divide bps by 8 to get B/s. A 100 Mbps connection downloads at about 12.5 MB/s.
§ 03 / FAQ
Common questions.
Is 1 GB equal to 1000 MB or 1024 MB?+
Both — depending on which standard. The SI (decimal) standard says 1 GB = 1,000 MB = 1,000,000,000 bytes. The IEC (binary) standard, written GiB, says 1 GiB = 1024 MiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. Storage manufacturers use decimal (so a "1 TB" drive is 1,000,000,000,000 bytes); operating systems often display binary (so the same drive shows as 931 GiB). The naming convention (GB vs GiB) is what tells you which.
Why do hard drives "lose" capacity?+
They don’t. A 1 TB drive has 1 trillion bytes (1,000,000,000,000) by SI definition. Windows and macOS Finder used to display sizes in binary (GiB) but call them "GB", which made the same drive look like 931 GB instead of 1000 GB. Modern macOS Finder switched to decimal in 2009; Windows still uses binary. The bytes are all there.
What’s a kibibyte (KiB) and why does it exist?+
In 1998 the IEC introduced the kibi/mebi/gibi prefixes specifically to disambiguate from the SI kilo/mega/giga. KiB = 1024 bytes; KB = 1000 bytes. Adoption is uneven — most disk vendors and ISPs use SI, most OS shells use binary, and the documentation doesn’t always specify. When precision matters, write KiB or KB explicitly.
How many bits in a byte?+
Eight, on every modern computer. Historically some architectures had 6, 7, or 9-bit bytes, but 8-bit has been universal for decades. Network speeds are measured in bits/sec (Mbps), but file sizes are in bytes (MB) — a "100 Mbps" connection downloads at about 12.5 MB/sec, not 100 MB/sec.
§ 04 / TOOLS
Related calculators.
§ 05 / READING