Popular conversions
4 pairsTerabyte ↔ Gigabyte
TB ↔ GB
Gigabyte ↔ Megabyte
GB ↔ MB
Megabyte ↔ Kilobyte
MB ↔ KB
Kilobyte ↔ Byte
KB ↔ B
Unit guides
11 unitsDetailed guide to Data Storage
Data storage units describe how much digital information can be stored or transmitted. They are used in software, hardware, networking and consumer devices.
Storage values can be expressed with decimal prefixes such as kilobyte and gigabyte, or with binary prefixes such as kibibyte and gibibyte when exact powers of two matter.
- Physical quantity group
- Digital information storage
- Base unit
- Byte
- Binary building block
- Bit
- Common prefixes
- kilo, mega, giga, tera and binary IEC forms
- Typical use
- Files, memory, storage devices and data transfer
Bits and bytes
A bit is the smallest binary unit and can represent one of two states. A byte is the standard practical storage unit and is typically made of eight bits.
Operating systems, file systems and network tools often show capacities in bytes and their prefixed forms.
Decimal and binary prefixes
Decimal storage units scale by powers of 1000: 1 kilobyte equals 1000 bytes and 1 gigabyte equals 1,000,000,000 bytes.
Binary IEC units scale by powers of 1024: 1 kibibyte equals 1024 bytes and 1 gibibyte equals 1024 mebibytes. This is why advertised drive capacity and operating-system values may not match exactly.
Where storage conversions are used
These conversions are useful when comparing disk sizes, memory specifications, file sizes and network transfer totals.
They also help explain why software downloads, SSD labels and RAM values can appear under slightly different units depending on the standard being used.
Data storage units
| Unit | Symbol | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Bit | bit | View unit guide |
| Byte | B | View unit guide |
| Kilobyte | KB | View unit guide |
| Megabyte | MB | View unit guide |
| Gigabyte | GB | View unit guide |
| Terabyte | TB | View unit guide |
| Petabyte | PB | View unit guide |
| Kibibyte | KiB | View unit guide |
| Mebibyte | MiB | View unit guide |
| Gibibyte | GiB | View unit guide |
| Tebibyte | TiB | View unit guide |
Sources
The definitions and conversion relationships on this page are aligned with standard metrology and SI reference material.