# Data Storage Converter

- **URL:** https://codeasystem.com/calculators/conversion/data-storage-converter/
- **Category:** conversion
- **Description:** Convert bits, bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB and their binary KiB–TiB counterparts, choosing between decimal (1000) and binary (1024) standards.
- **Primary output:** Conversion: 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB

## Inputs
- Value (name: `value`, type: number, example: 1)
- Standard (name: `standard`, type: select)
- From (name: `from`, type: select)
- To (name: `to`, type: select)

## Outputs
- Conversion: 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB
- In bytes: 1,073,741,824
- In MB: 1,024
- In GB: 1
- 1 GiB equals: 1,024 MiB

## Formula / methodology
```
result = value × factor(from) ÷ factor(to)
Binary standard: KB = 1024 B   Decimal standard: KB = 1000 B
KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB are always powers of 1024
```

Everything reduces to bytes. The IEC binary prefixes KiB, MiB, GiB and TiB are always powers of 1024, while KB, MB, GB and TB follow whichever standard you select; 1000 for drive marketing (decimal) or 1024 for operating-system reporting (binary, the default).

## Assumptions & limitations
- Results are rounded only for display; full precision is used internally.
- Conversions use exact standard definitions of each unit.

## How to use
1. **Pick the standard**; Binary matches how operating systems report file sizes; decimal matches drive box labels.
2. **Enter the amount**; Bits and bytes both accepted; 1 byte = 8 bits automatically.
3. **Compare nearby units**; Rows show megabyte and gigabyte equivalents alongside your target unit.

## Example
One gibibyte of RAM is exactly 1024 mebibytes, which is why memory modules come in power-of-two sizes.

Result for these inputs:

```
Conversion: 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB
```

## About this calculator
### Why your 1 TB drive shows 931 GB

Drive makers count terabytes as 10¹² bytes (decimal); operating systems divide by 1024 four times (binary). The gap is about 7% per terabyte step, so a “1 TB” disk reports roughly 909 GiB; nothing is missing, the rulers differ.

### KiB was invented for clarity

Since 1998 the IEC has reserved KiB, MiB and GiB for unambiguous 1024-based sizes. Adoption remains patchy, which is why a standard selector still matters more than twenty-five years later.

### Bits versus bytes

Network speeds advertise bits; a “300 Mbps” line moves at most 37.5 MB/s; while storage counts bytes. Confusing the two overstates download capacity by exactly eight times.

## FAQs
### When should I choose decimal?

When comparing advertised drive or SSD capacities, bandwidth plans, or anything marketing quotes; those use 1000-based kilo, mega and giga prefixes.

### Why does memory use binary sizes?

RAM addressing is inherently power-of-two, so modules ship in gibibytes even when labeled GB; under the binary standard the two spellings coincide.

### Is a kibibyte ever 1000 bytes?

Never. KiB is defined as 1024 bytes; only the KB spelling switches meaning with the selected standard.

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Last updated: 2026-08-23 · Version: 1.0.0 · [HTML version](https://codeasystem.com/calculators/conversion/data-storage-converter/)