In the decimal system (SI), 1 GB = 1000 MB. However, in binary calculation, 1 GiB = 1024 MiB. Storage device manufacturers typically use the decimal system to label capacity.

How large are TB, PB, and EB?

1 TB = 1000 GB, 1 PB = 1000 TB, 1 EB = 1000 PB. One EB is approximately equal to 1 billion GB, enough to store hundreds of millions of high-definition photos.

💾 Data Storage

Convert between Bit, Byte, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB

Enter Value

Input Unit

Bit8.5899e+9

Byte (B)1.0737e+9

Kilobyte (KB)1.0486e+6

Megabyte (MB)1.0240e+3

Gigabyte (GB)1

Terabyte (TB)9.7656e-4

Petabyte (PB)9.5367e-7

Data Storage Converter Guide

This calculator converts between bits, bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, and other storage units. Note the difference between decimal (1KB=1000B) and binary (1KiB=1024B) conversions.

Storage manufacturers typically use decimal, while operating systems use binary — this is why a 1TB drive shows only about 931GB on your computer.

Storage Unit Conversion Reference

Binary conversion (IEC standard): - 1 KiB = 1,024 B - 1 MiB = 1,024 KiB = 1,048,576 B - 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB - 1 TiB = 1,024 GiB

Decimal conversion (SI standard): - 1 KB = 1,000 B - 1 MB = 1,000 KB - 1 GB = 1,000 MB - 1 TB = 1,000 GB

Common storage sizes: - One photo: 3-10MB - One song: 3-5MB - One movie: 1-4GB - One hard drive: 512GB-4TB

FAQ

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Data Storage Converter Instructions

The data storage converter supports conversion between bits, bytes (B), and binary prefix units (KB/MB/GB/TB/PB). Enter a value and select the source unit to see the equivalent value in all units.

This tool uses **binary conversion** (1KB = 1024B), which is the actual method used by operating systems and file systems. Note: Hard drive manufacturers typically use decimal labeling (1GB = 1000MB), which is why a "500GB hard drive" only shows about 465GB on your computer — the two standards differ by approximately 7%.

Data Storage Unit System

【Base Units】
1 Byte (B) = 8 bits
1 bit = the smallest unit of information (0 or 1)

【Binary Prefixes (used by this tool)】
1 KB (Kilobyte) = 2¹⁰ B = 1024 B
1 MB (Megabyte) = 2²⁰ B = 1024 KB ≈ 10⁶ B
1 GB (Gigabyte) = 2³⁰ B ≈ 10⁹ B
1 TB (Terabyte) = 2⁴⁰ B ≈ 10¹² B
1 PB (Petabyte) = 2⁵⁰ B ≈ 10¹⁵ B

【Decimal Prefixes (used by manufacturers)】
1 KB = 1000 B, 1 MB = 1000 KB (SI standard)

Conversion Examples

📋

【Example 1】Phone photo size A 12-megapixel photo (JPEG) ≈ 3-6 MB = 3072-6144 KB 1000 photos: about 3-6 GB 【Example 2】Video capacity estimation 1080p video: 1 hour ≈ 7-15 GB (depends on bitrate) 4K video: 1 hour ≈ 35-70 GB A movie (2h): about 14-140 GB 【Example 3】Hard drive actual available space Labeled 512GB SSD Actual: 512 × 1000³ / 1024³ ≈ 476 GB "Lost" about 36GB (7%) 【Example 4】Network data usage 1GB of data can browse: about 50,000 web pages Stream video (720p): about 2-3 hours Listen to music (320kbps): about 72 hours

Important Notes

💡

- bit is bit, B is Byte; 1B = 8bit. 100Mbps broadband ≠ 100MB/s; actual download is about 12.5MB/s - Operating systems display binary GiB (1024³) but often abbreviate it as GB - Hard drive manufacturers use decimal GB (10⁹), causing "labeled capacity > actual capacity" - USB drives/SD cards have the same issue: labeled 64GB is actually about 59.6 GiB - Unicode characters typically occupy 2-4B (UTF-8 encoding), Chinese characters generally occupy 3B

Application Scenarios

- Purchasing storage devices: Understand the difference between labeled and actual capacity
- Network bandwidth conversion: Convert Mbps to actual MB/s download speed
- Cloud service billing: AWS/Azure storage costs are calculated per GB/TB
- Media production planning: Storage needs assessment for photo/video projects
- Database management: Tablespace and backup file capacity monitoring

From KB to YB: The Data Explosion

When the IBM PC launched in 1981, the standard hard drive was only 10-20MB. Today, a smartphone has 256-512GB of storage — an increase of more than 20,000 times. The global data total is projected to reach 175 Zettabytes (ZB, 10²¹ bytes) by 2025, equivalent to about 26TB per person.

Even larger units have emerged: EB (Exabyte, 10¹⁸), ZB (Zettabyte, 10²¹), and Yottabyte (YB, 10²⁴). How big is 1 YB? If each byte stored one letter, it would require all 8 billion people on Earth to each read 200 million books to read it all. Data age storage demands continue to grow at approximately 25% per year.

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