Data Storage Converter

KB (kilobyte) uses decimal (SI) and equals 1,000 bytes. KiB (kibibyte) uses binary (IEC) and equals 1,024 bytes (2^10). This 2.4% difference compounds at larger sizes: 1 GB = 1 billion bytes, but 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes (about 7% more).

Drive manufacturers use decimal units (1 TB = 1 trillion bytes), but many operating systems display binary units. 1 trillion bytes ÷ 1024³ = 931 GiB. So your "1 TB" drive shows about 931 GB in Windows. The "missing" space isn't actually missing—it's a unit mismatch.

In decimal (SI): 1 GB = 1,000 MB exactly. In binary (IEC): 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB. Most modern systems and file sizes use decimal for display, but some older systems and technical contexts use binary. Always check which system is being used.

A bit (b) is the smallest unit of data: a single 0 or 1. A byte (B) is 8 bits and can represent 256 values (2^8). Internet speeds use bits per second (Mbps), while storage uses bytes (MB). 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s because 100 ÷ 8 = 12.5.

Decimal (×1000): Kilo (K), Mega (M), Giga (G), Tera (T), Peta (P), Exa (E), Zetta (Z), Yotta (Y). Binary (×1024): Kibi (Ki), Mebi (Mi), Gibi (Gi), Tebi (Ti), Pebi (Pi), Exbi (Ei), Zebi (Zi), Yobi (Yi). Each step is 1000× or 1024× larger.

Divide file size (in bits) by speed (in bits per second). Example: 1 GB file at 100 Mbps: 1 GB = 8,000 Mb (megabits). 8,000 Mb ÷ 100 Mbps = 80 seconds. Remember: speeds are in bits, files are in bytes, so multiply file size by 8.

Text email: 10-50 KB. Photo (smartphone): 3-5 MB. MP3 song (4 min): 3-10 MB. HD movie (2 hrs): 4-8 GB. 4K movie: 15-25 GB. Operating system: 10-30 GB. Video game: 30-150 GB. These vary based on quality and compression.

The yottabyte (YB) = 10^24 bytes (1 septillion bytes) in decimal, or yobibyte (YiB) = 2^80 bytes in binary. For context, all data ever created by humanity is estimated at 40-50 zettabytes (one step smaller). A yottabyte would hold about 250 trillion DVDs.