How to convert MB to GB (and GB to GiB)
A drive maker's 500 GB is not your operating system's 500 GB — one counts in powers of 1000, the other in powers of 1024. Enter the value, pick the convention, and read every unit at once, from bits to tebibytes.
Step by step
Open the data-size converter
Start the free converter — the math runs in your browser.
Enter the value and its unit
Type a non-negative number and choose its unit, from bits and bytes up to TB or TiB.
Pick the decimal convention
Choose SI mode for powers of 1000, or legacy mode where the KB–TB labels intentionally use powers of 1024.
Read every unit at once
1 GB in SI mode is exactly 1,000,000,000 bytes — about 0.9313 GiB — and 8,000,000,000 bits.
Copy the unit you need
Move the byte total, the MiB figure, or any other value into your configuration or documentation.
Tips that save a second try
IEC binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB, TiB) always use powers of 1024 — 2¹⁰, 2²⁰, 2³⁰, 2⁴⁰ bytes — regardless of the SI/legacy switch.
One byte is exactly eight bits; use the bit view to translate network payloads into storage terms.
The conversion covers a single scalar value — transfer time, protocol overhead, compression, and disk formatting are outside the calculation.
Common questions
What is the difference between GB and GiB?
In SI mode, 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. One GiB is always 1,073,741,824 bytes, so 1 GB is about 0.9313 GiB.
How many bits are in a byte?
Eight. The converter uses that exact relationship for bit-to-byte conversions.