Data Storage Converter
Why a 500 GB drive shows up smaller in your operating system, answered in numbers.
Your numbers
Your results
Bits
Bits
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Bytes
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Kilobytes (1,000 B)
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Megabytes (10⁶ B)
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Gigabytes (10⁹ B)
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Terabytes (10¹² B)
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Kibibytes (1,024 B)
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Mebibytes (1,024² B)
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Gibibytes (1,024³ B)
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Tebibytes (1,024⁴ B)
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Data Storage Converter by TheCalcTools
How the Data Storage Converter works
Enter the amount and choose its unit.
Decimal units (KB, MB, GB) use powers of 1,000; binary units (KiB, MiB, GiB) use powers of 1,024.
Compare the two sets to see the gap.
The formula
result = value × (factor of the ‘from’ unit ÷ factor of the ‘to’ unit)1 GB = 10⁹ B, 1 GiB = 2³⁰ B = 1,073,741,824 B, 1 B = 8 bits
Worked example
Using the default values shown in the calculator:
| Value | 500 |
|---|---|
| From | Gigabytes (10⁹ B) |
- 500 Gigabytes (10⁹ B) equals 4000000000000.00 Bits ; 500000000000.00 Bytes ; 500000000.00 Kilobytes (1,000 B).
Result:
| Bits | 4000000000000.00 |
|---|---|
| Bytes | 500000000000.00 |
| Kilobytes (1,000 B) | 500000000.00 |
| Megabytes (10⁶ B) | 500000.00 |
| Gigabytes (10⁹ B) | 500.0000 |
| Terabytes (10¹² B) | 0.500000 |
| Kibibytes (1,024 B) | 488281250.00 |
| Mebibytes (1,024² B) | 476837.16 |
| Gibibytes (1,024³ B) | 465.6613 |
| Tebibytes (1,024⁴ B) | 0.454747 |
Frequently asked questions
Why does my 1 TB drive show about 931 GB?
Manufacturers use decimal terabytes (10¹² bytes) while many systems report in binary units (GiB). 10¹² bytes is about 931.3 GiB.
How many bits are in a byte?
Eight. Network speeds use bits per second, storage uses bytes.
Sources and further reading
Related calculators
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This calculator gives estimates for information only. Check important results independently before you rely on them. See our disclaimer.