Data Storage Converter

Data storage conversion can be confusing because two different standards exist: binary and decimal. Operating systems typically use binary (base-2), while storage manufacturers use decimal (base-10).

Binary Standard (Base-2)

• 1 KB = 1,024 bytes
• 1 MB = 1,024 KB = 1,048,576 bytes
• 1 GB = 1,024 MB = 1,073,741,824 bytes
• 1 TB = 1,024 GB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes
• 1 PB = 1,024 TB

Decimal Standard (Base-10)

• 1 KB = 1,000 bytes
• 1 MB = 1,000 KB = 1,000,000 bytes
• 1 GB = 1,000 MB = 1,000,000,000 bytes
• 1 TB = 1,000 GB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes
• 1 PB = 1,000 TB

This difference explains why a "1 TB" hard drive shows as about 931 GB in your operating system: the manufacturer uses decimal (1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes) but your OS displays in binary (dividing by 1,073,741,824).