Bytes to GB Converter
Bytes to GB is one division, and the number you divide by depends on which gigabyte you mean: 1,073,741,824 bytes to the binary gigabyte, which is the gibibyte (GiB) that Windows and most file managers report as GB, and 1,000,000,000 bytes to the decimal gigabyte (GB) that drive and phone makers print on the box. This page opens with Byte in the From box and Gibibyte in the To box, ahead of whatever pair the converter last remembered, so 1,073,741,824 bytes reads 1 GiB, 2,147,483,648 bytes reads 2 GiB and 5,000,000,000 bytes reads 4.65661287308 GiB. The decimal answer is never hidden behind a setting: the list under the headline prints the same byte count in bits, kB, MB, GB, TB, KiB, MiB, GiB and TiB together, so 5,000,000,000 bytes shows as 4.65661287308 GiB and as exactly 5 GB on one screen. The swap button between the two boxes reverses the pair, which turns the page into a gibibytes to bytes converter without a reload.
1 B in every digital storage unit
Common questions
- How many bytes are in a GB?
- It depends on which gigabyte, and both are on this page. The binary gigabyte, properly the gibibyte (GiB), is 2 to the 30th power, so 1,073,741,824 bytes, and that is what Windows and most file managers mean when they write GB. The decimal gigabyte (GB) is 1,000,000,000 bytes, and that is what a drive, a phone or a data plan is sold in. The binary figure doubles the way you would expect: 2 GiB is 2,147,483,648 bytes, 4 GiB is 4,294,967,296 bytes, 8 GiB is 8,589,934,592 bytes and 64 GiB is 68,719,476,736 bytes.
- What is the formula for bytes to GB?
- GiB = bytes / 1,073,741,824 for the binary reading, and GB = bytes / 1,000,000,000 for the decimal one. This page arrives with the binary reading in the To box, and picking Gigabyte (GB) in that menu switches the headline to the decimal one, though you do not have to: both already appear in the list under the answer. Going the other way, bytes = GiB x 1,073,741,824 and bytes = GB x 1,000,000,000, and the swap button between the boxes sets that direction up for you.
- Worked example: how many GB is 5,000,000,000 bytes?
- 4.65661287308 GiB, and exactly 5 GB in decimal. Type 5,000,000,000 into the From box, with or without the commas, and 5e9 is read the same way. The list underneath gives the rest of the same number: 40,000,000,000 bits, 5,000,000 kB, 5,000 MB, 0.005 TB, 4,882,812.5 KiB and 4,768.37158203 MiB. Each row has its own Copy button, and Copy result in the row above copies the headline figure itself, without the thousands separators it is displayed with.
- Why does my 1 TB drive show up as about 931 GB?
- Because the box was counting in decimal and the operating system is counting in binary. A 1 TB drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, and this page turns that into 931.322574615 GiB, which the file manager then labels GB. Nothing is missing and nothing was taken: it is one quantity of bytes under two definitions of the same word. The same gap runs the other way, so a 1,000,000,000 byte file is 0.931322574615 GiB, and 250,000,000,000 bytes is 232.830643654 GiB.
- Is a kilobyte 1,000 bytes or 1,024?
- Both units are in the list, labelled apart, because both are in use. A kilobyte (kB) is 1,000 bytes and a kibibyte (KiB) is 1,024 bytes, and the same split repeats at every step: MB is 1,000,000 bytes against 1,048,576 for MiB, and GB is 1,000,000,000 against 1,073,741,824 for GiB. The gap widens as the unit grows, from 2.4 percent at kB against KiB to 7.4 percent at GB against GiB, which is why the disagreement only becomes obvious at drive sizes.
- Why does 1 byte come back as 9.313226e-10 GiB?
- Because one byte is 1/1,073,741,824 of a gibibyte, and that is the honest way to print it. Results are shown to 12 significant digits, and anything smaller than 0.000001 switches to exponential notation rather than a row of leading zeros, so 1 byte reads 9.313226e-10 GiB and 1,000 bytes reads 9.313226e-7 GiB. Once the numbers reach a size a person reads, the decimal form comes back: 500,000,000 bytes is 0.465661287308 GiB. If a small figure is what you want, pick a smaller unit, since 1,048,576 bytes is a clean 1 MiB.
- How do I convert GB back to bytes?
- Press the swap button between the two boxes and the page becomes gibibytes to bytes: 1 GiB gives 1,073,741,824, half a gibibyte gives 536,870,912, 16 GiB gives 17,179,869,184 and 32 GiB gives 34,359,738,368. To work in decimal gigabytes instead, choose Gigabyte (GB) in the From menu after swapping, where 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Both unit menus stay open throughout, so the same figure goes to megabytes, kibibytes or bits without leaving the page.
- Why does the page open on bytes and gibibytes when I last converted something else?
- Because a page that names a pair should show that pair. This one sets bytes and gibibytes on arrival, ahead of whatever the converter last remembered, and it leaves the main unit converter alone: go back to the converter itself and it is still on the pair you left it on. The number you last typed does travel with you, since it is usually the one you are still working on.
- Is anything I type sent anywhere?
- No. The conversion is arithmetic against a table of factors that ships with the page, so it runs in your browser with nothing uploaded and no account, and it keeps working with no network connection once the page has loaded.
Conversion factors are the exact legal definitions where one exists. An inch is exactly 2.54 cm and a pound exactly 0.45359237 kg, so those conversions are exact rather than approximate. Temperature uses offsets rather than factors, and that is shown in the working.