Data and storage converters
Data converters: bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB plus binary equivalents (KiB/MiB/GiB/TiB). Storage capacity calculator and download time estimator for real-world planning.
Last updated: May 2026
Core data and storage tools
What common file and storage sizes look like
Storage numbers are hard to visualise because they span many orders of magnitude. A single character of text is one byte. A short email is a few kilobytes. A smartphone photo is 3 to 8 MB. A one-hour 4K video recording is 20 to 100 GB depending on codec and bitrate. The table below gives reference sizes for common file types so you can plan capacity before you run out.
| File type | Typical size | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plain text document (1 page) | 5 to 10 KB | No images; a 1000-page novel is about 1 MB |
| Smartphone photo (JPEG) | 3 to 8 MB | 12-16 MP; RAW format is 20-40 MB per shot |
| MP3 audio (3-minute song) | 3 to 8 MB | 128 to 320 kbps; FLAC lossless is 20-30 MB |
| HD video (1080p, 1 hour) | 4 to 8 GB | Streaming-compressed; raw camera footage is much larger |
| 4K video (1 hour) | 20 to 100 GB | Depends on codec (H.264 vs H.265 vs ProRes) |
| App or game install | 100 MB to 100 GB | Mobile apps: 50-500 MB; PC and console games: 20-100 GB |
Planning storage for backup and everyday use
A standard photo library for an active smartphone user grows at roughly 3 to 5 GB per month. A year of photos is 40 to 60 GB. For NAS backup planning, the 3-2-1 rule works well: three copies, on two different media types, with one offsite. A 4 TB NAS drive holds about 500,000 smartphone photos at average JPEG quality.
Cloud storage tiers usually align to decimal gigabytes: Google One offers 15 GB free (enough for roughly 2000 photos at 8 MB each), then 100 GB, 200 GB and 2 TB. Network speed determines how long a backup takes: a 100 Mbps upload connection moves 12.5 MB per second, so uploading 50 GB takes about 70 minutes. The Mbps to MB/s converter handles any speed calculation.
Related tools
Data size calculations often connect to display and media work. File resolution, DPI and aspect ratio all affect how large a file will be.
Decimal vs binary sizes (quick reference)
| Step | Decimal (SI: KB, MB, GB) | Binary (IEC: KiB, MiB, GiB) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 K | 1,000 bytes | 1,024 bytes |
| 1 M | 1,000 KB | 1,024 KiB |
| 1 G | 1,000 MB | 1,024 MiB |
| 1 T | 1,000 GB | 1,024 GiB |
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does my hard drive show less space than advertised?
Drive makers count in decimal, so a 1 TB drive holds 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. Most operating systems display binary units, where 1 TiB is 1,099,511,627,776 bytes, so the same drive shows about 931 GiB. Nothing is missing; it is two ways of counting.
What is the difference between MB and MiB?
MB is decimal (1,000,000 bytes) and MiB is binary (1,048,576 bytes), a difference of about 4.9 percent that grows at each step. The IEC names KiB, MiB and GiB exist specifically to remove that ambiguity.
How do I convert Mbps to MB/s?
Divide by 8, because there are 8 bits in a byte. A 200 Mbps connection is about 25 MB/s in theory; real transfers run a little lower because of protocol overhead.
How long will a download take?
Divide the file size by the speed once both are in the same unit (convert Mbps to MB/s first). A 5 GB file at 25 MB/s takes roughly 200 seconds. The download time estimator does this for you.
How many photos or songs fit on a drive?
Divide the usable capacity by the average file size. A 12-megapixel photo is roughly 4 MB and a streamed-quality song is about 4 MB, so 64 GB holds on the order of 16,000 of either. The storage calculator works this out.
What is a good internet speed for streaming 4K video?
4K streaming typically requires 15 to 25 Mbps for standard quality and up to 50 Mbps for HDR. In MB/s that is about 2 to 6 MB/s. The Mbps to MB/s converter translates any advertised speed into real file transfer terms.
How do I calculate how long a backup will take?
Divide the backup size in MB by your upload speed in MB/s. A 50 GB backup (51,200 MB) at 12.5 MB/s (100 Mbps) takes about 4100 seconds, roughly 68 minutes. Real-world speeds are typically 30 to 60 percent of the headline figure due to protocol overhead.
What is the difference between storage space and RAM?
Storage (SSD, HDD, flash drive) holds data when the power is off and is measured in GB or TB. RAM is working memory the processor uses while running and is also measured in GB, but is typically 8 to 64 GB in a modern device. Increasing RAM does not add storage capacity and vice versa.