Convert Binary and Decimal Prefixes

Calculator for decimal prefixes like kilo, mega, giga and binary prefixes like kibi, mebi, gibi. A prefix is set in front of a unit to make a larger unit, e.g. the prefix kilo in kilograms for 1000 grams. Bytes, which consist of the binary bits, sometimes instead with of multiples of 1000 (or 10³), are calculated with multiples of 1024 (or 2¹⁰). Of course, this gives different values. The correct denomination for these binary prefixes and their symbols can be found in the table below, where also the values can be converted. Just enter one value, the other values will be calculated.

without prefix:
decimal prefix			binary prefix
kilo	k		kibi	Ki
mega	M		mebi	Mi
giga	G		gibi	Gi
tera	T		tebi	Ti
peta	P		pebi	Pi
exa	E		exbi	Ei
zetta	Z		zebi	Zi
yotta	Y		yobi	Yi

Example: 1 gibibyte is about 1,0737 gigabytes.

Binary prefixes are defined by powers of two, decimal prefixes by powers of ten. For decimal prefixes, the powers for each of the prefixes listed here are increased by 3 for each step. Thus, kilo corresponds to 10³, mega to 10⁶, and so on. For binary prefixes, the powers are increased by 10. So, kibi corresponds to 2¹⁰, mebi to 2²⁰, and so on. 10³ equals 1000, and 2¹⁰ equals 1024. Thus, the decimal prefixes each represent a thousandfold increase, while the binary prefixes represent a slightly greater increase, which grows the further the prefixes increase. Kibi is only 2.4 percent more than kilo, while yobi is almost 21 percent more than yotta.
Humans usually calculate using base 10, i.e., the decimal system, and are therefore familiar with decimal prefixes. These are also commonplace, at least up to giga or tera. Computers, on the other hand, calculate using base 2, i.e., the binary system. For computer applications, such as determining memory size in bytes, it is often useful to calculate in binary. Nevertheless, binary prefixes are rarely encountered outside of a specialist area. Often, decimal prefixes are even mistakenly written instead of binary prefixes, when the latter are meant.

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Last updated on 07/01/2025. Author: Jürgen Kummer

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