Gibibyte (GiB)

ComputingCurrent unit

Exactly 1,073,741,824 bytes (2³⁰), about 7.4% larger than a gigabyte. Windows displays this as 'GB', which is why a 500 GB drive appears as about 465 GB.

1 gibibyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes (exactly).

1 gibibyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes

About the gibibyte

Gibibyte is the unit that explains why a new drive looks smaller than its box says. It is the IEC name, from December 1998, for 2 to the thirtieth bytes, or 1,073,741,824 bytes, chosen to denote powers of 1,024 unambiguously. A GiB is about 7.4 percent larger than a decimal gigabyte, so a drive advertised as 500 GB holds 500 billion bytes, which is about 465.7 GiB.

Windows reports that number with the label GB, so users see a shortfall. RAM is still counted in the binary sense, while hard drives, SSDs, flash media and optical discs are usually labeled in decimal units. Courts have held that the legal definition of GB is the decimal one. The symbol GiB is formed by adding an i to GB, and apart from KDE and Qt-based applications it is rarely used in practice.

Sources: Wikipedia: Gibibyte; NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples

Gibibyte conversion chart

1 gibibyte expressed in every other digital storage unit:

Unit1 gibibyte
Bytes1,073,741,824
Kilobytes1,073,741.824
Megabytes1,073.741824
Gigabytes1.073741824
Terabytes0.001073741824
Bits8,589,934,592
Petabytes0.000001073741824
Kibibytes1,048,576
Mebibytes1,024
Tebibytes0.0009765625
Kilobits8,589,934.592
Megabits8,589.934592
Gigabits8.589934592
Exabytes1.073741824×10⁻⁹
Zettabytes1.073741824×10⁻¹²
Yottabytes1.073741824×10⁻¹⁵
Pebibytes9.536743164×10⁻⁷
Exbibytes9.313225746×10⁻¹⁰
Terabits0.008589934592
Kibibits8,388,608
Mebibits8,192
Gibibits8
Nibbles2,147,483,648

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