Gibibytes to Kibibytes (GiB to KiB)
1 gibibyte equals 1,048,576 kibibytes exactly.
How to convert gibibytes to kibibytes
To convert gibibytes to kibibytes, multiply the number of gibibytes by 1,048,576. This factor is exact. To go the other way, multiply kibibytes by 9.536743164×10⁻⁷ (rounded).
kibibytes = gibibytes × 1,048,576
Example: 10 gibibytes = 10,485,760 kibibytes.
Decimal prefixes (kB, MB, GB) are powers of 1,000; binary prefixes (KiB, MiB, GiB) are powers of 1,024. Storage makers use decimal; Windows reports binary but labels it GB.
About these units
Gibibyte (GiB)
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.
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.
1 gibibyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes (exactly).
Sources: Wikipedia: Gibibyte; NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples
Kibibyte (KiB)
Exactly 1,024 bytes (2¹⁰). The IEC name for the binary kilobyte, used by operating systems and memory specifications.
Kibibyte is the first of the names the IEC approved in December 1998 for binary multiples, built from kilobinary. The IUPAC's Interdivisional Committee on Nomenclature and Symbols had proposed binary prefixes in 1995, and the IEC published them in January 1999. The symbol KiB adds an i to the SI symbol, with the K capitalized. NIST says the names keep the first two letters of each SI prefix and add bi, to signal binary.
One KiB is exactly 1,024 bytes, about 2.4 percent more than a kilobyte. The standard is now IEC 80000-13, supported by the BIPM, IEC and NIST. In practice the symbols are rarely used outside a few places such as KDE and Qt-based applications, which can switch between SI and binary units. Donald Knuth jokingly suggested in 1999 calling it a large kilobyte, KKB.
1 kibibyte = 1,024 bytes (exactly).
Sources: NIST: Prefixes for binary multiples; Wikipedia: Kibibyte
Related conversions
- Kibibytes to gibibytes (reverse)
- Gibibytes to bytes
- Gibibytes to kilobytes
- Gibibytes to megabytes
- Gibibytes to gigabytes
- Gibibytes to terabytes
- Gibibytes to bits
- Gibibytes to petabytes
- Gibibytes to mebibytes
- Gibibytes to tebibytes
- Gibibytes to kilobits
- Gibibytes to megabits
- Gibibytes to gigabits
- Bytes to kibibytes
- Kilobytes to kibibytes
- Megabytes to kibibytes
- Gigabytes to kibibytes
- Terabytes to kibibytes
- Bits to kibibytes
- Petabytes to kibibytes
- Mebibytes to kibibytes
- Tebibytes to kibibytes
- Kilobits to kibibytes
- Megabits to kibibytes
- Gigabits to kibibytes
See all digital storage units.