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Convert gibibytes to mebibytes

1 GiB = 1024 MiB

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Questions

How many mebibytes are in a gibibyte?

One gibibyte is 1024 mebibytes. To convert any amount, multiply by 1024. Going the other way, one mebibyte is 0.0009765625 gibibytes.

What is the formula to convert GiB to MiB?

Multiply the gibibyte figure by 1024. So MiB = GiB × 1024. For a quick mental estimate, multiplying by about 1024 gets you within a percent or so, which is close enough for most everyday purposes.

What does a gibibyte actually look like?

One gibibyte is what your OS calls a 'GB' of memory. A gibibyte is exactly 1,024³ bytes, about 7.4% more than a gigabyte. RAM is always sold in binary units even when storage is not.

And what is a mebibyte?

One mebibyte is about 5% more than a megabyte. A mebibyte is exactly 1,024² bytes. The binary prefixes — kibi, mebi, gibi — were standardised by the IEC in 1998 precisely to end the ambiguity, though adoption is patchy.

Why does my 1 TB drive show as only 931 GB?

Because two different definitions are in play. Storage manufacturers use decimal units — 1 TB means exactly one trillion bytes. Windows and many other systems display binary units but label them with decimal names, so they show that same drive as 931 "GB" when they mean 931 gibibytes. Nothing is missing and nothing is faulty; the drive holds exactly what it says, measured differently. The IEC standardised kibi, mebi and gibi in 1998 specifically to end this, but adoption has been patchy.

Is this conversion exact?

Yes — both decimal and binary prefixes are exactly defined powers, so every figure here is exact rather than approximate. The results are shown to seven significant figures; the underlying arithmetic uses full double precision.

About gib to mib

How to convert gibibytes to mebibytes

Multiply by 1024. One gibibyte is 1024 mebibytes, and one mebibyte is 0.0009765625 gibibytes.

MiB = GiB × 1024

Worked example

500 GiB = 512000 MiB. For a sense of scale, one gibibyte is what your OS calls a 'GB' of memory, and one mebibyte is about 5% more than a megabyte.

About the gibibyte

A gibibyte is exactly 1,024³ bytes, about 7.4% more than a gigabyte. RAM is always sold in binary units even when storage is not.

About the mebibyte

A mebibyte is exactly 1,024² bytes. The binary prefixes — kibi, mebi, gibi — were standardised by the IEC in 1998 precisely to end the ambiguity, though adoption is patchy.

Quick reference

gibibytesmebibytes
1 GiB1024 MiB
2 GiB2048 MiB
5 GiB5120 MiB
10 GiB10240 MiB
25 GiB25600 MiB
50 GiB51200 MiB
100 GiB102400 MiB
1000 GiB1024000 MiB

Getting it right

The decimal and binary prefixes are the trap: a kilobyte is 1,000 bytes but a kibibyte is 1,024, and the gap compounds at every step until a terabyte and a tebibyte differ by about 10%. Storage manufacturers use decimal, operating systems often display binary, and neither is wrong — they are simply different units.

Other data size conversions

Convert mebibytes back to gibibytes, or pick any other pair with the full unit converter. Related: GiB to KB, GiB to MB, GiB to GB.