MB vs GB vs TB: Data Storage Sizes Explained Simply
How big is a gigabyte? How many photos fit in 1 TB? Simple explanation of data storage units with real-world examples.
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Your phone says you have 3.2 GB of storage left. The iCloud plan offers 200 GB for $2.99/month. A hard drive is 2 TB. What do these numbers actually mean in real life?
The Scale
- 1 KB (kilobyte) = A few paragraphs of text
- 1 MB (megabyte) = A high-res photo, a minute of MP3
- 1 GB (gigabyte) = About 250 songs, or 500 photos, or 1 hour of Netflix (SD)
- 1 TB (terabyte) = 250,000 photos, or 500 hours of video, or about 6.5 million document pages
Real-World Examples
A smartphone photo: 3-8 MB (depending on camera quality)
A 3-minute song (MP3): 3-5 MB
A 2-hour movie (1080p): 3-6 GB
A video game: 30-150 GB
Windows operating system: About 20 GB
Convert Between Units
The Data Storage Converter converts between bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB, and PB instantly. Useful when you're comparing storage plans, estimating backup sizes, or figuring out if that file will fit on your USB drive.
The Confusion: MB vs Mb
Capital B = bytes (storage). Lowercase b = bits (speed). Internet speeds are measured in Mbps (megabits per second). File sizes are measured in MB (megabytes). 1 byte = 8 bits. So 100 Mbps internet downloads at about 12.5 MB per second. This is why your "100 Mbps" internet doesn't download a 100 MB file in 1 second.