MB to GB Converter
Type megabytes to get gigabytes. Switch to binary to divide by 1024, the way Windows counts.
500 MB =
0.5GB
500 megabytes is 0.5 gigabytes.
- In binary units (1024)
- 0.4883 GiB
- 1 MB
- 0.001 GB
- 1 GB
- 1,000 MB
How to convert MB to GB
Divide megabytes by 1,000. In the SI system, which storage makers, phone carriers and macOS use, mega means a million and giga a billion, so a gigabyte holds exactly 1,000 megabytes. A 3,500 MB folder of holiday photos is 3.5 GB.
Windows and some older software count in powers of two instead: they divide by 1,024 but still print “MB” and “GB”. The correct names for those units are mebibyte (MiB) and gibibyte (GiB). The same folder measured as 3,500 MiB is 3.418 GiB, which is the figure File Explorer would show.
The difference is about 2.4% at this step, and it compounds as the prefixes climb: a gibibyte is 7.4% larger than a gigabyte, and a tebibyte 10% larger than a terabyte.
gigabytes = megabytes ÷ 1,000
- The IEC binary prefixes kibi, mebi and gibi (Ki, Mi, Gi) mean 2¹⁰, 2²⁰ and 2³⁰, so that kilo, mega and giga can keep their SI meanings of 10³, 10⁶ and 10⁹. Source: NIST, Prefixes for binary multiples (IEC 80000-13).
How to estimate MB to GB in your head
Move the decimal point three places to the left: 850 MB is 0.85 GB, 12,400 MB is 12.4 GB. That is exact for SI units.
If the number came from Windows, knock about 2% off the result to get binary gigabytes: 5,000 MB becomes roughly 4.9 GB instead of 5. For a phone data allowance or a cloud quota, the plain decimal answer is the one that matters.
Megabytes to gigabytes chart
Decimal gigabytes (÷ 1000), and the binary figure when both sizes are counted in powers of two (MiB to GiB, ÷ 1024).
| Megabytes | Gigabytes (÷ 1000) | Same number in MiB → GiB |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0.001 | 0.0009766 |
| 10 | 0.01 | 0.009766 |
| 50 | 0.05 | 0.04883 |
| 100 | 0.1 | 0.09766 |
| 250 | 0.25 | 0.2441 |
| 500 | 0.5 | 0.4883 |
| 700 | 0.7 | 0.6836 |
| 750 | 0.75 | 0.7324 |
| 1,000 | 1 | 0.9766 |
| 1,024 | 1.024 | 1 |
Show all 20 rowsShow fewer
| 1,500 | 1.5 | 1.4648 |
| 2,000 | 2 | 1.9531 |
| 2,048 | 2.048 | 2 |
| 4,096 | 4.096 | 4 |
| 5,000 | 5 | 4.8828 |
| 8,192 | 8.192 | 8 |
| 10,000 | 10 | 9.7656 |
| 25,000 | 25 | 24.4141 |
| 50,000 | 50 | 48.8281 |
| 100,000 | 100 | 97.6563 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is 1 GB 1000 MB or 1024 MB?
Both answers are in use. By the SI and IEC standards 1 GB is 1,000 MB, and 1,024 MiB make 1 GiB. Windows writes GiB as “GB”, so in File Explorer 1 GB means 1,024 of its MB.
How many GB is 500 MB?
500 MB is 0.5 GB, half a gigabyte. In binary units, 500 MiB is 0.4883 GiB.
Why does my phone plan count megabytes differently from my computer?
Carriers bill in decimal units, the same as the SI. Your computer may report the same download in binary units, which makes the number look about 5% smaller at the megabyte level and 7% smaller at the gigabyte level.