Gigabyte (GB) to Megabyte (MB) Conversion

To convert gigabytes (GB) to megabytes (MB), these are the basic conversion units:

1 GB = 1000 MB (in decimal)
1 GB = 1024 MB (in binary)

How many Megabytes in a Gigabyte

1 Gigabyte is equal to 1000 megabytes (in the decimal system).

1 GB is 10³ (1000) MB in base 10.

1 Gigabyte is equal to 1024 megabytes (in the binary system).

1 GB = 2¹⁰ (1024) MB in base 2.

The difference between GB and MB

The Gigabyte unit symbol is GB. The Megabyte unit symbol is MB.

Gigabyte is bigger than a Megabyte.

GB has the prefix Giga. MB has the prefix Mega.

Gigabyte is 1000 times or 1024 times bigger than Megabyte depending on whether you’re using the decimal or binary system.

Gigabytes vs Megabytes

Gigabytes (GB)	Megabytes (MB)
10⁹ bytes (in base 10)	10⁶ bytes (in base 10)
1000³ bytes	1000² bytes
1 billion bytes	1 million bytes
2³⁰ bytes (in base 2)	2²⁰ bytes (in base 2)
1.074 billion (1,073,741,824) bytes	1.049 million (1,048,576) bytes
1 billion × 8 bits	1 million × 8 bits
8 billion bits	8 million bits

Gigabytes Definition

Gigabyte (GB) is one of the most commonly used units with respect to measuring the size of digital information. It’s used in the sense of what amount of information is being stored or transferred. The term gigabyte, or GB, is used widely in info tech (IT) and computer technology.

GB is typically used to measure the size of computer memory or to indicate the size of a file (music, movie, show, or any type of digitally stored information), computer RAM, and so forth.

A single-layer DVD can generally store up to around 5 GB at the most. A Blu-ray disc can store up to around 25 GB.

A gigabyte is equal to 1 billion bytes.

But in computer science, the value of 1 GB is considered to be equal to 2³⁰ or 1024³ bytes. This is equal to about 1.07 billion bytes (1,073,741,824 bytes, to be precise).

Gigabyte in SI and base 10 (decimal)
1 Gigabyte = 1000³ bytes
1 Gigabyte = 1 billion bytes
Gigabyte in base 2 (binary)
1 Gigabyte = 2³⁰ bytes
1 Gigabyte = 1024³ bytes
1 Gigabyte = 1.074 billion bytes

Megabytes Definition

Megabyte (MB) is a unit of stored or transferred digital information. Under the decimal system (SI), one MB is the equivalent of 1 million bytes.

Under the binary system, 1 megabyte is 2²⁰ B, which comes to 1,048,576 bytes.

In today’s world, megabytes commonly refers to the amount of information stored or transferred when it comes to smaller files, such as JPEG, PNG image, MP3 file, and similar.

Megabyte in SI and base 10 (decimal)
1 Megabyte = 1000² bytes
1 Megabyte = 1 million bytes
Megabyte in base 2 (binary)
1 Megabyte = 2²⁰ bytes
1 Megabyte = 1024² bytes
1 Megabyte = 1.049 million bytes (1,048,576 bytes)

How to Convert Gigabytes (GB) to Megabytes (MB)?

Gigabyte in decimal / SI
1 Gigabyte = 1000³ bytes

1MB = 1000² bytes, therefore:
1 Gigabyte = 1,000 * 1 Megabyte
1 Gigabyte = 1,000 Megabytes
Gigabyte in binary / base 2

1 Gigabyte = 2³⁰ bytes
1 Gigabyte = 1024³ bytes
1MB = 1024² bytes, therefore:
1 Gigabyte = 1024 * 1024² bytes
1 Gigabyte = 1024 * 1 Megabyte
1 Gigabyte = 1024 MB
1 Gigabyte = 2¹⁰ Megabytes