Convert Megabytes to Gigabytes
Megabytes to gigabytes is probably the most common storage conversion there is — it's how you turn a pile of MB-sized files into the GB figure your phone or drive reports. In the decimal convention that storage is sold in, one gigabyte is exactly 1000 megabytes.
Megabytes to Gigabytes conversion table
| Megabytes (MB) | Gigabytes (GB) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 0.001 |
| 2 | 0.002 |
| 3 | 0.003 |
| 5 | 0.005 |
| 10 | 0.01 |
| 20 | 0.02 |
| 50 | 0.05 |
| 100 | 0.1 |
| 500 | 0.5 |
| 1,000 | 1 |
The formula
To convert megabytes to gigabytes, divide the size in megabytes by 1000:
gigabytes = megabytes ÷ 1000
A worked example
Say a photo album on your phone comes to 4800 MB and you want it in gigabytes:
4800 ÷ 1000 = 4.8 GB
The digits are unchanged — the decimal point moves three places left.
Decimal vs binary — the everyday mismatch
This page uses the decimal (SI) rule: 1 GB = 1000 MB, the way phones, drives, and data plans are labelled. Your operating system often counts in binary, where a "gigabyte" is a gibibyte of 1024 mebibytes. That's why 4800 MB here is 4.8 GB, but a file manager doing binary math might call the same data about 4.69 GiB. Same files, two different rulers.
When you'll use it
Working out whether a folder of downloads fits in your remaining GB, adding app sizes toward a storage total, or checking a photo or video library against the space left on your phone.
Frequently asked questions
How many megabytes are in a gigabyte?
1000 in the decimal convention. So to go from MB to GB you divide by 1000.
Why does my music library seem to take more space than the file sizes add up to?
Partly rounding, and partly the decimal-versus-binary gap: your OS may report space in binary gigabytes (gibibytes) while the files are summed in decimal megabytes, so the totals don't line up neatly.
Is dividing by 1000 exact?
In the decimal convention, yes — you just slide the decimal point three places to the left.