How many bits are in a terabyte?

One SI terabyte (TB) equals 8,000,000,000,000 bits (8 × 10^12). One IEC tebibyte (TiB) equals 8,796,093,022,208 bits (8 × 2^40). The ~9.95% gap is why storage drives appear smaller in your OS than on the packaging.

What is the difference between TB and TiB?

TB (terabyte) is the SI decimal unit: 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. TiB (tebibyte) is the IEC binary unit: 1 TiB = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes. Hard drive makers use TB; Linux, Windows, and macOS report sizes in TiB but often display the label "TB."

Why does my 1 TB drive show as ~909 GB in Windows?

Drive manufacturers count in SI (1 TB = 10^12 bytes). Windows reports in binary tebibytes but labels them "GB" or "TB." 10^12 ÷ 2^40 ≈ 0.909, so 1 TB ≈ 0.909 TiB, which Windows displays as roughly 909 GB.

How do I convert Tbps (terabits per second) to TB/s?

Divide the terabit value by 8. For example, a 10 Tbps backbone link can transfer 1.25 TB/s in SI terms, or about 1.136 TiB/s in binary terms. This tool handles the bit-to-byte conversion step automatically.

Can I enter values larger than terabits?

The "Convert from" dropdown includes petabits, so you can scale large inputs before computing terabytes. JavaScript floating-point handles values accurately across the full range needed for practical data-size conversions.

Bits to Terabytes Converter

Name: Bits to Terabytes Converter
Availability: InStock
Author: Nham Vu

Enter a bit count and instantly see the equivalent in terabytes (SI decimal) and tebibytes (IEC binary).

Input Value

Amount

Convert from

Quick Reference

1 TB (SI) = 8,000,000,000,000 bits
1 TiB (Binary) = 8,796,093,022,208 bits
1 Tbps = 0.125 TB/s

Results

Enter a value and click Convert to see results.

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Summary

Enter a bit count and instantly see the equivalent in terabytes (SI decimal) and tebibytes (IEC binary).

How it works

Enter any number of bits in the input field.
Optionally change the "Convert from" unit if your value is already in kilobits, megabits, gigabits, or terabits.
Click Convert (or press Enter) to calculate.
The converter divides by 8 to get bytes, then divides by 10^12 for TB (SI) and 2^40 for TiB (binary).
Copy any result with the copy icon next to it.

Use cases

Check how many terabytes a large dataset or backup archive occupies when given only a bit count.
Convert network throughput from terabits per second to terabytes per second.
Translate storage specs between marketing labels (SI) and OS reports (binary).
Calculate video archive or cloud storage sizes from raw bitrate and duration data.
Understand why a "1 TB" drive shows as ~909 GiB in your operating system.
Convert backbone or data-center bandwidth expressed in Tbps to practical TB/s values.

Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 2026-07-22 · Reviewed by Nham Vu