Are you curious about how many photos, videos, songs, or voice memos fit on a 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage? Our Data Vault Calculator makes it easy to check. Quickly see how much space different files take up for each storage size.
This article explains how the calculator functions, enabling you to perform calculations independently. It covers essential definitions, provides examples, shares relevant formulas, and includes tables and answers to frequently asked questions.
Definitions
Let’s get started by understanding the key definitions. Understanding these terms will allow you to perform conversions confidently.
What is storage capacity?
The capacity of a storage device refers to the maximum amount of data it can store. It is sometimes called storage space. The higher capacity means you can store more documents, pictures, videos, software, or games on the drive.
SSD and hard disk drives often don't meet their manufacturers' storage capacity claims. You can use our actual disk drive capacity to determine the real capacity of your storage.
What is storage capacity or file size unit?
Storage capacity and file size units are measurements used to measure how much data storage devices can hold and how big the files on these devices are.
Byte is a basic unit used to measure the drive capacity. There are also larger units to measure larger file size or drive capacity, including Kilobytes (KB), Megabytes (MB), Gigabytes (GB), and Terabytes (TB).
On top of that, there are also two different sets of units for data storage, including decimal and binary units.
Decimal (SI) units
The decimal units defined by the International System of Units (SI), based on powers of 10, have the following prefixes:
- 1 Kilobyte (KB) = 1,000 bytes
- 1 Megabyte (MB) = 1,000 KB
- 1 Gigabyte (GB) = 1,000 MB
For the rest of the decimal units and its multiplier, please check the SI prefixes table below:
Binary (IEC) units
On the other hand, the binary units defined by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), based on powers of 2, have the following prefixes:
- 1 Kibibyte (KiB) = 1,024 bytes
- 1 Mebibyte (MiB) = 1,024 KiB
- 1 Gibibyte (GiB) = 1,024 MiB
For the rest of the binary units and its multiplier, please check the binary (IEC) prefixes table below:
Formulas
To find out how many documents of a specific type can fit in your device's storage, start by converting the storage and the document file size into bytes. Since the byte is the base unit, this measurement remains consistent whether you are using decimal or binary calculations.
Convert to bytes
So, to convert storage and file sizes to bytes, multiply the size by its corresponding multiplier based on the unit of measurement.
Determine the number of documents
Now that we have determined the storage capacity and the file sizes in bytes, we can calculate how many documents can fit into the device's storage. To do this, divide the total storage capacity by the size of a single document file.
Examples
Let's examine examples illustrating the calculations needed to determine how much content you can fit in a device's storage.
Example: Determine how many photos can fit in a 512GB iPhone.
Sarah is an enthusiastic photographer who loves capturing life's moments with her iPhone. She often shoots high-resolution photos. She upgraded her iPhone to the latest model with 512GB of storage.
She wants to know how many photos her new iPhone can store before she needs to delete old photos to free up space. She also needs space for the iOS operating system, apps, and games, a total about 50GB.
Calculations:
- Available storage space for photos: 512GB - 50GB = 462GB
To calculate the total amount of photos that can fit on a 462GB storage:
Where:
- Storage capacity: 462GB =
462 × 109 = 462,000,000,000 bytes
Convert from GB to bytes - Average photo size: 2MB =
2 × 106 = 2,000,000 bytes
Convert from MB to bytes
So,
Therefore, her new 512GB iPhone can store up to 231,000 high-quality photos while having 50GB spare for operating systems, apps, and games.
Common Storage Capacities
Here is a table with common storage capacities and how much content they can fit in in terms of photos, videos, music, documents, apps, and mobile games.
| Capacity | Photos | Videos | Music | Documents | Apps | Mobile Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 64GB | 32,000 photos | 17 hours | 21,333 songs | 12,800 files | 640 apps | 128 games |
| 128GB | 64,000 photos | 35 hours | 42,667 songs | 25,600 files | 1,280 apps | 256 games |
| 256GB | 128,000 photos | 71 hours | 85,333 songs | 51,200 files | 2,560 apps | 512 games |
| 512GB | 256,000 photos | 142 hours | 170,667 songs | 102,400 files | 5,120 apps | 1,024 games |
| 1TB | 500,000 photos | 278 hours | 333,333 songs | 200,000 files | 10,000 apps | 2,000 games |
| 2TB | 1,000,000 photos | 556 hours | 666,667 songs | 400,000 files | 20,000 apps | 4,000 games |
Note: these above estimates are based on average file sizes:
| File Type | File Size | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Photos | 2MB per photo | 8 megapixels photos |
| Videos | 3.6GB per hour | 1080p videos |
| Music | 1MB per minute | 3 minutes long 128 kbps MP3 |
| Documents | 5MB per file | PDF or Microsoft Office documents |
| Apps | 100MB per app | average app size |
| Mobile Games | 500MB per game | average mobile game size |
You now know how to convert from any data storage unit to bytes and determine how many different types of documents can fit in the storage. You can quickly use our calculator to calculate and compare the drive capacity to save time for future calculations.
For further understanding, check our data storage converter page to learn more about the differences between decimal and binary units of data storage.
