Gallons to Quarts Converter

Convert gallons to quarts — four per gallon, because 'quart' is short for quarter. What the word does not warn you about is that three different quarts exist.

Conversion table

Gallons	In Quarts
0.5	2 qt
1	4 qt
1.5	6 qt
2	8 qt
2.5	10 qt
3	12 qt
4	16 qt
5	20 qt
6	24 qt
7	28 qt
8	32 qt
9	36 qt
10	40 qt
12	48 qt
15	60 qt

📊 Gallons in Quarts

¼ gallon1 quart
½ gallon2 quarts
1 gallon4 quarts
2 gallons8 quarts
5 gallons20 quarts
1 quart2 pints = 4 cups

Three Quarts Share One Name

The US liquid quart is 0.9464 litres — just under a litre, which is why 'a quart of milk' and 'a litre of milk' are close enough that people treat them as the same.
The imperial quart is 1.1365 litres, 20% larger, because it is a quarter of the larger imperial gallon.
The US dry quart is 1.1012 litres and is used for produce: berries, tomatoes and shellfish are sold by the dry quart, not the liquid one.
A quart is always a quarter of its own gallon. The number 4 never changes; only the size of the gallon underneath it does.

The Word Is the Answer

Quart comes from the Latin quartus through Old French quarte, and it means exactly what it looks like: a quarter. A quart is a quarter of a gallon, and that has been true in every English measuring system since the medieval period, whatever size the gallon happened to be at the time. That is the useful part of the name. Ask how many quarts are in a gallon and the word has already told you: four. Where it stops helping is in telling you which gallon, because England and its former colonies have never agreed on that, and the quart quietly inherits every disagreement about the gallon above it.

The Ladder Below the Gallon

Below the gallon, each step halves. A gallon is 4 quarts, a quart is 2 pints, a pint is 2 cups, and a cup is 8 fluid ounces. Read it upward and one quart is 2 pints, 4 cups, or 32 fluid ounces; read it downward and a gallon is 128 fluid ounces. Because every division is by two, you can answer most of these in your head without arithmetic: half a gallon is 2 quarts, a quarter of a gallon is 1 quart, and an eighth of a gallon is a pint. The pattern only breaks when you try to divide by three, which is why recipes avoid thirds of a quart entirely.

US Liquid, US Dry, Imperial

US liquid quart: 0.946353 litres, a quarter of the 3.785-litre US gallon. This is the quart on milk cartons and paint cans.
Imperial quart: 1.136523 litres, a quarter of the 4.546-litre imperial gallon. Used in the UK and in older Commonwealth documents.
US dry quart: 1.101221 litres, a quarter of the dry gallon, which exists only for agricultural produce.
The dry quart is 16.4% larger than the liquid one. A dry quart of blueberries is not the same as a quart of milk.
All three are still exactly four to their own gallon. The ratio never changes; the base does.
If a document does not say which quart, look at what is being measured: liquids default to the liquid quart, produce to the dry one.

Where Quarts Turn Up

Motor oil is sold in US quarts. A typical engine takes 4 to 6, which is one to one and a half gallons.
Paint comes in quarts and gallons: a quart covers about 100 square feet, a gallon about 400.
Berries and cherry tomatoes at a US farm stand are priced by the dry quart — the small green basket.
Saucepans in the US are sized in quarts. A 4-quart pan holds a gallon and is the standard stockpot size for a family.
A quart of water weighs about 2.086 lb, so a gallon comes to roughly 8.34 lb.
Ice cream in the US is sold in half-gallons that quietly shrank to 1.5 quarts. The container looks the same; the volume is 25% less.

Worked Examples

Including the one nobody expects

A 5-gallon bucket in quarts

1 gallon = 4 quarts
5 × 4 = 20 quarts
Which is 40 pints, 80 cups, or 18.93 litres

5 gallons = 20 quarts

A dry quart of blueberries vs a quart of milk

Liquid quart = 0.946353 L
Dry quart = 1.101221 L
1.101221 ÷ 0.946353 = 1.164 — the basket holds 16.4% more

Same word, 16.4% more volume

Frequently Asked Questions

How many quarts are in a gallon?

Four. The word quart is short for quarter, so a quart is by definition a quarter of a gallon — and that holds for the US liquid gallon, the imperial gallon and the US dry gallon alike.

How many quarts in half a gallon?

Two quarts, which is also 4 pints, 8 cups or 64 fluid ounces. Half-gallon jugs of milk and juice therefore hold two quarts.

Is a quart the same as a litre?

Close but not equal. The US liquid quart is 0.946 litres — about 5.4% smaller. The imperial quart is 1.137 litres, about 14% larger. Neither is a litre, though the US quart is near enough that they are often swapped in casual use.

What is a dry quart?

A US unit for produce, equal to 1.101 litres — 16.4% larger than the liquid quart. Berries, tomatoes and shellfish are sold by the dry quart. It is the reason a quart basket of blueberries is bigger than a quart of milk.

How many cups are in a quart?

Four cups, because a quart is 2 pints and each pint is 2 cups. That also makes a quart 32 fluid ounces.

How many quarts of oil does a car need?

Most engines take between 4 and 6 US quarts, which is 1 to 1.5 gallons. The exact figure is in the owner's manual and depends on whether the filter is replaced at the same time.