MB to GB Converter
A thousand megabytes to the gigabyte — and what that actually buys you in streaming hours.
Conversion table
| Amount | In gigabytes |
|---|---|
| 100 | 0.1 GB |
| 200 | 0.2 GB |
| 250 | 0.25 GB |
| 500 | 0.5 GB |
| 750 | 0.75 GB |
| 1,000 | 1 GB |
| 1,250 | 1.25 GB |
| 1,500 | 1.5 GB |
| 2,000 | 2 GB |
| 2,500 | 2.5 GB |
| 3,000 | 3 GB |
| 4,000 | 4 GB |
| 5,000 | 5 GB |
| 7,500 | 7.5 GB |
| 10,000 | 10 GB |
📺 An hour of each thing
- 1 GB1,000 MB
- Video, HD≈ 3,000 MB per hour
- Video, 4K≈ 7,000 MB per hour
- Music, high quality≈ 144 MB per hour
Making a data plan last
- Video is the whole bill. One hour of 4K uses more data than a fortnight of music streaming, and the setting that controls it is in the app, not with your carrier.
- Standard definition streaming costs about 1 GB an hour against 3 GB for HD — on a phone screen the difference is barely visible.
- Download over Wi-Fi what you plan to watch later. Offline playback uses no mobile data at all.
- Auto-play video in social feeds is the quiet drain. Turning it off typically halves background usage.
A thousand megabytes, and where the other number comes from
What a data plan really buys
What an hour of each activity costs
- Video in standard definition: roughly 1 GB per hour, and it looks fine on a phone.
- Video in HD: about 3 GB per hour. In 4K: about 7 GB per hour.
- Music streaming: 43 MB per hour at low quality, 144 MB at 320 kbps.
- Video calls: 500 MB to 1.6 GB per hour depending on resolution and number of participants.
- Maps navigation: about 5 MB per hour, because the maps are cached.
- Scrolling a social feed with autoplay video: 100–250 MB per hour, mostly without you noticing.
Where the data actually goes
- Set streaming apps to a data-saver mode; most cut usage by 60–80% with little visible loss on a phone.
- Download podcasts and playlists on Wi-Fi rather than streaming them twice.
- Cloud photo backup can quietly upload gigabytes; restrict it to Wi-Fi.
- Operating system and app updates are the other silent consumer, often several gigabytes at once.
- Tethering a laptop spends a mobile allowance at desktop rates — a single OS update can empty a small plan.
- Check the per-app usage screen on your phone; the top three apps almost always account for most of the month.
Worked examples
From an allowance to an evening
A 5 GB monthly plan
- 5 GB = 5,000 MB
- HD video at 3,000 MB per hour: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Music at 144 MB per hour: about 35 hours
5,000 MB = 5 GB, or 1h40 of HD video
A 128 GB phone
- 128 GB = 128,000 MB decimal
- In binary: 128,000 ÷ 1,073.74 = 119.2 GiB
- The operating system then takes 10–20 GB more
128 GB shows as about 119 GB, minus the OS
Frequently Asked Questions
How many MB are in a GB?
1,000 in the decimal system used by mobile carriers, storage makers and this converter. Some software counts in binary and uses 1,024 instead, which is why the same amount can appear as 1 GB in one place and 0.93 GB in another.
Is 500 MB half a gigabyte?
Yes, in the decimal counting that data plans use. 500 MB is 0.5 GB, and 1,500 MB is 1.5 GB. Your phone's own storage screen may use binary and show slightly different numbers for the same files.
How much data does an hour of Netflix use?
Roughly 1 GB an hour on the standard setting, about 3 GB in high definition and up to 7 GB in 4K, according to Netflix's own figures. The setting lives in your account's playback options, not with your mobile operator, and on a phone screen the lower settings are hard to tell apart.
How long does 5 GB of mobile data last?
It depends entirely on video. Five gigabytes is under two hours of HD streaming, about five hours in standard definition, roughly 35 hours of music, or weeks of messaging, email and navigation. Working out which of these you actually do is the fastest way to pick a plan.
Why does my 128 GB phone only have 119 GB?
Two things happen at once. The 128 GB on the box is decimal, and the phone counts in binary, which turns it into 119.2 GiB before anything is installed. Then the operating system and preinstalled apps take their share, usually another 10 to 20 GB, leaving under 110 GB genuinely free.
Does downloading use less data than streaming?
It uses the same data once, and that is the point: streaming the same film twice costs twice. Downloading over Wi-Fi and watching offline costs no mobile data at all, which is why offline mode is the single most effective saving on a limited plan.