How to use the Storage Calculator
- 1 Enter the drive or storage capacity.
- 2 Enter the size of one file and the number of files.
- 3 See total space used, remaining space and the share of capacity used.
Estimate storage space for a group of files
Enter the capacity of a drive or cloud plan, the size of one file and how many copies you have. The calculator converts both amounts to bytes, multiplies the file size by the count and compares the total with capacity. It shows used space, available space and the percentage used.
For example, one hundred files of 2 GB each use 200 GB. On a 512 GB drive, about 312 GB remains before formatting, system files and other data are considered.
GB and GiB are different
Drive makers use decimal storage: 1 GB is 1,000,000,000 bytes. Binary storage uses 1 GiB = 1,073,741,824 bytes. A drive marketed as 512 GB therefore has roughly 476.8 GiB before formatting. Choose the units shown by your device when comparing a reported free-space amount.
This is a capacity estimate. File systems reserve some space, and apps, updates, backups and temporary files also use storage. Leave a practical margin instead of planning to fill a drive completely.
Frequently asked questions
How many 2 GB files fit on a 512 GB drive?
Using decimal units, 256 files of 2 GB equal 512 GB. In practice, fewer fit because formatting and other data use some of the drive.
Why does my 512 GB drive show less space?
Manufacturers use decimal GB while many operating systems show binary GiB. 512 GB is about 476.8 GiB, before formatting and system files.
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