Volume Converter

Convert between different volume units quickly and accurately.

Value

From

Result

1000

Common Volume Conversions

1 L = 1000 mL

1 gal = 3.785 L

1 cup = 236.6 mL

1 m³ = 1000 L

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I convert liters to gallons?

To convert liters to gallons, multiply by 0.264172. For example, 10 liters = 10 × 0.264172 = 2.64 gallons (US).

What is the difference between US and UK gallons?

The US gallon is smaller (3.785 liters) than the UK gallon (4.546 liters). Make sure to select the correct gallon type for your conversion.

How many milliliters are in a liter?

1 liter equals 1000 milliliters. This is useful for cooking measurements and scientific calculations.

Volume measures three-dimensional space, usually the capacity of a container or the amount of a fluid. Like length and weight, volume has competing systems that did not evolve together, which is why a single recipe can call for milliliters, cups, tablespoons, and fluid ounces in the same paragraph. The volume-converter on this page handles metric, US customary, and imperial units in one step, with the dry and liquid distinctions made explicit where they apply.

On the metric side, the units scale by powers of ten: 1 milliliter (mL) = 1 cubic centimeter (cm³), 1 liter (L) = 1,000 mL, and 1 cubic meter (m³) = 1,000 L. A useful shortcut is that 1 L of water weighs about 1 kg at standard conditions, a relationship that makes metric volume and mass easy to combine in the kitchen. On the US customary side, the most common units are teaspoon (tsp, 4.929 mL), tablespoon (tbsp, 14.787 mL), fluid ounce (fl oz, 29.574 mL), cup (8 fl oz, 236.588 mL), pint (pt, 473.176 mL), quart (qt, 946.353 mL), and gallon (gal, 3.785 L). The imperial / UK system uses the same names but with different sizes: the imperial gallon is 4.546 L, about 1.2 US gallons, and the imperial fluid ounce is 28.413 mL.

One of the most common traps is the difference between dry and liquid measures. A US cup is officially 236.588 mL for liquids, but dry recipes often call for a level cup of flour or sugar measured in the same cup, not in a separate dry pint or dry quart. The dry gallon (268.802 in³) was abolished for trade in the US in the early 20th century, but dry pints and quarts (550.610 mL and 1.101 L) still appear in older cookbooks and agricultural references. For most kitchen and drink recipes, the liquid cup is the one to use.

For practical use, type a value in any field and the others update. A 2 L soda bottle, for example, is 67.628 fl oz, 8.453 cups, 4.227 quarts, or 0.528 US gallons. The same bottle in imperial units is about 70.39 imp fl oz or 0.440 imp gallons. The form is built around US customary for everyday use, with metric and imperial options added.

How to use

Type a value in any of the supported fields, including mL, L, m³, tsp, tbsp, fl oz, cup, pint, quart, or gallon.
Read the matching values in the other units, with US customary and metric shown side by side.
Check the label to confirm whether the unit is US or imperial; the two gallons are different sizes.
Use the swap and clear controls to reset the form for a new conversion.

Formula

1 L = 1,000 mL = 0.2642 US gal. 1 US gal = 3.7854 L. 1 US cup = 236.588 mL = 8 fl oz. 1 imp gal = 4.54609 L. 1 m³ = 1,000 L. 1 fl oz (US) = 29.5735 mL; 1 fl oz (imp) = 28.4131 mL.

Interpreting your results

The numbers in the form are based on US customary unless an 'imp' label says otherwise. For cooking, an extra 5 percent on US cup measurements is a common adjustment when scaling imperial recipes. For aquariums and pools, gallons are the standard US unit, while fuel economy in Canada and the UK is given in L/100 km on the metric side and in miles per imperial gallon (mpg imp) where older cars are still rated.

Frequently asked questions

How many milliliters are in a US cup?

One US cup equals 236.588 milliliters, or about 237 mL for quick kitchen math. There are 8 US fluid ounces in a cup, 16 cups in a gallon, and 2 cups in a pint. Note that a UK or imperial cup, where used, is 250 mL.

Is a US gallon the same as a UK gallon?

No. A US liquid gallon is 3.785 L, while a UK (imperial) gallon is 4.546 L, about 20 percent larger. The two units share a name but not a size, which is one of the most common sources of error when reading older car specifications or recipe conversions from the UK.

What is the difference between dry and liquid volume?

Liquid measures (cups, pints, quarts, gallons) are standardized by volume, while dry measures in the US use the same cup but historically relied on separate dry pints and quarts for goods like berries. In modern cooking, the same 1-cup measure is used for both liquids and dry goods, scooped and leveled, which is the convention most recipes follow.

How do I convert cubic meters to liters?

Multiply cubic meters by 1,000 to get liters. One cubic meter is 1,000 L exactly, since 1 m = 100 cm and (100 cm)³ = 1,000,000 cm³ = 1,000,000 mL = 1,000 L. For cubic centimeters to milliliters, the conversion is 1:1, which is why engine sizes are often given in both cm³ and mL.