1 inch equals 2.54 centimeters. Enter a value below to convert instantly.
Going from inches to centimetres is the conversion you need when a US spec sheet meets a metric ruler: furniture dimensions, screen sizes, luggage limits and sewing patterns are the usual culprits. The factor is exact, so the only judgement call is how many decimal places to keep.
Need the other direction? Convert centimeter to inch →
Multiply the number of inches by 2.54 to get centimeters.
| Inches (in) | Centimeters (cm) |
|---|---|
| 1 | 2.54 |
| 2 | 5.08 |
| 3 | 7.62 |
| 5 | 12.7 |
| 10 | 25.4 |
| 20 | 50.8 |
| 50 | 127 |
| 100 | 254 |
| 500 | 1,270 |
| 1,000 | 2,540 |
Televisions and monitors are advertised by their diagonal in inches worldwide, even in fully metric countries, while the physical dimensions on the spec sheet are usually in centimetres. Converting the diagonal tells you whether a 165 cm wall niche will take a 65-inch set — it will, but only just, since the bezel and stand add to the panel itself.
Waist, chest and inseam sizes are quoted in inches on US and UK labels and in centimetres nearly everywhere else. A 32-inch waist and an 81 cm waist are the same garment; size charts that list both are simply rounding the same measurement two ways.
US print shops specify trim sizes and margins in inches, while ISO paper sizes (A4, A3) are defined in millimetres. Converting before you set up a document avoids the classic quarter-inch drift that shows up only after the job is printed.
Filter threads, sensor sizes and tripod fittings mix the two systems freely — a 77 mm filter thread on a lens with a 1/4-inch tripod socket is entirely normal. Knowing the conversion stops you ordering the wrong adapter.
Values people actually look up, with the reason each one comes up. Every figure is calculated with the same engine as the converter above.
| Inch (in) | Centimeter (cm) | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2.54 | The base conversion |
| 6 | 15.24 | A typical phone diagonal |
| 12 | 30.48 | One foot |
| 24 | 60.96 | A standard desk depth |
| 32 | 81.28 | A common waist size |
| 36 | 91.44 | One yard |
| 55 | 139.7 | A mid-size TV diagonal |
| 65 | 165.1 | A large TV diagonal |
The centimetre is one hundredth of a metre, and the metre is defined by fixing the speed of light in vacuum at 299 792 458 m/s. The inch has no independent physical definition at all: since the 1959 international yard and pound agreement it is defined as exactly 2.54 centimetres. That makes this conversion exact rather than measured — there is no rounding built into the factor itself.
Because 1 in = 2.54 cm exactly, the conversion adds no uncertainty of its own — but it cannot add precision either. A measurement read off a tape marked in whole centimetres is good to about ±0.5 cm, so quoting the result as 7.0866 inches overstates what you actually know. Two decimal places is right for most consumer work; for anything you are cutting to fit, convert once at the end rather than at every intermediate step.
It looks harmless and it is wrong by 1.6%. Over a 200 cm span that is more than three centimetres — enough to make a shelf not fit the alcove you measured it for.
Tape measures are marked in sixteenths, not decimals. 0.39 inches is not '0 and a bit' — it is between 6/16 and 7/16. Convert the decimal part to sixteenths before you mark the cut.
TV and laptop 'inches' describe the screen diagonal, not the case. Converting 15.6 inches to 39.6 cm gives you the panel, not the width of the laptop it sits in.
Content on this page last reviewed 12 August 2026. Spotted an error? Report it — see also how these values are calculated.
1 in expressed in every other length unit on this site.
The inch (in) is a Imperial unit of length. Defined internationally as exactly 25.4 millimeters since 1959.
The centimeter (cm) is a SI unit of length.
A foot is 12 inches, and each inch is exactly 2.54 cm, so a foot is exactly 30.48 cm. This is why 30 cm rulers and 12-inch rulers are almost, but not quite, the same object.
The 55-inch figure is the screen diagonal, which is 139.7 cm. The cabinet is wider than the diagonal implies in the horizontal direction — for a 16:9 panel the screen itself is about 121.8 cm wide and 68.5 cm tall, before any bezel or stand.
Turn the fraction into a decimal first: 5/8 in is 0.625 in, so 3 5/8 in is 3.625 in, which is 9.2075 cm. Converting the whole and fractional parts separately and adding them afterwards gives the same answer but leaves more room for slips.
One inch equals 2.54 centimeters.
Multiply the number of inches by 2.54 to get centimeters.
One centimeter equals 0.39370079 inches.
This conversion is common when measuring height, screen sizes, travel distances, fabric, and construction dimensions.