Cubic Meters ↔ Cubic Feet Converter
Convert between cubic meters (m³) and cubic feet (ft³) instantly — both ways. Type in either box and the other updates live, with bonus conversions to cubic yards, liters and gallons.
Type a value in either box — the other converts automatically.
Controls how the converted values are rounded.
| Unit | Value |
|---|---|
| Convert to see all units | |
How to use the cubic meters to cubic feet converter
Type into either box and the other updates as you go — cubic meters to cubic feet, or cubic feet back to cubic meters, plus cubic yards, liters, gallons, and a report you can download.
Type into either box
Enter cubic meters or cubic feet — whichever your quote or spec uses. The other converts live.
Set the rounding
Auto handles most figures. Lock it to fixed decimals when you need to match a shipping doc or datasheet.
Check the equivalents
See the volume in refrigerators, bathtubs, and wheelbarrow loads — a quick sanity check on the number.
Read all units & save a PDF
Eight conversions, the side-by-side scale diagram, and a report you can send to a mover or supplier.
How the conversion is calculated
One meter is 3.28084 feet — but a cubic meter is a meter in all three directions, so the factor is 3.28084 cubed: 35.3147. Get that one number right and every other conversion on this page follows from it.
Worked example — a crate 2.4 × 1.2 × 1.1 m
Volume: 2.4 × 1.2 × 1.1 = 3.168 m³
Cubic feet: 3.168 × 35.3147 = 111.9 ft³
Cubic yards: 3.168 × 1.30795 = 4.14 yd³
Liters: 3.168 × 1,000 = 3,168 L
≈ 3.168 m³ — quoted as 3.17 CBM by a freight forwarder, or 111.9 cubic feet by a US carrier.
Cubic meters and cubic feet conversion charts
The lookups that come up most when a metric figure has to work in an imperial market — the conversion both ways, one cubic meter in every unit, and the container and household volumes people are usually trying to size.
| Cubic meters | Cubic feet | Cubic yards | Liters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 m³ | 3.53 ft³ | 0.131 yd³ | 100 L |
| 0.25 m³ | 8.83 ft³ | 0.327 yd³ | 250 L |
| 0.5 m³ | 17.66 ft³ | 0.654 yd³ | 500 L |
| 1 m³ | 35.31 ft³ | 1.308 yd³ | 1,000 L |
| 2 m³ | 70.63 ft³ | 2.616 yd³ | 2,000 L |
| 5 m³ | 176.57 ft³ | 6.540 yd³ | 5,000 L |
| 10 m³ | 353.15 ft³ | 13.080 yd³ | 10,000 L |
| 20 m³ | 706.29 ft³ | 26.159 yd³ | 20,000 L |
Multiply cubic meters by 35.3147 for cubic feet. The liters column is the easy one — a cubic meter is exactly 1,000 liters, with no rounding at all.
| Cubic feet | Cubic meters | Cubic yards | US gallons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 ft³ | 0.0283 m³ | 0.037 yd³ | 7.48 gal |
| 10 ft³ | 0.2832 m³ | 0.370 yd³ | 74.8 gal |
| 35.31 ft³ | 1.0000 m³ | 1.308 yd³ | 264.2 gal |
| 50 ft³ | 1.4158 m³ | 1.852 yd³ | 374.0 gal |
| 100 ft³ | 2.8317 m³ | 3.704 yd³ | 748.1 gal |
| 250 ft³ | 7.0792 m³ | 9.259 yd³ | 1,870.1 gal |
| 500 ft³ | 14.1584 m³ | 18.519 yd³ | 3,740.3 gal |
| 1,000 ft³ | 28.3168 m³ | 37.037 yd³ | 7,480.5 gal |
Divide cubic feet by 35.3147, or multiply by 0.0283168 — the two are the same operation. A useful anchor: 1,000 cubic feet is a little over 28 cubic meters.
| Unit | 1 cubic meter equals | Where you’ll see it |
|---|---|---|
| Cubic feet | 35.314667 ft³ | US freight, storage, appliance specs |
| Cubic yards | 1.307951 yd³ | Concrete, aggregate, skip hire |
| Cubic inches | 61,023.7 in³ | Component and packaging specs |
| Cubic centimeters | 1,000,000 cm³ | Lab work and small-volume specs |
| Liters | 1,000 L | Tanks, appliances, fluid capacity |
| US gallons | 264.172 gal | Water features, pools, fill volumes |
| Imperial gallons | 219.969 gal | UK and Commonwealth quotes |
The calculator lists all of these at once in the all-units table, so you can copy whichever basis the quote or datasheet in front of you is written in.
| Container | Cubic meters | Cubic feet | Cubic yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 ft standard | ≈ 33 m³ | ≈ 1,165 ft³ | ≈ 43 yd³ |
| 40 ft standard | ≈ 67 m³ | ≈ 2,366 ft³ | ≈ 88 yd³ |
| 40 ft high cube | ≈ 76 m³ | ≈ 2,684 ft³ | ≈ 99 yd³ |
| Standard pallet load (1.2 m high) | ≈ 1.44 m³ | ≈ 50.9 ft³ | ≈ 1.88 yd³ |
Rated internal capacities, which vary a little by manufacturer. Usable volume is always lower once packing, pallets, and load restraint are accounted for — most planners work to 80–85% of the rated figure.
| Home size | Cubic meters (CBM) | Cubic feet |
|---|---|---|
| Studio / small apartment | 6–8 m³ | 212–283 ft³ |
| 1 bedroom | 10–14 m³ | 353–494 ft³ |
| 2 bedroom | 18–24 m³ | 636–848 ft³ |
| 3 bedroom | 30–40 m³ | 1,059–1,413 ft³ |
| 4+ bedroom | 45–60 m³ | 1,589–2,119 ft³ |
Typical ranges only — furniture density, appliances, and how much goes into storage move these figures a long way. A surveyed inventory always beats an estimate, and international movers quote in CBM almost without exception.
| Object or space | Cubic feet | Cubic meters | Liters |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wheelbarrow | 3 ft³ | 0.085 m³ | 85 L |
| Bathtub | 5 ft³ | 0.142 m³ | 142 L |
| Refrigerator | 20 ft³ | 0.566 m³ | 566 L |
| One cubic yard | 27 ft³ | 0.765 m³ | 765 L |
| Small bedroom (10 × 12 × 8 ft) | 960 ft³ | 27.2 m³ | 27,180 L |
| Single garage (20 × 10 × 8 ft) | 1,600 ft³ | 45.3 m³ | 45,307 L |
The wheelbarrow, bathtub, and refrigerator figures are the same reference volumes the calculator uses for its live equivalents bars.
A meter is only 3.28 feet long — but that factor gets applied three times over in a volume, once for each dimension. Square it and you get 10.764. Cube it and you get 35.3147.
- Using 3.28 on a volume is the classic error — it understates the result by a factor of more than ten, which is large enough to under-order an entire load.
- A cubic meter is not a cubic yard — it holds about 31% more. Two suppliers quoting the same rate in different units are not quoting the same price.
- Centimeters bite hardest — a cubic meter is a million cubic centimeters, so a stray factor of 100 in a dimension becomes a factor of a million in the volume.
Everything the converter works out
One figure in either box gives you the full picture — the conversion both ways, the same volume in every unit, a scale you can actually picture, and a report you can keep.
The figures behind every cubic meter
Built for anyone working across two measurement systems
Most of the world quotes volume in cubic meters and the United States quotes it in cubic feet — which is why this conversion turns up in almost every cross-border move, order, or spec sheet.
Comparing removal quotes where one company priced the job in cubic meters and another in cubic feet, and the numbers look nothing alike until they’re converted.
- Put every quote on one unit first
- Check whether volume is surveyed or estimated
- Ask what the container rate includes
Reading a metric site plan, appliance datasheet, or imported product spec and needing the figure in cubic feet before ordering or comparing.
- Convert cm to m before multiplying
- Remember 1 m³ = 1,000 L for appliances
- Watch the m³ vs yd³ gap on materials
Sizing a consignment against container capacity, checking a supplier’s carton volumes, or translating a CBM freight rate into a per-unit landed figure.
- Work to 80–85% of rated capacity
- Separate volume from volumetric weight
- Save the PDF against the shipment file
7 tips for converting volume without errors
The mistakes that turn a clean conversion into a wrong order — and the habits that catch them before anything ships.
Cubic meters to cubic feet FAQ
The conversion, freight, and capacity questions people ask most when a metric volume has to work in an imperial market.
One cubic meter is about 35.3147 cubic feet. Going the other way, one cubic foot is 0.0283168 m³.
A cubic meter is a cube roughly 3.28 feet on every side, which makes it noticeably larger than a cubic yard — about 1.31 cubic yards, or 31 percent more material for the same quoted number.
Multiply the cubic meters by 35.3147. A 3.168 cubic meter crate comes to 3.168 × 35.3147 = 111.9 ft³.
If you’re starting from dimensions, multiply length by width by height with all three in meters first, then apply the factor. To go back the other way, divide cubic feet by 35.3147.
Because volume scales in three dimensions at once. One meter is 3.28084 feet, but a cubic meter is a meter long, wide, and tall — so the factor is 3.28084³ = 35.3147.
The same pattern applies to area: one square meter is 3.28084² = 10.764 ft². Using the linear factor on a volume understates the figure by more than ten times.
Yes. CBM stands for cubic meter and is the standard volume unit in freight and international removals. A quote for 12 CBM means 12 m³, or about 424 cubic feet.
Sea freight consolidators, movers, and warehouses almost all price by CBM, which is why a US household inventory measured in cubic feet usually has to be converted before you can compare quotes side by side.
A standard 20 foot container holds roughly 33 m³, about 1,165 cubic feet. A 40 foot holds around 67 m³ (≈ 2,366 ft³), and a 40 foot high cube around 76 m³.
Those are internal capacities. Usable volume is always lower once packing, pallets, and load restraint are accounted for — most planners work to 80 to 85 percent of the rated figure.
As a rough guide: a studio runs 6–8 m³, a one bedroom 10–14, a two bedroom 18–24, and a three bedroom 30–40 m³. In cubic feet that’s roughly 212–283 for a studio and 1,059–1,413 for a three bedroom.
These are typical ranges only. Furniture density, appliances, and how much goes into storage move the figure significantly, so a surveyed inventory always beats an estimate.
Yes, exactly. One cubic meter is 1,000 liters, which is also 264.172 US gallons or 219.969 imperial gallons.
This is why appliance capacity is quoted in liters in metric markets and cubic feet in the United States. A 500 liter refrigerator is 0.5 cubic meters, or about 17.7 cubic feet.
One cubic meter is about 1.308 cubic yards, and one cubic yard is 0.7646 m³.
The gap matters when comparing material prices across markets: a cubic meter of concrete is roughly 31 percent more material than a cubic yard, so a per-cubic-meter price will always look higher for the same underlying rate.
Planning Estimate Only — Not a Freight or Materials Quote: This converter changes the volume you enter between cubic meters, cubic feet, and other units using exact conversion factors. Container capacities, household move volumes, and packaging figures shown on this page are typical published or industry-average values that vary by manufacturer, carrier, and inventory — they are illustrative, not specifications. Usable capacity is always lower than rated capacity once packing, pallets, and load restraint are accounted for. Chargeable freight cost is set by each carrier’s own volumetric weight rules, minimum charges, and tariffs, and is not calculated here. Confirm all volumes against a surveyed inventory, a supplier datasheet, or your carrier’s own figures before booking. For planning purposes only.