How to Convert Units in Windows 11

Some users will need to at least occasionally convert one type of metric or imperial unit to another, be it for length measurements, data, volume, weight, speed, area, etc. Sure, you can utilize any small standalone calculator to convert such units. However, a Windows 11 computer is one big calculator with which you can convert units in various ways. This is how you can convert metric and imperial units on a Windows 11 PC.

How to Convert Units With Windows 11’s Calculator App

Windows 11 includes a pretty decent Calculator app for unit conversion. That app includes conversion tools for currency, length, volume, energy, temperature, time, speed, weight, data, and area units among others. So, the Calculator will probably be more than sufficient for most users’ unit conversion needs.

You can convert units with Calculator like this:

1. Press your taskbar’s Start menu button to view its pinned apps.
2. Select Calculator in the pinned apps area of that menu.
3. Click Open navigation at the top left of Calculator.
4. Select a conversion tool for whatever unit type you need.
5. Then select a unit to convert from in the first drop-down menu.
6. Choose a unit to convert your entered value to in the second drop-down menu.
7. Press the calculator’s numeric keys to enter a number.

Now Calculator’s conversion tool will display a result. It will also show you some other about equal to values for other units. To enter a new value, press the back button to erase the current input number.

You can also convert units with the app’s standard calculator. However, you’ll need to know the conversion factor for your units with which to convert them. So, it’s easier to utilize the converters available in Calculator.

How to Convert Units With Cortana

Windows 11’s Cortana is a virtual assistant app that can be your calculator. It incorporates a unit conversion tool based on the Bing search engine. Or you can carry out multiplication calculations with that virtual assistant to convert units. This is how to convert units with Cortana:

1. Click the round Cortana taskbar icon to bring up Windows 11’s virtual assistant.
2. Then type in an x units in units command within Cortana’s text box. For example, a command to convert 11 meters to centimeters would be 11 meters in centimeters
3. Press the Enter button (or click Send) to view the result.
4. Cortana will show you the conversion result within its window. You can click a See more link there to open the Bing conversion tool the virtual assistant pulls its results from.

If you have a microphone enabled, you can issue voice commands to Cortana. Click the Speak to Cortana button to activate that app’s voice chat feature. Then input the same x units in units command vocally.

How to Convert Units With the UnitConverters.net Web App

There are many online unit conversion tools you can utilize within Windows browsers. Among them is UnitConverters.net, which is an entire website about unit conversion. That site includes one general conversion unit tool you can utilize and many others for more specific units. You can convert units at UnitConverters.net like this:

1. Open the UnitConverters.net converter in your web browser.
2. Select a Length, Temperature, Area, Volume, Weight, or Time tab along the top of the general conversion tool.
3. Choose a unit in the left From column, and input a value for it.
4. Then select a unit in the right To column.
5. Input a number in the From box.

If the general conversion tool doesn’t have the unit you’re looking for, have a look through the conversion links box on the right of its page. That box includes a wide variety of links that open conversion tools for common, engineering, heat, electricity, and radiology unit types among others. Clicking Common Converters will enable you to select links for opening speed, currency, data storage, fuel consumption, and energy unit converters.

How to Convert Units With the Convert Software

There’s no shortage of unit conversion software for Windows 11 either. Convert is a portable conversion tool you can utilize on many Windows platforms. That software is freely available and probably includes more than enough unit conversion options to satisfy most users. This is how you can download, extract, and utilize Convert:

1. Bring up the Convert homepage in browsing software.
2. Press the Download Convert v4.10 button.
3. Click Explorer’s folder icon along Windows 11’s taskbar.
4. Open your browser’s downloads folder within File Explorer.
5. Right-click the recently downloaded convert.zip archive to select Extract All.
6. To choose an extraction directory, select the Browse option. Choose the destination folder path in the directory navigator, and click the Select Folder button to confirm.
7. If the Show extracted files box isn’t checked (selected), click that checkbox.
8. Press Extract to open an unzipped folder for the Convert software.
9. Double-click Convert.exe to launch it.
10. Select a unit type tab on the Convert window.
11. Choose a unit in the Input box.
12. Select a unit to convert to in the Output box.
13. Then enter a number in the Input text box. You’ll see the conversion result in the Output box directly below that.

If Convert doesn’t include the unit you’re looking for, you set up a custom converter by clicking Options > Preferences and selecting the Custom tab. Enter input and output units in the two Unit boxes; input a conversion factor for them in the Factor box, and select the OK option. Then you can utilize that converter from the Custom tab.

How to Convert Units With a Desktop Gadget

Gadgets are those groovy widgets you can add to the desktop in Windows 11. Would you prefer to have a unit conversion tool directly accessible on that desktop? If so, check out 8GadgetPack’s Unit Converter gadget. You can add a widget to Windows 11’s desktop that converts units as follows:

1. Open the 8GadgetPack site, and click the Download button for that software there.
2. Click Start with the mouse’s right button to select and open File Explorer.
3. Bring up the directory (folder) to which your browser downloaded 8GadgetPack’s setup wizard.
4. Double-click the 8GadgetPackSetup.msi file.
5. Press Install in the setup wizard.
6. Select the Show gadgets when setup exits box, and click Finish to exit.
7. Click Add gadget in the 8GadgetPack window.
8. Double-click Unit Converter on the third page of the widget selection window. That gadget will then appear in the top right corner of your desktop.
9. Roll down the unit type bar on the left of the gadget to select a category.
10. Then roll the middle bar to choose an input unit.
11. Roll through the right bar to select your output unit.
12. Input a number in the text box to view a conversion result.

You can reposition that unit conversion gadget by left-clicking its Drag gadget button and holding the mouse button. Drag the widget where you want it on the desktop, and release the button. To expand the widget, click Larger size just above the Drag gadget button.

A Windows 11 PC is a Super Calculator for Unit Conversion

So, you don’t need to look any further than your Windows 11 PC for converting units. Windows 11’s built-in Calculator and Cortana apps are more than adequate unit conversion tools. Or you can quickly and easily convert a multitude of units with the UnitConverters.net web app, Convert program, and Unit Convert gadget.