1 centimeter equals
0.39370079 inches.
Enter a value below to convert instantly.
Centimetres turn up on almost every product listing sold outside the United States, and inches are what US tape measures, TV specifications and clothing charts are marked in. Converting between them is a single fixed multiplication, because the inch has been defined against the metre — not the other way round — since 1959.
1cm=
0.39370079in
Multiply the number of centimeters by 0.393700787402 to get inches.How this is calculated
Copy link puts your number after the #, which browsers never send to a server — but the link itself carries it, so anyone you send it to sees the value. Save keeps the unit pair in this browser only; clear it any time from your saved list.
Multiply the number of centimeters by 0.393700787402 to get inches.
Step by step
Start with 1 cm.
Multiply by the conversion factor 0.393700787402.
1 × 0.393700787402 = 0.39370079 in.
How to convert centimeters to fractional inches
Rulers, tape measures and drill bits are marked in halves, quarters,
eighths and sixteenths, so a decimal answer usually has to be snapped
to the nearest mark before you can use it. Convert to decimal inches
first, then multiply the part after the decimal point by 16 and round
to a whole number — that is your number of sixteenths. Reduce the
fraction if it divides evenly.
One centimeter is 0.39370079 in, which is
3/8 in to the nearest
sixteenth, or 25/64 in to the
nearest sixty-fourth. The fraction column in the table below is
rounded to the nearest sixteenth.
Centimeters to Inches conversion table
Conversion table from Centimeters to Inches
Centimeters (cm)
Inches (decimal)
Inches (fraction)
1
0.39370079
3/8
2
0.78740157
13/16
3
1.1811024
1 3/16
5
1.9685039
1 15/16
10
3.9370079
3 15/16
20
7.8740157
7 7/8
50
19.685039
19 11/16
100
39.370079
39 3/8
500
196.85039
196 7/8
1,000
393.70079
393 11/16
Where centimeters and inches are used together
Screen and display sizes
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.
Clothing and body measurements
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.
Print and paper work
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.
Photography and optics
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.
Everyday centimeters worth knowing
Values people actually look up, with the reason each one comes up. Every
figure is calculated with the same engine as the converter above.
Centimeter (cm)
Inch (in)
What it is
1
0.39370079
The base conversion
2.54
1
Exactly one inch, by definition
10
3.9370079
A typical phone width
15
5.9055118
A standard ruler's short side
30
11.811024
About one foot
100
39.370079
One metre
150
59.055118
A common fabric bolt width
180
70.866142
Roughly a tall adult's height
How these two units are defined
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.
Rounding and precision
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.
Mistakes people make with this conversion
Rounding 2.54 to 2.5
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.
Converting a decimal inch straight to a tape measure
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.
Assuming a listed size is the physical size
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.
Yes. The inch is defined as exactly 2.54 centimetres under the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, so dividing by 2.54 is an exact operation. Any imprecision in your answer comes from the measurement you started with, not from the conversion.
How do I convert centimetres to feet and inches together?
Divide the centimetres by 2.54 to get total inches, take the whole number of feet by dividing by 12, and the remainder is the leftover inches. For heights, the dedicated height converter does both steps and shows tape-measure fractions.
Why do clothing size charts disagree by a centimetre or two?
Charts round to whole sizes in whichever system they were authored in, then convert. A 32-inch waist converts to 81.28 cm, but most charts print 81 or 82 — the difference is rounding in the chart, not in the conversion.
How many inches are in a centimeter?
One centimeter equals 0.39370079 inches.
What is 1 centimeter in inches as a fraction?
One centimeter is 3/8 inch to the nearest sixteenth, or 25/64 inch to the nearest sixty-fourth — the marks you will find on a tape measure.
How do you convert centimeters to inches?
Multiply the number of centimeters by 0.393700787402 to get inches.
What is 1 inch in centimeters?
One inch equals 2.54 centimeters.
When would I convert centimeters to inches?
This conversion is common when measuring height, screen sizes, travel distances, fabric, and construction dimensions.