Free Feet To Inch Calculator – Convert Measurements Fast
One foot is exactly 12 inches, so the math is a single multiplication. The part people actually get stuck on is the formats around it: decimal feet like 5.5 ft, mixed measurements like 5 ft 10 in, and tape-measure fractions like 6 1/2 in. This converter handles all three in both directions, and every answer also comes back in centimeters, millimeters, meters and yards.
Quick Answer
Multiply feet by 12 to get inches: 5.5 ft = 66 in, which reads as 5 ft 6 in and equals 167.64 cm. In reverse, 66.5 in = 5 ft 6 1/2 in, or 5.54 ft in decimal. Mixed measurements work in one step: enter the feet and the extra inches together, so 5 ft 10 in comes back as 70 in.
Key takeaways
- 1 foot is exactly 12 inches and exactly 0.3048 meters. The conversion itself never needs rounding.
- Decimal feet are not feet plus inches: 5.5 ft is 5 ft 6 in (66 in). Reading the.5 as 5 inches gives 65 in and a wrong cut.
- The reverse mode rounds the leftover inches to the nearest sixteenth and reduces the fraction, matching the marks on a standard tape measure.
- Every result carries centimeters, millimeters, meters and yards, so one run covers the drawing, the supplier spec and the homework.
- Quick Answer
- How to use the feet to inches converter
- The formula: multiply by 12, divide by 12
- Worked examples, checked against this tool
- Decimal feet vs feet and inches: the 5.5 ft trap
- Feet to inches conversion table
- International foot vs U.S. survey foot: does it change the answer?
- What competing calculators miss
- Frequently asked questions
- Add This Calculator to Your Website
How to use the feet to inches converter
Pick a direction, enter the measurement, then click Convert. The results stay hidden until you do.
- Feet to inches: enter the feet, decimals included, and add any extra inches in the second field. Leave extra inches at 0 for a plain decimal-feet conversion, or use it on its own for a measurement under a foot.
- Inches to feet: switch the direction and enter one inch total. You get the feet-and-inches breakdown first, then decimal feet for math and spreadsheets.
- Read the line you need: the total in inches, the feet-and-inches reading with a tape fraction, and the metric and yard equivalents are all in the same result block, ready to copy or share.
The formula: multiply by 12, divide by 12
Inches = feet × 12, and feet = inches ÷ 12. There is no approximation in either direction, because the inch is defined as exactly 25.4 millimeters and the foot as exactly 0.3048 meters under the 1959 International Yard and Pound Agreement, the definitions the NIST Guide to the SI still publishes today.
Decimal feet = Total inches ÷ 12
Centimeters = Total inches × 2.54
For a mixed measurement, convert the feet first and add the rest: 5 ft 10 in is (5 × 12) + 10 = 70 in. Going back, divide the inch total by 12: the whole number is the feet, and the remainder is the inches. 66.5 in gives 5 whole feet with 6.5 in left over, and the tool writes that remainder as the fraction 6 1/2 in. That two-step split is all the converter does, in either direction.
Worked examples, checked against this tool
The prefilled values are the first example. With 5.5 in the feet field and extra inches at 0, Convert returns 66 in, shown as 5 ft 6 in, with 167.64 cm, 1676.4 mm, 1.68 m and 1.83 yd.
Switch direction and enter 66.5 inches: the breakdown reads 5 ft 6 1/2 in, decimal feet 5.54 ft, with 168.91 cm, 1689.1 mm, 1.69 m and 1.85 yd. More runs of the same tool, exactly as it returns them:
| Input | Headline result | Centimeters |
|---|---|---|
| 5 ft + 10 extra in | 70 in (5 ft 10 in) | 177.8 cm |
| 0 ft + 6.5 extra in | 6.5 in (0 ft 6 1/2 in) | 16.51 cm |
| 0.1 ft | 1.2 in (0 ft 1 3/16 in) | 3.05 cm |
| 12 in, reverse mode | 1 ft (1 ft decimal) | 30.48 cm |
| 1,000 ft | 12000 in (1000 ft) | 30480 cm |
The 0.1 ft row shows the fraction rounding at work: 1.2 in has a 0.2 in remainder, and the nearest sixteenth to 0.2 is 3/16 (0.1875), so the breakdown reads 1 3/16 in while the decimal total stays exact at 1.2 in. The fraction is a tape reading, not a second exact answer. One edge case follows from that rounding: a total like 71.97 inches displays as 5 ft 12 in rather than 6 ft 0 in, because the inch remainder rounds up to a full 12 in and that rounded remainder is not carried into the feet figure, while the decimal total remains exact at 71.97 in.
Decimal feet vs feet and inches: the 5.5 ft trap
5.5 ft is 5 ft 6 in, not 5 ft 5 in. The decimal part is a fraction of a foot, and a foot has 12 inches, so 0.5 ft is 6 in, 0.25 ft is 3 in, and 0.1 ft is 1.2 in.
This is the single most common conversion error, and it costs material when it happens on a cut list. Decimal feet belong in spreadsheets, surveying files and supplier math, where one number is easier to total and sort. Feet with fractional inches belong on the tape, the saw and the sewing pattern, where nobody marks 0.1875 of anything. Convert with the decimal when you are calculating, and with the fraction when you are cutting. When a length in feet and inches feeds a lumber order, the board calculator takes the converted dimensions on into board feet.
| Fraction of an inch | Decimal inches | Decimal feet |
|---|---|---|
| 1/16 in | 0.0625 | 0.0052 |
| 1/8 in | 0.125 | 0.0104 |
| 1/4 in | 0.25 | 0.0208 |
| 3/8 in | 0.375 | 0.0313 |
| 1/2 in | 0.5 | 0.0417 |
| 5/8 in | 0.625 | 0.0521 |
| 3/4 in | 0.75 | 0.0625 |
| 7/8 in | 0.875 | 0.0729 |
Read the table from the tape side: if a plan says 0.75 in, you are looking for the 3/4 mark. The converter does this translation in the breakdown line, rounding the remainder to the nearest sixteenth and reducing it, so 0.5 always prints as 1/2 and 0.25 as 1/4, never as 8/16 or 4/16. Heights are the everyday case: a 5 ft 10 in doorway, a 6 ft fence panel, a child measured at 3 ft 7 in. Fence work is a good example of both formats on one job, since panel specs come in decimal feet while the run you measure is feet and inches; once the run is in one unit, the fence price calculator prices it by the linear foot.
Feet to inches conversion table
One foot is 12 inches and 30.48 cm, so each row adds 12 inches and 30.48 cm. The heights people look up most sit between 4 and 7 feet.
| Feet | Inches | Centimeters |
|---|---|---|
| 0.5 ft | 6 in | 15.24 cm |
| 1 ft | 12 in | 30.48 cm |
| 2 ft | 24 in | 60.96 cm |
| 3 ft | 36 in | 91.44 cm |
| 4 ft | 48 in | 121.92 cm |
| 5 ft | 60 in | 152.4 cm |
| 5.5 ft | 66 in | 167.64 cm |
| 6 ft | 72 in | 182.88 cm |
| 7 ft | 84 in | 213.36 cm |
| 10 ft | 120 in | 304.8 cm |
For the reverse lookup, divide any inch value by 12, or run it through the converter and take the decimal feet line. Working the other way across systems, the cm to inch calculator starts from a metric length and lands in inches, and once three converted lengths describe a box, the cubic footage calculator turns them into a volume.
International foot vs U.S. survey foot: does it change the answer?
No, not at any scale this converter is used at. Both feet divide into 12 inches; they differ only in the metric definition behind them, by about 2 parts per million.
The foot used here is the international foot: exactly 0.3048 meters, agreed in 1959. The older U.S. survey foot, defined as 1200/3937 of a meter, survived in land surveying data for decades, until NIST and NOAA retired it on December 31, 2022, in the final determination on retiring the U.S. survey foot. The gap between the two is roughly an eighth of an inch per mile. On a room, a board or a height measurement it is far below tape precision, which is why everyday converters, this one included, use the international foot without a setting for the other.
What competing calculators miss
The conversion is one multiplication, so the differences between tools are all in the formats they accept and return. Most fall short in one of these places:
- One direction only (RapidTables, Metric-Conversions): feet to inches with a swap link, but no combined feet-plus-inches entry, so 5 ft 10 in means converting twice and adding by hand.
- Decimal-only answers (ConvertUnits, many unit sites): 66.5 in comes back as 5.5417 ft and stops there. Nothing wrong with the math, but nobody can mark 0.5417 ft on a tape.
- No metric with the imperial answer (CalculatorSoup feet and inches tools): strong arithmetic, but the centimeter figure a supplier spec needs means a second tool.
- The gap this page fills: both directions in one tool, a dedicated extra-inches field for mixed measurements, remainders reduced to tape sixteenths, and centimeters, millimeters, meters and yards on every result. Omni Calculator and Inch Calculator come closest, and this tool matches their format coverage while keeping the answer to at most two decimal places instead of a long decimal tail.
Frequently asked questions
Multiply the number of feet by 12. For example, 5 ft × 12 = 60 in. If you have extra inches, add them after multiplying: (5 × 12) + 10 = 70 in.
Exactly 12 inches. The inch is defined as exactly 25.4 millimeters and the foot as exactly 0.3048 meters, so the conversion involves no rounding or approximation.
66 inches, which is 5 ft 6 in. Multiply 5.5 × 12 = 66. The.5 is half a foot, and half of 12 inches is 6 inches, so 5.5 ft is not 5 ft 5 in.
Convert the feet first, then add the inches: (5 × 12) + 10 = 70 inches. The converter above does this in one step with the extra inches field.
Divide by 12. For example, 66.5 ÷ 12 = 5.54 ft in decimal. Switch the converter to inches to feet mode to also get the result as whole feet plus a fractional remainder, like 5 ft 6 1/2 in.
The fraction is the leftover inches after the whole feet are taken out, rounded to the nearest sixteenth of an inch and reduced, the same marks a standard tape measure carries. The decimal totals in the same result are exact to at most two decimal places, so use the decimal for math and the fraction for marking and cutting.
Use decimal feet (5.5 ft) for math and spreadsheets, and feet with fractional inches (5 ft 6 1/2 in) for carpentry, sewing and tape-measure work. The converter shows both formats on every result.
The international foot, exactly 0.3048 meters, with 12 inches to the foot either way. The U.S. survey foot was retired on December 31, 2022, and differed by about 2 parts per million, roughly an eighth of an inch per mile, so it never changes a household or workshop conversion.
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References
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. NIST Guide to the SI, Appendix B: Conversion Factors. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI), NIST Special Publication 811. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Final Determination on Retiring the U.S. Survey Foot. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology. Metric Policy. Accessed October 21, 2026.
- National Institute of Standards and Technology and National Geodetic Survey. Deprecation of the United States (U.S.) Survey Foot, Federal Register notice 2020-21902. Accessed October 21, 2026.