Omni Calculator logo
Last updated:

Square Feet Converter

Table of contents

What is a foot?Squaring up the footNot only square meters: convert square feet to any surface measurement unitHow to use our square feet converterOther area conversion toolsFAQs

Square feet are a handy area measurement unit; however, our square feet converter is here to help you if you need to calculate how many square meters or square inches correspond to a specific square footage.

Here you will learn:

  • What is a foot;
  • What is a square foot, and where does it come from;
  • How to convert square feet to square meters, and beyond; and
  • Some examples of the use of our square footage converter.

You will always land on your (square) feet if you use our square feet converter to calculate your surface measurements!

What is a foot?

A foot is both the last bit of your leg and a length measurement unit. The foot derived from Egyptian measurement units like the cubit and quickly spread through Europe.

A chaotic period ensued until the 17th century when the process of metrication began. Many countries gradually abandoned feet, inches, and yards to adopt the meter and its multiples.

Squaring up the foot

Surface measurement units often come from a simple multiplication of length measurement units. Our foot then becomes a square foot, a unit that describes a square with sides exactly 1 ft1\ \text{ft} long.

🔎 Not every surface measurement unit comes from squared length units. Acres, morgens, or the Italian giornata piemontese uses the amount of work that a man can do in a specified time to define an area.

To visualize one square foot, imagine a big bathroom-type flooring tile. A MacBook Pro 16 is slightly smaller than one square foot, too.

When writing down a measurement, we indicate the square foot with the notation sq. ft. You can also use alternative notations, like ft², sf, or .

Not only square meters: convert square feet to any surface measurement unit

To convert square footage to any other surface measurement unit, we need to apply specific rules. Some of them are easier, some of them not so much. Let's check the most important ones out:

  • Square foot to square inches: 1 sq. ft=144 sq. in1\ \text{sq. ft} = 144\ \text{sq. in} (since 1 ft=12 inches1\ \text{ft} = 12\ \text{inches});
  • Square foot to square yard: 1 sq. ft=0.111111 sq. yd1\ \text{sq. ft} = 0.111111\ \text{sq. yd} (1 yd=3 ft1\ \text{yd} = 3\ \text{ft}); and
  • Square foot to square meter: 1 sq. ft=0.092903 m21\ \text{sq. ft} = 0.092903\ \text{m}^2 (1 ft=0.3048 m1\ \text{ft} = 0.3048\ \text{m}).

Many others conversions to metric units use the powers of ten. These give results similar to the last item, for example:

  • Square foot to square decimeter 1 sq. ft=9.2903 dm21\ \text{sq. ft} = 9.2903\ \text{dm}^2;
  • Square foot to square centimeter 1 sq. ft=929.03 cm21\ \text{sq. ft} = 929.03\ \text{cm}^2; and
  • Square foot to square millimeter 1 sq. ft=92903 mm21\ \text{sq. ft} = 92903\ \text{mm}^2.

How to use our square feet converter

Let's say that you want to know how many square meters your apartment is, but you only know the measurement in square feet.

Our square footage converter will do the math for you. Choose the desired output measurement units as the lower variable (in this case, square meters), and input your measurement above. Let's say that your apartment measures 800 sq. ft800\ \text{sq. ft}.

800 sq. ft=8000.092903 m2=74.3224 m2800\ \text{sq. ft} = 800\cdot 0.092903\ \text{m}^2 = 74.3224\ \text{m}^2

🙋 Use our square footage converter in the opposite direction too: insert a value in square meters to find the conversion in square feet!

Other area conversion tools

FAQs

What is a square foot?

A square foot is the customary area measurement unit in the U.S. It corresponds to the area of a square with sides 1 ft long. The unit is commonly used in the measurement of apartments and living areas. A standing person occupies an area of about 2 sq. ft.

How many square inches are in a square foot?

A square foot corresponds exactly to 144 square inches. This number comes from the subdivision of the foot as a length measurement unit:
1 ft = 12 in.
Draw a square with sides 12 in long: its surface would be 12 × 12 = 144 in­².

How many square meters is 100 square feet?

To convert 100 sq. ft to square meters, apply the conversion:
1 sq. ft = 0.092903 m²
To find the value of that surface, multiply the conversion factor by the measurement:
100 sq. ft = 100 × 0.092903 m² = 9.2903 m².

Is square foot and foot the same thing?

No. Square foot and foot are measurement units for objects with different dimensionalities.

  • The foot is a length measurement unit and only deals with 1D objects (lines, segments, curves); and
  • The square foot is an area measurement unit used exclusively to measure 2D objects (polygons, surfaces).
Check out 12 similar length and area converters 📐
AcreageArea conversionAres to hectares...9 more