Convert cm to inches

One centimeter equals 0.393701 inches. To convert any number of centimeters to inches, multiply by 0.39370079.

The converter above works in both directions and updates as you type. Below you will find the formula, a worked example and a reference table of common values.

Length conversions come up wherever a measurement crosses a border: a height given in feet and inches on a form that wants centimetres, a running distance recorded in kilometres and compared against miles, a component specified in millimetres and ordered from a supplier working in inches. The conversions themselves are exact — the inch, foot, yard and mile have all been defined in metric terms since 1959 — so any discrepancy comes from rounding, not from the units disagreeing.

cm to inches formula

To go the other way, use centimeter = inch ÷ 0.39370079.

About these units

The centimetre is a hundredth of a metre. It is the everyday unit for body height and clothing sizes almost everywhere outside the United States, where feet and inches persist.

The inch has been defined as exactly 25.4 millimetres since the 1959 international yard and pound agreement, which finally reconciled slightly different British and American definitions.

Centimeter is also written centimetre, centimetres and centimeters. Inch is also written inches and ".

Sources

1. National Bureau of Standards, "Refinement of Values for the Yard and the Pound", Federal Register, 1 July 1959 — the international yard as exactly 0.9144 m and the avoirdupois pound as exactly 0.45359237 kg.