How to convert liters to gallons
To convert liters to gallons, divide each value by the exact factor in the box: 1 liter = 0.2641720524 US gallons (exactly 1 US gal = 3.785411784 L). There is no rounding anywhere in the chain — the display trims the final answer to six decimal places, and converting the result back with the inverse page returns your starting number.
The liter is a thousand cubic centimeters — one cubic decimeter — the volume unit of most of the world for fuel, drinks and tanks. The gallon on this page is the US gallon of exactly 3.785411784 liters. It is not the Imperial gallon used historically in the UK and still in a few places, which is 4.54609 liters — about 20% larger. That distinction is stated here and in the factor line because using the wrong gallon is the single biggest error in this conversion, and many sites never say which gallon they mean: this one is American.
Fuel is the daily job: a 50 L tank is 13.2086 US gallons, a 40 L fill is 10.5669 gal, and European consumption figures in liters become American gallons the moment a car, boat or generator crosses systems. Aquarium and tank sizes cross too — a 100 L tank is a 26.4-gallon tank in US pet-shop terms (sold, confusingly, as a “29-gallon” class by its outer dimensions) — and paint, chemicals and water storage all quote liters outside the US and gallons inside it.
The common mistakes queue up here. First, the Imperial gallon: converting 50 L with 4.54609 gives 11.0 gallons against the true US figure of 13.21 — a two-gallon phantom shortfall in a fuel tank. Second, the divide-by-4 shortcut, which reads 10 L as 2.5 gal against the true 2.6417. Third, fluid ounces sneaking in through recipes, where a “gallon” of milk in a metric recipe is 3.785 L of US measure but the jug in a British supermarket was filled in liters all along. Convert with the stated US factor, and say “US gallons” when you pass the number on.
Worked example
10 liters is 2.641721 US gallons: 10 ÷ 3.785411784 = 2.641721 — a jerry can's worth of fuel, converted with the US gallon stated openly in the factor.
How to use this converter
- Enter your value in liters in the box above — the result updates as you type.
- Read the converted value in gallons in the headline panel.
- Check the factor, the formula and the inverse result (your answer converted back) in the stats if you need to show your working.
- Use the Liters to Gallons conversion table below for other common values without typing each one.