How to convert inches to feet
A foot has always been exactly 12 inches, a much older convention than the modern metric definition of the inch. Converting inches to feet is a single division, but the useful part is what to do with the leftover: this calculator gives you both the decimal and the feet-and-inches form so you can use whichever one your plan or tape measure needs.
The formula
For the feet-and-inches form: take the whole number of feet, then multiply the leftover fraction by 12 to get the remaining inches.
Worked example
74 in to feet:
74 ÷ 12 = 6.16667 ft (6 significant figures). The whole-feet part is 6, and the leftover 0.16667 ft times 12 is 2 in, so 74 in is 6 ft 2 in.
Reverse direction: 6.5 ft to inches: 6.5 × 12 = 78 in.
Reference chart: inches to feet
| Inches | Decimal feet | Feet and inches |
|---|---|---|
| 12 in | 1 ft | 1 ft 0 in |
| 18 in | 1.5 ft | 1 ft 6 in |
| 24 in | 2 ft | 2 ft 0 in |
| 30 in | 2.5 ft | 2 ft 6 in |
| 36 in | 3 ft | 3 ft 0 in |
| 42 in | 3.5 ft | 3 ft 6 in |
| 48 in | 4 ft | 4 ft 0 in |
| 54 in | 4.5 ft | 4 ft 6 in |
| 60 in | 5 ft | 5 ft 0 in |
| 66 in | 5.5 ft | 5 ft 6 in |
| 72 in | 6 ft | 6 ft 0 in |
| 78 in | 6.5 ft | 6 ft 6 in |
| 84 in | 7 ft | 7 ft 0 in |
| 90 in | 7.5 ft | 7 ft 6 in |
| 96 in | 8 ft | 8 ft 0 in |
| 102 in | 8.5 ft | 8 ft 6 in |
| 108 in | 9 ft | 9 ft 0 in |
| 114 in | 9.5 ft | 9 ft 6 in |
| 120 in | 10 ft | 10 ft 0 in |
An older definition than the metric inch
The 12-inches-per-foot relationship is one of the oldest surviving pieces of English measurement, predating the modern, internationally standardized inch by centuries. The inch itself got its precise, worldwide definition more recently: since July 1, 1959, the International Yard and Pound Agreement has fixed the inch at exactly 25.4 mm, ending an era when the US and UK inch differed from each other by a few millionths of an inch. The 12-inch foot rode along unchanged; only the inch's relationship to the metric system was ever in question.
When precision matters: reading a tape vs cutting to a plan
For everyday reading, feet-and-inches is friendlier: nobody marks a board at "6.166667 feet" when "6 ft 2 in" says the same thing more clearly on a tape measure. But once you start doing math with the length, like multiplying by a price per square foot, cost per linear foot, or area for flooring, decimal feet is much easier to carry through a calculation without converting back and forth. Keep the decimal for math, convert to feet-and-inches only for the final answer you write down or read off a tape.
Related conversions
Need inches from millimeters or centimeters first? Try the MM to Inches Converter or the CM to Inches Converter. Starting from inches and want centimeters instead of feet? See the Inches to CM Converter. Converting a person's height, see the Height Converter, or for meters and feet see the Meters to Feet Converter.