Grams of powdered sugar to millilitres runs on one number, 1.9715686 millilitres per gram. It is a measured property of this ingredient rather than a defined conversion, which is why a generic volume-to-weight tool cannot give you it.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Powdered sugar comes in at 0.50721 g per mL, or 50.72% of water, which is why a cup of it is 120 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
Powdered sugar has a density of 0.50721 g per mL, so 100 mL of it weighs 50.72 g and 250 mL weighs 126.8 g. That single figure is what every other number on this page is built from — water is 1.00 g per mL, so this ingredient is 50.72% as heavy as the same volume of water.
Grams are the unit this conversion is really for. A domestic scale resolves to a gram, which is 0.833% of a cup of powdered sugar, so weighing gets an accuracy no measuring cup can reach. A 500 g pack of it is 4.167 cups, and a 1 kg pack 8.333.
How the figure is arrived at: Sifted. Scooped unsifted it runs 10 to 15% heavier because it clumps around the anti-caking starch.
The formula
grams- The amount of powdered sugar you are converting, in grams
1.9715686375- Millilitres per gram for powdered sugar, from its density of 0.50721 g/mL
millilitres- The equivalent quantity in millilitres
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in grams.
- It is multiplied by 1.9715686375, the millilitres-per-gram figure for powdered sugar.
- The result appears in millilitres, with a second reading in tsp beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
50 g of powdered sugar in millilitres
50 g of powdered sugar weighs out at 98.5784 millilitres. Divide 98.5784 by 1.9715686 and you get back to 50 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
150 g of powdered sugar in millilitres
150 g of powdered sugar weighs out at 295.735 millilitres. Divide 295.735 by 1.9715686 and you get back to 150 g, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
500 g of powdered sugar in millilitres
A recipe calling for 500 g of powdered sugar needs 985.784 millilitres on the scale. The arithmetic is 500 × 1.9715686 = 985.78432, and halving the recipe halves the weight to 492.892 millilitres.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many millilitres are in 1 g of powdered sugar?
One gram of powdered sugar is 1.9715686 millilitres. Half that quantity is 0.985784 millilitres and double it is 3.94314 millilitres, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of powdered sugar not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Powdered sugar has a density of 0.50721 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 120 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 116.6 g per cup, and it is the reason a single volume-to-weight factor cannot be applied to every ingredient.
Does how I measure it change the weight?
Yes, and by more than most people expect. Handling changes the weight of a cup of powdered sugar by roughly 20% — about 12 g either side of 120 g — because sifted. Weighing removes the question entirely.
Is a fluid ounce of powdered sugar the same as an ounce?
No. A fluid ounce is a volume — one eighth of a US cup, 29.57 mL — and an ounce is a weight. One fluid ounce of powdered sugar weighs 0.5291 oz, so the two readings differ by 47.1%. They coincide only for something with the density of water, and then only roughly.
Is this a US cup or a metric cup?
US customary: 236.59 mL, which is the cup every US recipe means. A metric cup is 250 mL, so the same cup of powdered sugar would weigh 126.8 g instead of 120 g — 6.8 g more, or 5.67%. Australian and some European recipes use the metric cup, and the difference is large enough to matter in baking.
Do I need a scale for this, or will measuring cups do?
At this size the spoon wins. One millilitre of powdered sugar is 0.5072 g, and a scale reading to the nearest gram is working at 197% resolution on that — a measuring spoon is the more accurate instrument below about 5 g, which is why spice quantities are still written in spoons.
How much does 15 mL of powdered sugar weigh?
15 mL of powdered sugar comes to 7.6082 g, or 7.6082 grams. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the ml-to-grams page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Powdered sugar in grams and millilitres
| Grams | Millilitres | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 5 g | 9.85784 mL | 9.857843187 |
| 10 g | 19.7157 mL | 19.71568637 |
| 25 g | 49.2892 mL | 49.28921594 |
| 50 g | 98.5784 mL | 98.57843187 |
| 100 g | 197.157 mL | 197.1568637 |
| 125 g | 246.446 mL | 246.4460797 |
| 150 g | 295.735 mL | 295.7352956 |
| 200 g | 394.314 mL | 394.3137275 |
| 250 g | 492.892 mL | 492.8921594 |
| 300 g | 591.471 mL | 591.4705912 |
| 500 g | 985.784 mL | 985.7843187 |
| 1000 g | 1971.57 mL | 1971.568637 |
Based on 120 g per cup of powdered sugar. One gram of powdered sugar is 1.9715686 millilitres.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 120 g | 4.23 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 90 g | 3.17 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 80 g | 2.82 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 60 g | 2.12 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 40 g | 1.41 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 30 g | 1.06 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 7.5 g | 0.265 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 2.5 g | 0.0882 oz | 4.929 mL |
US customary measures: 1 cup = 236.59 mL, 1 tbsp = 14.79 mL, 1 tsp = 4.93 mL.
| Ingredient | Grams per cup | Ounces per cup | Density (g/mL) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cake flour | 114 g | 4.021 oz | 0.4818 |
| Whole wheat flour | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| Tapioca starch | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| Powdered sugar (this page) | 120 g | 4.233 oz | 0.5072 |
| All-purpose flour | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
| Self-rising flour | 125 g | 4.409 oz | 0.5283 |
| Bread flour | 127 g | 4.48 oz | 0.5368 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.