To convert ounces of water into cups, multiply by 0.1201251: one ounce comes to 0.1201251 cups. Every ingredient has its own figure here, because the units are measuring different things and only the density links them.
Water is the yardstick: 1 mL of it weighs 1 g. Water comes in at 0.99751 g per mL, or 99.75% of water, which is why a cup of it is 236 g rather than 236.6 g. Volume and weight only line up for water, and only in metric.
A cup of water is 236 g when it is measured the standard way, but how it gets into the cup changes the answer: between about 234.8 g and 238.4 g covers the range from lightly spooned to firmly packed. That 1% spread is larger than most of the adjustments recipes fuss over, and it disappears entirely the moment the ingredient is weighed instead.
One cup of water is 8.325 oz. US kitchen scales usually step in eighths of an ounce, which is 3.54 g — around 1.5% of a cup of this ingredient, so the scale is precise enough for a full cup and coarse for a spoonful. That is why recipes mix the two systems: ounces for the bulk, spoons for the small amounts.
What the number depends on: The reference case. A US cup is 236.6 mL and water is 1 g per mL, so the two numbers are the same and every other ingredient can be read against it.
The formula
ounces- The amount of water you are converting, in ounces
0.120125097987- Cups per ounce for water, from its density of 0.99751 g/mL
cups- The equivalent quantity in cups
How it works, step by step
- Enter the quantity in ounces.
- It is multiplied by 0.120125097987, the cups-per-ounce figure for water.
- The result appears in cups, with a second reading in tbsp beneath it.
- Use the measure table if you want a standard recipe quantity rather than a number you type in.
Worked examples
2 oz of water in cups
Take 2 oz of water: 2 × 0.1201251 gives 0.24025 cups. Doubling the batch takes it to 0.4805 cups, because the relationship is a straight proportion once the density is known.
4 oz of water in cups
4 oz of water weighs out at 0.4805 cups. Divide 0.4805 by 0.1201251 and you get back to 4 oz, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
12 oz of water in cups
12 oz of water weighs out at 1.4415 cups. Divide 1.4415 by 0.1201251 and you get back to 12 oz, which is the quickest check that the factor is the right way up.
How to read your score
Frequently asked questions
How many cups are in 1 oz of water?
One ounce of water is 0.1201251 cups. Half that quantity is 0.0600625 cups and double it is 0.24025 cups, so the figure scales straight up and down — there is no offset in this conversion, only the factor.
Why is a cup of water not 236 g like water?
Because weight per cup depends on what is in the cup. Water has a density of 0.99751 g per mL where water has 1.00, so a cup of it weighs 236 g rather than 236.6 g. That is a difference of 0.6 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?
Barely. Water does not compress, so a cup of it is 236 g however it is poured — within about 1%, which is inside the accuracy of a domestic scale. This is the group where measuring by volume is defensible.
Is a fluid ounce of water 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 water weighs 1.041 oz, so the two readings differ by 4.06%. 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 water would weigh 249.38 g instead of 236 g — 13.4 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?
A scale, if the result matters. Volume measuring carries a spread of about 1% for water — roughly 2.36 g on a 236 g cup — while a domestic scale is accurate to a gram or two. For anything where the ratio of ingredients drives the outcome, bread and pastry above all, weigh it.
How much does 2 cup of water weigh?
2 cup of water comes to 472 g, or 16.649 ounces. This page runs that calculation in reverse — enter a weight and it returns the volume — and the cups-to-ounces page does it in the direction the question is usually asked.
Water in ounces and cups
| Ounces | Cups | Unrounded |
|---|---|---|
| 1/2 oz | 0.0600625 cup | 0.06006254899 |
| 1 oz | 0.120125 cup | 0.120125098 |
| 2 oz | 0.24025 cup | 0.240250196 |
| 3 oz | 0.360375 cup | 0.360375294 |
| 4 oz | 0.4805 cup | 0.4805003919 |
| 6 oz | 0.720751 cup | 0.7207505879 |
| 8 oz | 0.961001 cup | 0.9610007839 |
| 12 oz | 1.4415 cup | 1.441501176 |
| 16 oz | 1.922 cup | 1.922001568 |
Based on 236 g per cup of water. One ounce of water is 0.1201251 cups.
| Measure | Grams | Ounces | Millilitres |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 cup | 236 g | 8.32 oz | 236.6 mL |
| 3/4 cup | 177 g | 6.24 oz | 177.4 mL |
| 2/3 cup | 157.3 g | 5.55 oz | 157.7 mL |
| 1/2 cup | 118 g | 4.16 oz | 118.3 mL |
| 1/3 cup | 78.67 g | 2.77 oz | 78.86 mL |
| 1/4 cup | 59 g | 2.08 oz | 59.15 mL |
| 1 tbsp | 14.75 g | 0.52 oz | 14.79 mL |
| 1 tsp | 4.917 g | 0.173 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coconut oil | 218 g | 7.69 oz | 0.9214 |
| Mayonnaise | 220 g | 7.76 oz | 0.9299 |
| Cream cheese | 227 g | 8.007 oz | 0.9595 |
| Water (this page) | 236 g | 8.325 oz | 0.9975 |
| Heavy cream | 238 g | 8.395 oz | 1.006 |
| Vinegar | 239 g | 8.43 oz | 1.01 |
| Sour cream | 240 g | 8.466 oz | 1.014 |
Ordered by weight. The spread across this group is why a single generic cups-to-grams factor cannot work.