Bytes to Kilobytes
Convert bytes to KB, MB, GB, TB, and binary units. Decimal vs binary explained.
Enter your values above to see the results.
Tips & Notes
- ✓Hard drives use decimal: 1 TB = 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. OS shows binary: 931 GiB.
- ✓RAM is always binary — 8 GB RAM = exactly 8 GiB = 8,589,934,592 bytes.
- ✓Network speeds use bits (lowercase b), not bytes. 100 Mbps = 12.5 MB/s.
- ✓SSD and HDD specs use decimal GB/TB; file sizes in OS use binary GiB/TiB.
Common Mistakes
- ✗Confusing KB (1,000 B) with KiB (1,024 B) — a 2.4% difference that compounds to 7.4% at GB scale.
- ✗Mixing bits and bytes — internet speed in Mbps ÷ 8 = MB/s download speed.
- ✗Expecting a 1 TB drive to show 1,000 GB in OS — it shows ~931 GB (binary GiB displayed as GB).
- ✗Assuming all storage uses the same prefix system — manufacturers (decimal) vs OS (binary) differ.
Bytes to Kilobytes Overview
What This Calculator Does
Converts between all digital storage units — bytes, KB, MB, GB, TB — in both decimal (SI) and binary (IEC) systems simultaneously.
Decimal vs Binary — Root of the Confusion
| Unit | Decimal (SI) | Binary (IEC) | Difference | |------|-------------|--------------|------------| | Kilo | 1,000 B | 1,024 B (KiB) | 2.4% | | Mega | 1,000,000 B | 1,048,576 B (MiB) | 4.9% | | Giga | 10⁹ B | 2³⁰ B (GiB) | 7.4% | | Tera | 10¹² B | 2⁴⁰ B (TiB) | 9.9% |
Hard drives use decimal (more bytes). Operating systems historically used binary (fewer bytes shown). A 1 TB drive shows as 931 GiB in Windows — 100% correct, just different units.
Data Transfer Time Formula
seconds = (file size in MB × 8) ÷ connection speed in Mbps
Example: 1,000 MB file on 100 Mbps: (1,000 × 8) ÷ 100 = 80 seconds. The ×8 converts bytes to bits.