Data Storage Reference
| Unit | Bytes |
|---|---|
| 1 Kilobyte (KB) | 1,000 bytes |
| 1 Megabyte (MB) | 1,000,000 bytes |
| 1 Gigabyte (GB) | 1,000,000,000 bytes |
| 1 Terabyte (TB) | 1,000,000,000,000 bytes |
| 1 Kibibyte (KiB) | 1,024 bytes |
| 1 Mebibyte (MiB) | 1,048,576 bytes |
Frequently Asked Questions
KB (kilobyte) = 1,000 bytes (SI standard used by hard drive manufacturers). KiB (kibibyte) = 1,024 bytes (binary, used by operating systems). This is why a "500 GB" hard drive shows as ~465 GiB in Windows.
1 GB = 1,000 MB (decimal/SI). 1 GiB = 1,024 MiB (binary). Most storage products use decimal; operating systems report in binary, causing the apparent size discrepancy.