Kilobytes (kB)
The kilobyte (kB) is 1,000 bytes under the SI (decimal) definition used by storage manufacturers, network equipment and macOS.
Convert kilobytes to any data unit
1 kilobyte = 0.000001 gigabytes
Quick facts
- Unit
- Kilobyte (plural: kilobytes)
- Symbol
- kB
- Measures
- Information / Data
- System
- Decimal (SI)
- Equals
- 1,000 bytes
- Definition
- 1,000 bytes (10^3), the SI definition.
1 kilobyte in other units
| Gigabytes | 0.000001 GB |
| Megabytes | 0.001 MB |
| Bytes | 1,000 B |
| Terabytes | 1 × 10-9 TB |
| Bits | 8,000 bit |
| Gigabits | 0.000008 Gbit |
| Megabits | 0.008 Mbit |
| Terabits | 8 × 10-9 Tbit |
What is a kilobyte?
The kilobyte (kB) is 1,000 bytes under the SI (decimal) definition used by storage manufacturers, network equipment and macOS. Windows still reports sizes with 1024-based units but labels them kB, which is why a new drive shows less space than advertised. The binary counterpart is the kibibyte (KiB).
Where the kilobyte sits among data units
The kilobyte is number 17 of 64 on our scale of data units, ordered from smallest to largest.
Kilobytes in real life
- A page of plain text is about 2 kB; a short email about 75 kB.
One kilobyte is about 3.6 tweets, or about 50% of a page of plain text, or about 1,000 characters of text.
Top kilobyte conversions
Common amounts of kilobytes
- 0.1 kB
- 0.2 kB
- 0.3 kB
- 0.4 kB
- 0.5 kB
- 0.6 kB
- 0.7 kB
- 0.8 kB
- 0.9 kB
- 1 kB
- 1.5 kB
- 2 kB
- 2.5 kB
- 3 kB
- 3.5 kB
- 4 kB
- 4.5 kB
- 5 kB
- 6 kB
- 7 kB
- 7.5 kB
- 8 kB
- 9 kB
- 10 kB
- 11 kB
- 12 kB
- 13 kB
- 14 kB
- 15 kB
- 16 kB
- 17 kB
- 18 kB
- 19 kB
- 20 kB
- 21 kB
- 22 kB
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- 24 kB
- 25 kB
- 26 kB
- 27 kB
- 28 kB
- 29 kB
- 30 kB
- 31 kB
- 32 kB
- 33 kB
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- 470 kB
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- 600 kB
- 700 kB
- 800 kB
- 900 kB
- 1,000 kB
- 1,200 kB
- 1,500 kB
- 2,000 kB
- 2,500 kB
- 3,000 kB
- 4,000 kB
- 5,000 kB
- 10,000 kB
Convert kilobytes to all 63 other units
Bits & bytes
- kB to B
- kB to bit
- kB to nibble
- kB to o
- kB to block
- kB to word (16-bit)
- kB to DWORD
- kB to QWORD
- kB to crumb
- kB to memory page
- kB to octaword
Decimal (SI)
- kB to GB
- kB to MB
- kB to TB
- kB to Gbit
- kB to Mbit
- kB to Tbit
- kB to kbit
- kB to PB
- kB to Pbit
- kB to EB
- kB to Ebit
- kB to ZB
- kB to YB
- kB to Zbit
- kB to Ybit
- kB to QB
- kB to RB
- kB to Qbit
- kB to Rbit
Binary (IEC)
- kB to GiB
- kB to MiB
- kB to KiB
- kB to TiB
- kB to PiB
- kB to Gibit
- kB to Mibit
- kB to EiB
- kB to Kibit
- kB to Tibit
- kB to YiB
- kB to ZiB
- kB to Pibit
- kB to Eibit
- kB to Yibit
- kB to Zibit
Legacy binary (JEDEC)
Information theory
Media & everyday comparisons
Convert to kilobytes
Frequently asked questions
What is a kilobyte?
The kilobyte (kB) is 1,000 bytes under the SI (decimal) definition used by storage manufacturers, network equipment and macOS.
How is the kilobyte defined?
1,000 bytes (10^3), the SI definition.
How many gigabytes are in a kilobyte?
One kilobyte equals 0.000001 gigabytes.
How many megabytes are in a kilobyte?
One kilobyte equals 0.001 megabytes.
How many bytes are in a kilobyte?
One kilobyte equals 1,000 bytes.