Kibibyte (KiB): Binary unit of digital information equal to 1,024 bytes

Definition, usage, and conversions for the kibibyte (KiB): the binary unit equal to 1,024 bytes, its role among binary prefixes, and how it differs from decimal kilo-based measures.

kibibyte (abbreviated KiB) is a binary-based unit for measuring digital quantities. By definition one kibibyte equals 1024 bytes, which is 2^10 bytes.

Relation to other units

The kibibyte belongs to the family of binary prefixes created to clearly separate powers of two from decimal SI prefixes. In that hierarchy, 1024 kibibytes make up 1 mebibyte.

Context and usage

People encounter kibibytes when working with information measurements or in computer storage contexts. Because some industries and software still use SI prefixes (for example, kilo meaning 1000), different conventions can produce different numeric labels for the same amount of data.

Quick reference

1 KiB = 1024 bytes
1 KiB = 2^10 bytes
1024 KiB = 1 MiB