How to convert kilobytes to bytes
- Take the value in kilobytes.
- Use the formula bytes = kilobytes × 1,000.
- For example, 0.5 KB is 500 B.
About kilobytes and bytes
In decimal (SI) units a kilobyte is 1,000 bytes, so multiply KB by 1,000 to get bytes. 4 KB is 4,000 bytes and 250 KB is 250,000 bytes. This is what macOS, phone storage and most websites mean by KB.
Older software and Windows use KB for 1,024 bytes, which is properly called a kibibyte (KiB). The difference is only 2.4% at this size, but it matters for exact limits in code, upload forms and file formats. When a spec says 1 KB in a context like memory or disk blocks, check whether it means 1,000 or 1,024.
Examples
- 0.5 KB (half a kilobyte) is 500 B
- 1 KB (one kilobyte) is 1,000 B
- 100 KB (a 100 KB upload limit, an illustrative value) is 100,000 B
- 1,024 KB (a “1024 KB” figure, which is not quite 1 MiB) is 1,024,000 B
Kilobytes to bytes chart
| Kilobytes (KB) | Bytes (B) |
|---|---|
| 0.1 | 100 |
| 0.5 | 500 |
| 1 | 1,000 |
| 1.02 | 1,024 |
| 2 | 2,000 |
| 4 | 4,000 |
| 8 | 8,000 |
| 10 | 10,000 |
| 16 | 16,000 |
| 20 | 20,000 |
| 32 | 32,000 |
| 50 | 50,000 |
| Kilobytes (KB) | Bytes (B) |
|---|---|
| 64 | 64,000 |
| 100 | 100,000 |
| 128 | 128,000 |
| 200 | 200,000 |
| 250 | 250,000 |
| 256 | 256,000 |
| 500 | 500,000 |
| 512 | 512,000 |
| 1,000 | 1,000,000 |
| 1,024 | 1,024,000 |
| 2,000 | 2,000,000 |
| 5,000 | 5,000,000 |