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Convert MB to KB

Please provide values below to convert megabyte [MB] to kilobyte [kB], or vice versa.

Megabyte

Definition: A megabyte (symbol: MB) is equal to 10⁶ bytes (1000² bytes), where a byte is a unit of digital information that consists of eight bits (binary digits).

History/origin: The megabyte is based on the byte, which is derived from the bit, and is a unit that makes use of SI (International System of Units) prefixes. The prefix "mega" can be ambiguous; the SI use of "mega" would indicate that a megabyte is 1,000,000 bytes, or 1000² bytes, but a base of 1024 (rather than 1000) is also used in information technology as a convenient way to express byte multiples as powers of 2. In 1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission attempted to address this by defining new prefixes to indicate a base of 1024 rather than 1000. Rather than using the prefix "mega," within this system of prefixes, 1024² is referred to as a mebibyte.

Current use: Megabytes are widely used in data storage for file sizes (documents, photos, videos, etc.) as well as for storage devices such as flash drives or, in the past, floppy disks. Today however, storage devices are typically larger, often involving either gigabytes (1000³ bytes) or terabytes (1000⁴) of data.

Kilobyte

Definition: A kilobyte (symbol: kB) is equal to 10³ bytes (1000 bytes), where a byte is a unit of digital information that consists of eight bits (binary digits).

History/origin: The kilobyte is based on the byte, which is derived from the bit, and is a unit that makes use of SI (International System of Units) prefixes. The term byte was coined in 1956 by Werner Buchholz. In 1998, the International Electrotechnical Commission defined new prefixes for the byte to be used in addition to their SI (International System of Units) counterparts, with the intent that the SI prefixes would be used when referencing 1000 bytes. The new prefixes would be used when referencing multiples of 1024 bytes (2¹⁰), which is the binary definition of bytes used in information technology.

Current use: Bytes are widely used when referencing data storage, particularly storage media such as hard drives, flash-based storage, and DVDs, though these are more often presented in terms of larger multiples of bytes such as megabytes or gigabytes. Kilobytes are more commonly used for smaller files like text documents.