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   Computers & Internet / How Many Kilobytes in a Megabyte

As you may know, the binary number system is used to measure computer data, and the bit¹ is the basic unit of information in it. The bit has one of the two values, denoted by 1 or 0. Eight bits make up one byte², which is the main element in most computer system architectures. When an average man hears the terms “kilobytes” and “megabytes” for the first time, he will probably think that they mean the following:

• 1 kilobyte equals to 1000 bytes
• 1 megabyte equals to 1 000 000 bytes

So, the answer to the question, “How many kilobytes are there in a Megabyte?” seems to be obvious:

• 1 megabyte equals to 1000 kilobytes.

But don’t jump to conclusions. For example, manufacturers of computer memory use another system. It states:

• 1 megabyte equals to 1024 kilobytes.

More than that, this definition is more popular nowadays. It means that 1 kilobyte is 2¹⁰ bytes, which is 1024 bytes. But it uses the prefix “kilo” from the metric system, and sometimes this fact causes confusion.

The IEC Definitions

In 1998, the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission)³ accepted a new international standard. It suggests replacing metric prefixes in the terms by specific ones. New variants are made up of the first syllable of the corresponding metric prefix and the syllable “bi” (contraction from “binary”).

The following table presents all the IEC definitions.


These new definitions could have solved many problems, but they are not commonly used yet, and most manufacturers, dealers and computer users ignore it. No wonder, most people do not even know what these terms mean.

The table below will help you to convert traditional units.

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