However, those are equal to only 667.572 MB (683,593.75 KB) in the binary convention which your OS is likely using to display file sizes. For example a 700 MB CD will in fact contain just 700,000,000 Bytes or 700,000 SI kilobytes. Please, note that many storage systems will be labeled based on the SI convention for the megabyte. In this case you will need exactly 50,000 MB of storage if using the binary system, and 51,200 MB of storage if using the SI system. Say you have a system containing many files, each around 512 KB, and you want to know how many MB you will need to fit 100,000 of those files. Difference between KB and MBĬonverting from KB to MB is needed in different situations. there is no 512 MB (SI) RAM, but there is 512 MB (binary, or MiB) RAM. The binary one is more appropriate for computer storage and memory since it results in round numbers, e.g.

Our KB to MB converter supports operations in both standards.Įach definition has its pluses - the SI one is easier to compute and is in line with other measurement units such as kilometer, kilogram, etc. However the metric has hardly any traction outside of very specialized areas such as development of computer drivers.

The confusion was so widespread that the International Electrotechnical Commission proposed a new metric: the Mebibyte (symbol: MiB) in place of the binary MB definition. Despite its wide adoption in all kinds of central organizations, it is yet to see widespread recognition after decades of its existence. The other definition states that there are 1000 kilobytes in a megabyte and it is the definition adopted by the International System of Units (SI). This is the definition you would learn in your computer science class and it is the one most developers and, consequently, most operating systems (e.g. One is the traditional binary definition (metrics are defined as powers of 2) in which there are exactly 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte. There are two contradictory definitions of the megabyte.

How to convert file sizes