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Kilobyte

unit of digital information equal to one thousand bytes

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 20, 2026
Entity authorityQ79726 ↗
Source-derived summary

The kilobyte is a multiple of the unit byte for digital information.

The International System of Units (SI) defines the prefix kilo as a multiplication factor of 1000 (103); therefore, one kilobyte is 1000 bytes. The internationally recommended unit symbol for the kilobyte is kB.

In some areas of information technology, particularly in reference to random-access memory capacity, kilobyte instead often refers to 1024 (210) bytes. This arises from the prevalence of sizes that are powers of two in modern digital memory architectures, coupled with the coincidence that 210 differs from 103 by 2.4%.

The kibibyte is defined as 1024 bytes, avoiding the ambiguity issues of the kilobyte.

Definitions and usage

Decimal (1000 bytes)

In the International System of Units (SI) the metric prefix kilo means 1,000 (103); therefore, one kilobyte is 1000 bytes. The unit symbol is kB.

This is the definition standardised by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). This definition, and the related definitions of the prefixes mega (1,000,000), giga (1,000,000,000), etc., are most commonly used for data transfer rates in computer networks, internal bus, hard drive and flash media transfer speeds, and for the capacities of most storage media, particularly hard disk drives, flash-based storage, and DVDs. It is also consistent with the other uses of the metric prefixes in computing, such as CPU clock speeds or measures of performance.

The international standard IEC 80000-13 uses the term "byte" to mean eight bits (1 B = 8 bit).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Kilobyte” as unit of digital information equal to one thousand bytes. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Kilobyte, unit and digital.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1000, 1024—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Kilobyte, unit and digital providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Kilobyte”, the useful work is to connect “unit of digital information equal to one thousand bytes” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q79726. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1000 and 1024.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Kilobyte”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Kilobyte primary sources, Kilobyte archive and Kilobyte research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Kilobyte”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Kilobyte” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.