Convert KB To MB

There are two different definitions of the megabyte. One is the binary definition, which means precisely 1024 megabytes in a megabyte. This is what you would learn in computer science class. It is the most popular definition that most developers (e.g., Windows) use. Other definitions state that there are 1000 megabytes in one megabyte. It is the International System of Units definition. Despite being widely used in central organizations across the globe, it has yet to be widely recognized despite its decades-long existence.

The confusion was so widespread that International Electrotechnical Commission proposed a new measure: the Mebibyte (symbol: MiB). This replaces the binary MB definition. This metric is only used in very specific areas, such as the development of computer driver software. Our KB-to-MB converter supports both standards.

Each definition has its pros and cons. The SI one is more straightforward to compute, and it is compatible with other measurement units, such as kilograms, kilometers, etc. Binary is more suitable for computer storage or memory because it results in round numbers, e.g., There isn't 512 MB of RAM (SI), but there is 512 MB (binary or MiB) RAM.

Different situations may require you to convert KB to MB. Let's say you have a system with many files. Each file is approximately 512KB. You want to know how many MB it will take to fit 100,000 files. If you use the SI system, you will need precisely 51,000 MB storage.

Many storage systems will be labeled according to the SI convention for megabytes. A 700MB CD with 700,000 SI Kilobytes will contain 700,000,000 Bytes. These are equivalent to 667.572MB (683593.75KB) in binary convention, which your OS uses to display file sizes. Before you buy any data storage, it is crucial to understand the different metric systems to avoid getting left behind. The difference in the gigabyte range is 10%.

Divide 1000 if you use the SI convention and 1024 if you use the binary convention to convert between KB or MB. This shows the utility of the SI convention. You can shift the decimal position three places to the left. However, calculators such as ours are rarely of significant benefit.