Meaning & use
KiB
Last updated
Meaning
abbreviationcountablecomputingtechnical
A unit of digital information equal to 1,024 bytes, used especially for measuring memory and file sizes.
Grammar: Countable: you can say one KiB, two KiB, or 512 KiB.
Patterns
- a number of KiB
- X KiB of something
The old floppy disk held about 1,440 KiB of data.
The image file is only 256 KiB, so it will download quickly.
A single KiB contains 1,024 bytes, not 1,000.
Word forms
| plural | KiB |
|---|
Common combinations
- KiB of data
- The program uses only a few KiB of data at a time.
- KiB per second
- The transfer rate was 64 KiB per second.
- a few KiB
- The patch is just a few KiB, so it installs in seconds.
- measured in KiB
- Memory in older systems was measured in KiB.
Synonyms and how they differ
- kibibyte
- The full word for the same unit; KiB is the standard abbreviation.
Word family
Commonly confused: KiB or KB?
KiB vs KB
KB usually means 1,000 bytes in everyday use, while KiB always means 1,024 bytes. Mixing them up can cause small but important differences in size calculations.
Practice
Which statement about KiB is correct?
Choose one answer.
KiB (kibibyte) is defined as 1,024 bytes, so option B is right. Option A describes the looser everyday meaning of KB, not KiB.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “KiB”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.