Data storage
The size of a digital file can be measured in a number of different units. The measurements for files are:
| Unit of measurement | Abbreviation | Conversion |
| bit | b | 1 bit |
| nibble | - | 4 bits (or half a byte) |
| Byte | B | 8 bits |
| Kilobyte | KB | 1024 bytes |
| Megabyte | MB | 1024 kilobytes (or 1048576 bytes) |
| Gigabyte | GB | 1024 megabytes |
| Terabyte | TB | 1024 gigabytes |
| Petabyte | PB | 1024 terabytes |
| Unit of measurement | bit |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | b |
| Conversion | 1 bit |
| Unit of measurement | nibble |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | - |
| Conversion | 4 bits (or half a byte) |
| Unit of measurement | Byte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | B |
| Conversion | 8 bits |
| Unit of measurement | Kilobyte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | KB |
| Conversion | 1024 bytes |
| Unit of measurement | Megabyte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | MB |
| Conversion | 1024 kilobytes (or 1048576 bytes) |
| Unit of measurement | Gigabyte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | GB |
| Conversion | 1024 megabytes |
| Unit of measurement | Terabyte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | TB |
| Conversion | 1024 gigabytes |
| Unit of measurement | Petabyte |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | PB |
| Conversion | 1024 terabytes |
Different types of data require different amounts of storage space. For example: One ASCII character in a text file (e.g., 'A') will need 1 byte for storage and the words 'Digital Technology' in a document will require 18 bytes of storage.
Typical file sizes for a variety of digital data