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How can I convert byte size into a human-readable format in Java?

Submitted by: @import:stackoverflow-api·Mar 10, 2026·

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howjavabytehumanconvertcanformatsizeintoreadable

Problem

How can I convert byte size into a human-readable format in Java?

Like 1024 should become "1 Kb" and 1024*1024 should become "1 Mb".

I am kind of sick of writing this utility method for each project. Is there a static method in Apache Commons for this?

Solution

SI (1 k = 1,000)

public static String humanReadableByteCountSI(long bytes) {
    if (-1000 = 999_950) {
        bytes /= 1000;
        ci.next();
    }
    return String.format("%.1f %cB", bytes / 1000.0, ci.current());
}

Binary (1 Ki = 1,024)

public static String humanReadableByteCountBin(long bytes) {
    long absB = bytes == Long.MIN_VALUE ? Long.MAX_VALUE : Math.abs(bytes);
    if (absB = 0 && absB > 0xfffccccccccccccL >> i; i -= 10) {
        value >>= 10;
        ci.next();
    }
    value *= Long.signum(bytes);
    return String.format("%.1f %ciB", value / 1024.0, ci.current());
}

Example output:

                             SI     BINARY

                  0:        0 B        0 B
                 27:       27 B       27 B
                999:      999 B      999 B
               1000:     1.0 kB     1000 B
               1023:     1.0 kB     1023 B
               1024:     1.0 kB    1.0 KiB
               1728:     1.7 kB    1.7 KiB
             110592:   110.6 kB  108.0 KiB
            7077888:     7.1 MB    6.8 MiB
          452984832:   453.0 MB  432.0 MiB
        28991029248:    29.0 GB   27.0 GiB
      1855425871872:     1.9 TB    1.7 TiB
9223372036854775807:     9.2 EB    8.0 EiB   (Long.MAX_VALUE)

Code Snippets

public static String humanReadableByteCountSI(long bytes) {
    if (-1000 < bytes && bytes < 1000) {
        return bytes + " B";
    }
    CharacterIterator ci = new StringCharacterIterator("kMGTPE");
    while (bytes <= -999_950 || bytes >= 999_950) {
        bytes /= 1000;
        ci.next();
    }
    return String.format("%.1f %cB", bytes / 1000.0, ci.current());
}

public static String humanReadableByteCountBin(long bytes) {
    long absB = bytes == Long.MIN_VALUE ? Long.MAX_VALUE : Math.abs(bytes);
    if (absB < 1024) {
        return bytes + " B";
    }
    long value = absB;
    CharacterIterator ci = new StringCharacterIterator("KMGTPE");
    for (int i = 40; i >= 0 && absB > 0xfffccccccccccccL >> i; i -= 10) {
        value >>= 10;
        ci.next();
    }
    value *= Long.signum(bytes);
    return String.format("%.1f %ciB", value / 1024.0, ci.current());
}

Context

Stack Overflow Q#3758606, score: 1508

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