# pretty-bytes

> Convert bytes to a human readable string: 1337 → 1.34 kB

Latest version **7.1.3** (published 2026-09-03) · MIT license · 0 weekly downloads

## Install

```sh
npm install pretty-bytes
pnpm add pretty-bytes
yarn add pretty-bytes
bun add pretty-bytes
```

## Health

**Score 58/100 (C)** — status: active.

Positive: has types package; no vulnerabilities; recently updated; high maintenance score.

Warnings: low downloads; no esm support.

## Facts

| | |
|---|---|
| Version | 7.1.3 |
| Published | 2026-09-03 |
| First published | 2014-02-09 |
| Weekly downloads | 0 |
| License | MIT |
| TypeScript types | separate (@types/pretty-bytes) |
| Module format | CommonJS |
| Dependencies | 0 |
| Known vulnerabilities | 0 |
| Install scripts | no |
| GitHub stars | 1311 |
| Author | Sindre Sorhus |
| Maintainers | sindresorhus |
| Keywords | pretty, bytes, byte, filesize, size, file, human, humanized, readable, si, data, locale, localization, localized |

## Links

- npm: https://www.npmjs.com/package/pretty-bytes
- Repository: https://github.com/sindresorhus/pretty-bytes
- Homepage: https://github.com/sindresorhus/pretty-bytes#readme
- Issues: https://github.com/sindresorhus/pretty-bytes/issues
- Funding: https://github.com/sponsors/sindresorhus
- npm.io page: https://npm.io/package/pretty-bytes

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## Recent versions

- 7.1.3 (latest) — 2026-09-03
- 7.1.2 — 2026-08-28
- 7.1.1 — 2026-07-15
- 7.1.0 — 2025-09-21
- 7.0.1 — 2025-08-12
- 7.0.0 — 2025-04-29
- 6.1.1 — 2023-07-16
- 6.1.0 — 2023-02-04
- 6.0.0 — 2022-02-13
- 5.6.0 — 2021-02-21
- 5.5.0 — 2020-12-23
- 5.4.1 — 2020-08-31
- 5.4.0 — 2020-08-29
- 5.3.0 — 2019-07-26
- 5.2.0 — 2019-04-24
- … 17 more at https://npm.io/package/pretty-bytes/versions

## README

# pretty-bytes

> Convert bytes to a human readable string: `1337` → `1.34 kB`

Useful for displaying file sizes for humans.

*Note that it uses base-10 (e.g. kilobyte).
[Read about the difference between kilobyte and kibibyte.](https://web.archive.org/web/20150324153922/https://pacoup.com/2009/05/26/kb-kb-kib-whats-up-with-that/)*

## Install

```sh
npm install pretty-bytes
```

## Usage

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

prettyBytes(1337);
//=> '1.34 kB'

prettyBytes(100);
//=> '100 B'

// Display with units of bits
prettyBytes(1337, {bits: true});
//=> '1.34 kbit'

// Display file size differences
prettyBytes(42, {signed: true});
//=> '+42 B'

// Localized output using German locale
prettyBytes(1337, {locale: 'de'});
//=> '1,34 kB'

// Fixed width for alignment (useful for progress bars and tables)
prettyBytes(1337, {fixedWidth: 8});
//=> ' 1.34 kB'
```

## API

### prettyBytes(number, options?)

#### number

Type: `number | bigint`

The number to format.

#### options

Type: `object`

##### signed

Type: `boolean`\
Default: `false`

Include plus sign for positive numbers. If the difference is exactly zero a space character will be prepended instead for better alignment.

##### bits

Type: `boolean`\
Default: `false`

Format the number as [bits](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit) instead of [bytes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byte). This can be useful when, for example, referring to [bit rate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bit_rate).

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

prettyBytes(1337, {bits: true});
//=> '1.34 kbit'
```

##### binary

Type: `boolean`\
Default: `false`

Format the number using the [Binary Prefix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Binary_prefix) instead of the [SI Prefix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SI_prefix). This can be useful for presenting memory amounts. However, this should not be used for presenting file sizes.

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

prettyBytes(1000, {binary: true});
//=> '1000 B'

prettyBytes(1024, {binary: true});
//=> '1 KiB'
```

##### locale

Type: `boolean | string | string[]`\
Default: `false`

- If `false`: Output won't be localized.
- If `true`: Localize the output using the system/browser locale.
- If `string`: Expects a [BCP 47 language tag](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag) (For example: `en`, `de`, …)
- If `string[]`: Expects a list of [BCP 47 language tags](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IETF_language_tag) (For example: `en`, `de`, …)

> [!IMPORTANT]
> Only the number and decimal separator are localized. The unit title is not and will not be localized.

##### minimumFractionDigits

Type: `number`\
Default: `undefined`

The minimum number of fraction digits to display.

If neither `minimumFractionDigits` nor `maximumFractionDigits` is set, the default behavior is to round to 3 significant digits.

> [!NOTE]
> When `minimumFractionDigits` or `maximumFractionDigits` is specified, values are truncated instead of rounded to provide more intuitive results for file sizes.

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

// Show the number with at least 3 fractional digits
prettyBytes(1900, {minimumFractionDigits: 3});
//=> '1.900 kB'

prettyBytes(1900);
//=> '1.9 kB'
```

##### maximumFractionDigits

Type: `number`\
Default: `undefined`

The maximum number of fraction digits to display.

If neither `minimumFractionDigits` nor `maximumFractionDigits` is set, the default behavior is to round to 3 significant digits.

> [!NOTE]
> When `minimumFractionDigits` or `maximumFractionDigits` is specified, values are truncated instead of rounded to provide more intuitive results for file sizes.

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

// Show the number with at most 1 fractional digit
prettyBytes(1920, {maximumFractionDigits: 1});
//=> '1.9 kB'

prettyBytes(1920);
//=> '1.92 kB'
```

##### space

Type: `boolean`\
Default: `true`

Put a space between the number and unit.

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

prettyBytes(1920, {space: false});
//=> '1.92kB'

prettyBytes(1920);
//=> '1.92 kB'
```

##### nonBreakingSpace

Type: `boolean`\
Default: `false`

Use a non-breaking space instead of a regular space to prevent the unit from wrapping to a new line.

Has no effect when `space` is `false`.

##### fixedWidth

Type: `number`\
Default: `undefined`

Pad the output to a fixed width by right-aligning it.

Useful for creating aligned columns in tables or progress bars.

If the output is longer than the specified width, no padding is applied.

Must be a non-negative integer. Throws a `TypeError` for invalid values.

```js
import prettyBytes from 'pretty-bytes';

prettyBytes(1337, {fixedWidth: 10});
//=> '   1.34 kB'

prettyBytes(100_000, {fixedWidth: 10});
//=> '  100 kB'

// Useful for progress bars and tables
[1000, 10_000, 100_000].map(bytes => prettyBytes(bytes, {fixedWidth: 8}));
//=> ['   1 kB', '  10 kB', ' 100 kB']
```

## FAQ

### Why kB and not KB?

`k` is the [standardized SI prefix](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metric_prefix) for kilo.

## Related

- [pretty-bytes-cli](https://github.com/sindresorhus/pretty-bytes-cli) - CLI for this module
- [pretty-ms](https://github.com/sindresorhus/pretty-ms) - Convert milliseconds to a human readable string

---
_Source: https://npm.io/package/pretty-bytes · Machine-readable twin of the npm.io package page. Health data is recomputed on every publish._