> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://mariadb.com/docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/secondary-functions/miscellaneous-functions/miscellaneous-functions-format_bytes.md).

# FORMAT\_BYTES

{% hint style="info" %}
`FORMAT_BYTES` is available from MariaDB [11.8](/docs/release-notes/community-server/11.8/what-is-mariadb-118.md).
{% endhint %}

## Syntax

```bnf
FORMAT_BYTES(double)
```

## Description

Given a byte count, returns a string consisting of a value and the units in a human-readable format. The units will be in bytes, KiB (kibibytes), MiB (mebibytes), GiB (gibibytes), TiB (tebibytes), PiB (pebibytes) or EiB (exbibytes).

The binary prefixes (kibi, mebi, gibi, tebi, pebi and exbi) were created in December 1998 by the International Electrotechnical Commission to avoid possible ambiguity, as the widely-used prefixes kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta and exa can be used to refer to both the power-of-10 decimal system multipliers and the power-of-two binary system multipliers.

This function is similar to the [Sys Schema format\_bytes](/docs/server/reference/system-tables/sys-schema/sys-schema-stored-functions/sys_schema_format_bytes.md) function, except that function does not display exbibytes.

## Examples

```sql
SELECT FORMAT_BYTES(1000)FORMAT_BYTES(1024);
+--------------------+--------------------+
| FORMAT_BYTES(1000) | FORMAT_BYTES(1024) |
+--------------------+--------------------+
| 1000 bytes         | 1.00 KiB           |
+--------------------+--------------------+

SELECT FORMAT_BYTES(1000000),FORMAT_BYTES(1048576);
+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| FORMAT_BYTES(1000000) | FORMAT_BYTES(1048576) |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| 976.56 KiB            | 1.00 MiB              |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+

SELECT FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000),FORMAT_BYTES(1073741874);
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000) | FORMAT_BYTES(1073741874) |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+
| 953.67 MiB               | 1.00 GiB                     |
+--------------------------+--------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000000),FORMAT_BYTES(1099511627776);
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000000) | FORMAT_BYTES(1099511627776) |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+
| 931.32 GiB                  | 1.00 TiB                    |
+-----------------------------+-----------------------------+

SELECT FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000000000),FORMAT_BYTES(1125899906842624);
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| FORMAT_BYTES(1000000000000000) | FORMAT_BYTES(1125899906842624) |
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
| 909.49 TiB                     | 1.00 PiB                       |
+--------------------------------+--------------------------------+
```

<sub>*This page is licensed: CC BY-SA / Gnu FDL*</sub>

{% @marketo/form formId="4316" %}


---

# Agent Instructions
This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com.

## Querying This Documentation
If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://mariadb.com/docs/server/reference/sql-functions/secondary-functions/miscellaneous-functions/miscellaneous-functions-format_bytes.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.