A byte is the basic unit of data storage in computing, consisting of 8 Bits (binary digits). It is the smallest addressable unit of memory in most computer systems and can represent 256 different values (from 0 to 255), since 28=2562^8 = 25628=256.
Bytes are used to store single characters (like letters, numbers, or symbols) in text encoding schemes such as ASCII. For example, the letter ‘A’ is stored as one byte with the binary value 01000001
Storage capacities (RAM, hard drives, USB drives) are measured in bytes and their multiples:
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Kilobyte (KB): ~1,000 bytes
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Megabyte (MB): ~1,000,000 bytes
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Gigabyte (GB): ~1,000,000,000 bytes
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Terabyte (TB): ~1,000,000,000,000 bytesbritannica+1
The byte is abbreviated with an uppercase B (e.g., MB for megabytes), while b (lowercase) denotes bits (e.g., Mbps for megabits per second).