File size

File size is a measure of how much data a computer file contains or, alternately, how much storage it consumes. Typically, file size is expressed in units of measurement based on the byte. By convention, file size units use either a metric prefix (as in megabyte and gigabyte) or a binary prefix (as in mebibyte and gibibyte).^[1]

When a file is written to a file system, which is the case in most modern devices, it may consume slightly more disk space than the file requires. This is because the file system rounds the size up to include any unused space left over in the last block used by the file. (A sector is the smallest amount of space addressable by the file system. The size of a disk sector ranges from several hundred to several thousand bytes. A file system block is one or more sectors in size.) The unused space is called slack space or internal fragmentation.^[2] Although smaller sector sizes allow for denser use of disk space, they decrease the operational efficiency of the file system.