diff --git a/__tests__/humanFileSize.spec.ts b/__tests__/humanFileSize.spec.ts
index ae15da6b..c33f8fc7 100644
--- a/__tests__/humanFileSize.spec.ts
+++ b/__tests__/humanFileSize.spec.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import { describe, expect, it } from 'vitest'
 
-import { formatFileSize } from '../lib/humanfilesize'
+import { formatFileSize, parseFileSize } from '../lib/humanfilesize'
 
 describe('humanFileSize', () => {
 	describe('formatFileSize', () => {
@@ -101,3 +101,97 @@ describe('humanFileSize', () => {
 		})
 	})
 })
+
+describe('parseFileSize', () => {
+	it('should return null on error', () => {
+		const invalid = [
+			'',
+			'a',
+			'.',
+			'kb',
+			'1.1.2',
+			'10ob',
+			'1z',
+		]
+
+		for (const line of invalid) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(line)).toBeNull()
+		}
+	})
+
+	it('can parse base 2', () => {
+		const values = {
+			'2kib': 2048,
+			'2mib': 2 * (1024 ** 2),
+			'2gib': 2 * (1024 ** 3),
+			'2tib': 2 * (1024 ** 4),
+			'2pib': 2 * (1024 ** 5),
+		}
+
+		for (const [text, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(text)).toBe(value)
+		}
+	})
+
+	it('can parse base 10', () => {
+		const values = {
+			'2kb': 2000,
+			'2mb': 2 * (1000 ** 2),
+			'2gb': 2 * (1000 ** 3),
+			'2tb': 2 * (1000 ** 4),
+			'2pb': 2 * (1000 ** 5),
+		}
+
+		for (const [text, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(text)).toBe(value)
+		}
+	})
+
+	it('parses missing binary prefixes if force is set true', () => {
+		const values = {
+			'2kb': 2048,
+			'2mb': 2 * (1024 ** 2),
+			'2gb': 2 * (1024 ** 3),
+			'2tb': 2 * (1024 ** 4),
+			'2pb': 2 * (1024 ** 5),
+		}
+
+		for (const [text, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(text, true)).toBe(value)
+		}
+	})
+
+	it('can parse with spaces', () => {
+		const values = {
+			'2kb': 2000,
+			'2 kb': 2000,
+			' 2kb': 2000,
+			'2kb ': 2000,
+			' 2 k b ': 2000,
+			'2kib': 2048,
+			'2 kIb': 2048,
+			' 2kib': 2048,
+			'2Kib ': 2048,
+			' 2 k i b ': 2048,
+		}
+
+		for (const [text, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(text)).toBe(value)
+		}
+	})
+
+	it('can parse decimals', () => {
+		const values = {
+			'2kb': 2000,
+			'2.2kb': 2200,
+			'2.kb': 2000,
+			'.2kb ': 200,
+			',2kb': 200,
+			'2,2kb': 2200,
+		}
+
+		for (const [text, value] of Object.entries(values)) {
+			expect(parseFileSize(text)).toBe(value)
+		}
+	})
+})
diff --git a/lib/humanfilesize.ts b/lib/humanfilesize.ts
index 37b793c9..bf25cf6d 100644
--- a/lib/humanfilesize.ts
+++ b/lib/humanfilesize.ts
@@ -64,3 +64,40 @@ export function formatFileSize(size: number|string, skipSmallSizes = false, bina
 
 	return relativeSize + ' ' + readableFormat
 }
+
+/**
+ * Returns a file size in bytes from a humanly readable string
+ * Note: `b` and `B` are both parsed as bytes and not as bit or byte.
+ *
+ * @param  {string} value file size in human-readable format
+ * @param  {boolean} forceBinary for backwards compatibility this allows values to be base 2 (so 2KB means 2048 bytes instead of 2000 bytes)
+ * @return {number} or null if string could not be parsed
+ */
+export function parseFileSize(value: string, forceBinary = false) {
+	try {
+		value = `${value}`.toLocaleLowerCase().replaceAll(/\s+/g, '').replaceAll(',', '.')
+	} catch (e) {
+		return null
+	}
+
+	const match = value.match(/^([0-9]*(\.[0-9]*)?)([kmgtp]?)(i?)b?$/)
+	// ignore not found, missing pre- and decimal, empty number
+	if (match === null || match[1] === '.' || match[1] === '') {
+		return null
+	}
+
+	const bytesArray = {
+		'': 0,
+		k: 1,
+		m: 2,
+		g: 3,
+		t: 4,
+		p: 5,
+		e: 6,
+	}
+
+	const decimalString = `${match[1]}`
+	const base = (match[4] === 'i' || forceBinary) ? 1024 : 1000
+
+	return Math.round(Number.parseFloat(decimalString) * (base ** bytesArray[match[3]]))
+}