Hash Generator

How it works

1. Paste the text you want to hash. It is treated as UTF-8 bytes, so the result matches command-line tools like sha256sum or openssl dgst on the same UTF-8 file.
2. Select the algorithm. SHA-256 is the default and the right choice for new work; MD5 and SHA-1 are provided for checking old checksums.
3. Press Generate hash. The digest appears as lowercase hexadecimal.
4. Compare it with the expected value. A single differing character means the input differs, even if it is only a trailing newline.

Frequently asked questions

Is my text uploaded to compute the hash?

No. SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 use the browser's Web Crypto API, and MD5 is a small in-page implementation. Nothing is transmitted, so you can hash secrets, tokens or personal data safely.

Can I use MD5 or SHA-256 to store passwords?

No. Plain hashes are far too fast; an attacker can test billions of guesses per second on a GPU. Passwords need a slow, salted algorithm designed for the purpose such as bcrypt, scrypt or Argon2id. Use this tool for checksums and fingerprints, not for password storage.

Why are MD5 and SHA-1 marked as legacy?

Both have practical collision attacks: two different inputs can be crafted to produce the same hash. They are still fine for detecting accidental corruption, but they must not be used for signatures, certificates or anything where an attacker could choose the input.

Why does my hash differ from the one produced by another tool?

Almost always because the bytes differ: a trailing newline, Windows CRLF line endings, a UTF-8 byte order mark, or a different encoding such as Shift_JIS or UTF-16. Hashes are computed over bytes, not over what the text looks like.

Can I hash a file instead of text?

This page hashes text only. For files, a dedicated file hash tool that reads the file in chunks is more suitable; pasting binary content into a textarea would alter the bytes.