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Hash Generator

Hash Generator — SHA-256, SHA-1 and SHA-512 Hash Online

Verifying downloads shouldn't need a command line. Drop a file or paste text for instant MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 digests. Use and copy results free — no account needed.

Upload file to hash

Input text or file
MD5
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SHA-1
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SHA-256
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SHA-384
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SHA-512
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How to generate a SHA-256, SHA-1 or MD5 hash of text or a file

This hash generator computes MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 digests of any text or file at once and shows each as lowercase hexadecimal with its own Copy button. Paste text to watch the hashes update as you type, or drop a file to fingerprint it, for example to check a download against the checksum its publisher lists. Hashing runs in your browser, and while you are signed in a hashed file and its checksum report are also saved privately to My Work.

Hash text with SHA-256, SHA-1 or MD5

Keep Source on Text, paste into Input text or file, and all five rows fill in after a moment. The text is hashed as UTF-8, so every character counts, including spaces and a final line break. The word hello gives a SHA-256 of 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824, which is a handy check that you are comparing like with like. Copy beside a row copies that digest, and Copy SHA-256 copies the most requested one.

  1. Keep Source on Text.
  2. Paste or type the text into Input text or file.
  3. Read the digest in the row for the algorithm you need.
  4. Select Copy on that row, or Copy SHA-256.

Check a downloaded file against its checksum

Drop the file onto the upload strip, or switch Source to File and choose it, and the tool reads its raw bytes and computes every digest. Compare the SHA-256 row with the value on the publisher's page, ignoring upper and lower case, because some tools print uppercase hex and this one prints lowercase. There is no box for an expected value, so compare by eye, or paste both strings into the diff checker. Only plain digests are computed, with no secret key or salt, so there is no HMAC. Files larger than 64 MB are refused, and text is limited to 2,000,000 characters.

Choose the right hash algorithm

SHA-256 is the usual choice for integrity checks and gives 64 hex characters. SHA-384 and SHA-512 give 96 and 128 characters and suit cases where a longer digest is specified. MD5 (32 characters) and SHA-1 (40) are broken against deliberate collisions, so use them only to match old checksums and never for anything security related. A hash is one-way and is not encryption, and a plain fast hash is not enough for storing passwords. To make a strong password, generate a random one. The Base64 tool encodes the hex text you give it, not the raw digest bytes, so it does not produce the Base64 form some headers expect.

Find out why a hash does not match

A single extra character changes the whole digest. The usual causes are a trailing line break, which turns the SHA-256 of hello into one that begins 5891b5b5, Windows line endings in place of Unix ones, a stray space, and a text encoding other than UTF-8. Also confirm you hashed the same thing, because a file and a pasted copy of its text can give different results. Paste the text exactly as the other system saw it.

Before you trust a hash comparison

  • Get the expected checksum from a separate trusted source, not from the download page alone.
  • Compare the full string, not just the first and last characters.
  • Use SHA-256 or longer for anything where security matters.
  • If you are signed in, remember that a hashed file and its checksum report are also saved privately to My Work.

If two text files produce different digests, line up both versions to find the exact change; to carry a file inside JSON or an email body, encode it as Base64 text. For a fresh secret instead of a fingerprint, create a random password of up to 128 characters.

What you can do with Hash Generator

Review the main capabilities before you begin.

  • Generate SHA-256 hashes from any text
  • Create SHA-1, SHA-384 and SHA-512 digests
  • Verify file integrity with a checksum
  • Compute hashes for uploaded files
  • Fingerprint passwords or tokens as hex
  • Compare downloads against expected checksums

Settings reference

Available controls for Hash Generator.

Settings

SourceDropdown
Switches what gets hashed between pasted text and a chosen file — pick File to verify a download's checksum or Text to fingerprint a pasted string.Options: TextFile
FileFile input
Choose file picker shown when Source is set to File; selecting a new file instantly recomputes all five checksums for that file.
Free to use · No signup required · Without watermarkUploads are encrypted in transitRemoved under our retention policy

Frequently Asked Questions

How Hash Generator helps you get it done

Real problems it solves every day — for businesses, creators, and everyday tasks. Find the use case that fits you and start.

Everyday Use

Verify File Integrity After Download

Compute the SHA-256 digest of an ISO, installer or release artifact and compare it with the publisher's checksum to confirm the file was not corrupted or tampered with

Everyday Use

Detect Duplicates in Large Image Libraries

Hash files to find duplicate photos, documents or assets across folders, NAS shares and cloud drives without comparing them byte-by-byte every time

For Developers

Sign & Validate Webhook Payloads

Generate the SHA-256 digest of a webhook body to validate Stripe, GitHub, Shopify and Twilio HMAC signatures during local integration work and debugging

For Business

Fingerprint Software Releases for Auditing

Produce SHA-512 fingerprints for binaries, container images and release tarballs so compliance teams can audit which exact build shipped to which customer

Web & SEO

Generate Cache Keys & ETags

Hash request bodies, query parameters or file contents to derive deterministic cache keys for Redis, Cloudflare Workers and CDN ETag headers

Everyday Use

Confirm Backup Integrity Over Time

Store SHA-256 digests of monthly backups and re-hash them later to confirm bit-rot has not silently corrupted critical archives on long-term storage media

For Developers

Check Legacy MD5 Checksums From Old Downloads

Some older software manifests and mirror sites still only publish an MD5 checksum. Drop the file into File mode and compare against the published MD5 row — included specifically for matching those legacy listings, not for anything security-sensitive.

Privacy & Security

Password & Secret Fingerprinting for Config Audits

Paste a config value, API key or password into Text mode to get its SHA-256 fingerprint for audit logs and diff comparisons — prove two environments hold the same secret without ever exposing the secret itself, since hashing runs entirely in your browser.

Publishing

Timestamp Proof for Written Work

Hash a manuscript, contract draft or design file with SHA-256 and publish or email just the digest before revealing the finished document — later you can prove the exact content existed at that time, since anyone with the file can verify it matches your published hash.

For Business

Data Migration Verification

Hash export files before and after a database or cloud migration to prove byte-for-byte fidelity — compare the SHA-256 digests of the CSV/JSON exports on both ends instead of eyeballing millions of rows.

Education

Classroom Integrity Checks for Submitted Files

Instructors can hash a released dataset or starter-code file and ask students to report the matching digest alongside their submission, confirming nobody edited the starting material before beginning the assignment.

For Developers

Verify Software Downloads and OS Images Before You Install Them

Drop a freshly downloaded installer, Linux ISO or archive into File mode and compare the SHA-256 row against the checksum the publisher lists on their official download page — this is the single most common reason people reach for a hash generator, and it catches a corrupted download or a tampered mirror before you run anything untrusted on your machine.

Watch each transformation land

Every photo crosses the slash untouched and comes out the other side finished.