Hash Generator & File Checksum
Generate cryptographic hashes for text or a file, and compare against an expected checksum to verify a download wasn't corrupted or tampered with.
Results
Type some text or drop a file to compute its hash.
How to generate a hash or check a file's checksum
Generate cryptographic hashes for text or a file, and compare against an expected checksum to verify a download wasn't corrupted or tampered with.
Which algorithm should I use?
SHA-256 is the most common choice today for checksums and general-purpose hashing. SHA-384 and SHA-512 are longer variants with the same design. SHA-1 is included because it's still what some older download pages and Git use, though it's no longer considered secure against a determined attacker.
Verifying a download
Many download pages publish a SHA-256 (or similar) checksum next to a file. Drop the downloaded file into this tool, paste the published hash into "Expected hash", and the tool detects which algorithm it matches by its length and tells you whether they're identical.
How to use it
- Switch between the Text and File tabs depending on what you're hashing.
- Type text, or drop a file, to see its SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512 hashes.
- Optionally paste an expected hash to compare it automatically against the matching algorithm.
- Choose Copy next to any hash to copy it.
Hashing notes
Hashes are fingerprints, not secrets. Use them for integrity checks, and avoid treating an unsalted hash of private text as protected data.
FAQ
Is a hash the same as encryption?
No. A hash is one-way: it produces a fixed-length fingerprint of the input, but there's no way to recover the original text or file from it. It's used to verify integrity, not to hide content.
Why isn't MD5 offered?
Browsers' built-in Web Crypto API does not implement MD5, only SHA-1 and the SHA-2 family. If you need to check an MD5 checksum specifically, you'll need a different tool.
How does the expected-hash comparison pick an algorithm?
It looks at the length of the hash you pasted: 40 hex characters means SHA-1, 64 means SHA-256, 96 means SHA-384, and 128 means SHA-512.
How large a file can I check?
The whole file is read into memory to compute its hash, so extremely large files (well over a few hundred megabytes) may be slow or hit your browser's memory limit.
Can two files have the same hash?
A collision is theoretically possible for any fixed-length hash. For normal integrity checks, SHA-256 and the larger SHA-2 hashes are the safer choices; avoid SHA-1 for security-critical trust decisions.