Hash Generator

How to use the Hash Generator

1. Choose Text or File, then enter your text or pick a file.
2. Tick the algorithms you need — SHA-256 is the standard choice.
3. To verify a download, paste the publisher's checksum into the compare box before generating.

What a hash is for

A cryptographic hash turns any input into a fixed-length fingerprint. The same input always produces the same hash; changing a single bit produces a completely different one. Crucially, the process is one-way — you cannot recover the input from the hash.

That gives it two main uses. Integrity checking: hash a downloaded file and compare with the publisher's figure to confirm nothing was corrupted or tampered with in transit. Deduplication and identity: two files with the same SHA-256 are, for all practical purposes, the same file.

Which algorithm to use

MD5 is absent deliberately. It has been comprehensively broken for years and should not be used even for non-security checksums, since a stronger option costs nothing.

Hashing is not encryption — and not password storage

Encryption is reversible with a key; hashing is not reversible at all. If you need to get the data back, you need encryption.

Nor should a plain SHA hash be used to store passwords. Fast hashes are the problem: modern hardware computes billions of SHA-256 operations per second, so a leaked database of SHA-256 password hashes falls quickly to a dictionary attack. Password storage requires a deliberately slow, salted algorithm — Argon2, scrypt or bcrypt — which makes each guess expensive.

Frequently asked questions