About Hash Generator
Generate SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512, MD5, CRC32 and HMAC digests for text or files, computed entirely in your browser.
What it does
Hash typed text or a dropped file. File hashing is streamed in chunks, so verifying a multi-gigabyte download does not require loading it all into memory at once. HMAC mode adds a key for authenticated digests.
Choosing an algorithm
For integrity checking — confirming a download matches its published checksum — SHA-256 is the sensible default. MD5 and SHA-1 are here because you will still meet them in the wild, but both are broken against deliberate collisions and neither should be used for anything security-related. For storing passwords, none of these is appropriate: password hashing needs a deliberately slow algorithm like bcrypt, scrypt or Argon2.
Common questions
- Which hash should I use to verify a download?
- SHA-256. Compare the digest with the one the publisher lists; if they match character for character, the file is intact.
- Is MD5 still safe?
- Not for security. Collisions can be produced deliberately and cheaply. It remains fine as a non-adversarial checksum against accidental corruption.
- Can I hash a password with this?
- You can, but you should not store the result. Password storage needs a slow, salted algorithm such as bcrypt, scrypt or Argon2 — fast hashes are exactly what makes cracking easy.
- What is HMAC?
- A keyed hash. It proves a message came from someone holding the shared key and was not modified, which a plain hash cannot do.
- Are files uploaded to be hashed?
- No. Everything happens in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, and the tool keeps working with no network connection.