Hash Generator

Paste text and get its MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 or SHA-512 digest — computed in your browser, not on a server.

Runs on your deviceDeveloperWorkingNo account needed

What this tool does

A hash function turns any input into a fixed-length fingerprint. The same input always produces the same digest, and changing a single bit produces a completely different one. That property makes hashes useful for confirming that two pieces of data are identical without comparing them character by character.

The SHA algorithms here are computed with the browser's own Web Crypto implementation. MD5 is implemented in JavaScript instead, because Web Crypto deliberately does not offer it — a hint about how much trust it deserves.

The input box takes UTF-8 text by default, and can also read what you paste as hex bytes or as Base64, so you can hash the exact byte string another system is hashing rather than its printable representation.

Hashing is one-way. There is no operation that turns a digest back into the original input. Sites offering to "decrypt" an MD5 hash are looking the value up in a table of pre-computed common inputs, which works only because the input was guessable in the first place.

How to use it

  1. Paste the input. Then set 'Read the input as' to UTF-8 text, hex bytes or Base64 to match how the other side treats it.
  2. Tick the algorithms. MD5, SHA-1 and SHA-256 start ticked; SHA-384 and SHA-512 are off until you want them. At least one must be selected.
  3. Choose a digest format. Lowercase hex, uppercase HEX or Base64. Optionally paste a published value into 'Compare with' and the summary reports which algorithm, if any, it matches.

Processing & privacy

Runs on your device. Your file is processed directly in this browser.

Common use cases

Debugging a signing integration

Confirm your code produces the same digest a third-party API expects before you go looking for the fault elsewhere.

Checking a value someone sent you

Paste their digest into the compare box and see at a glance whether it belongs to your string and which algorithm produced it.

Reading a hex or Base64 payload

Hash the decoded bytes of a token or blob, rather than the text you happen to be looking at.

Learning how digests behave

Change one character and watch every output change completely.

Questions

Can I hash a file here?
No — this tool takes pasted text only, so it will not read a downloaded ISO or archive. For file checksums use Checksum Verifier or File Hash Compare, which are built for file input.
Is my input sent anywhere?
No. The digests are computed in this browser tab and no request carries your text off the device. That matters because people paste keys and confidential strings into hash boxes.
Which algorithm should I use?
SHA-256 for anything new. SHA-384 and SHA-512 are fine too. Use MD5 and SHA-1 only for compatibility with something you cannot change.
Why are MD5 and SHA-1 discouraged?
Both have practical collision attacks: two different inputs can be made to produce the same digest. They remain adequate against accidental corruption, but not against anyone deliberately substituting data.
How exact does the compared value have to be?
Whitespace is stripped before comparing, and hex is matched case-insensitively. Base64 is compared case-sensitively, because case carries meaning there — a Base64 digest typed in the wrong case reports no match.
Should I hash passwords with this?
No. Password storage needs a deliberately slow algorithm with a per-user salt — bcrypt, scrypt or Argon2. A fast general-purpose hash is exactly the wrong tool, because speed is what makes guessing cheap.

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