Hashes are computed locally. SHA variants use the Web Crypto API; MD5 is included for legacy compatibility (not cryptographically secure).
About Hash Generator
Hash Generator computes one-way digests of text using common cryptographic hash algorithms — MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384, SHA-512 — and shows the result as a hexadecimal string. Hashes are deterministic (the same input always produces the same output), fixed-length, and effectively impossible to reverse: given a hash, you cannot recover the original input.
Reach for it when you need a fingerprint of some data: cache keys, file integrity checks, content-addressed identifiers, comparing two payloads for equality without storing or transmitting the originals, or constructing a deterministic seed for a test fixture. Hashing is not encryption — there is no key, the output cannot be 'decrypted' — and it is not the same as Base64 — Base64 is reversible. For password hashing specifically, use a slow algorithm like bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2 rather than the fast hashes here, which are too cheap to compute against a stolen password database.
Examples
helloSHA-256: 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824All algorithms compute simultaneously — SHA-256 shown. The other rows hold MD5, SHA-1, SHA-384, and SHA-512 of the same input.
Frequently asked questions
Why are MD5 and SHA-1 still listed if they are broken?
They are insecure for cryptographic uses (digital signatures, certificate fingerprints) but still useful for non-security checks: cache keys, deduplicating files, or matching values against a legacy system that uses them. The tool labels them clearly so you can pick deliberately.
How is hashing different from encryption or Base64?
Hashing is one-way: same input, same output, no way back. Encryption is two-way with a key: ciphertext can be turned back into plaintext if you have the key. Base64 is two-way with no key: the encoding is fully reversible by anyone. Pick by what reversibility you need.
Why does the same input always produce the same hash?
Determinism is part of the contract. If hashing returned different outputs for the same input, content-addressed storage, cache keys, and integrity checks would all be impossible. The trade-off is that an attacker can pre-compute hashes of common inputs (rainbow tables) — the standard fix is to add a unique salt per input.
Can I hash a file?
This tool hashes text input. For a file, paste the text contents (works for any text file). The browser's Web Crypto API supports streaming hash of binary data; for that workflow use a tool that accepts file uploads.