Hash / Checksum Generator
Generate cryptographic hashes and checksums (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-512)
1. What are cryptographic hashes?
Cryptographic hash functions are mathematical algorithms that convert an input of any length into a fixed-size string of bytes. They are designed to be one-way functions, making it computationally infeasible to reverse.
2. How does it work?
Hash algorithms process input data through a series of mathematical operations that scramble and compress it into a fixed-length output. The same input always produces the same hash, but even tiny changes to the input create completely different hashes. This deterministic yet chaotic behavior makes hashes perfect for verifying data integrity, password storage, and digital signatures. Modern algorithms like SHA-256 use complex bitwise operations to ensure the hash cannot be reversed to reveal the original input.
Hash algorithms
This tool supports MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and SHA-512. MD5 and SHA-1 are older and considered insecure for cryptographic purposes. SHA-256 and SHA-512 are part of the SHA-2 family and are currently considered secure.
3. Examples
Hash a simple string
Hello, World!
→ dffd6021bb2bd5b0af676290809ec3a53191dd81c7f70a4b28688a362182986f
(SHA-256)