Hash Generator
Generate MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, or SHA-512 hashes for any text, perfect for verifying data, checksums, and developer testing, free.
Ready to hash some text
Enter text, pick an algorithm, and press Hash It.
About this generator
A hash is a fingerprint for data: a fixed-length value that changes completely if even one character of the input changes. This generator computes MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and SHA-512 digests of any text you paste, using the same System.Security.Cryptography implementations that ship with .NET — no data leaves through a third party.
The four algorithms are not interchangeable. SHA-256 and SHA-512 are the modern defaults and the ones to reach for in new work: secure, fast, and broadly supported. SHA-1 and MD5 are cryptographically broken for security purposes — collisions are practical — but they still appear in legacy systems, checksums, deduplication, and academic exercises, which is why they're included and clearly labeled. The result is lowercase hexadecimal, the format most tools and APIs expect, with a one-click copy.
Use it to verify a checksum, test hashing logic during development, generate an idempotency key for an API, or demonstrate how a one-bit change avalanches the whole digest. Hashing is deterministic — the same text always yields the same digest — and nothing you paste is stored or logged.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which algorithms are supported?
MD5 (128-bit), SHA-1 (160-bit), SHA-256 (256-bit), and SHA-512 (512-bit), all computed with .NET's built-in cryptography.
Why use SHA-256 or SHA-512 instead of MD5?
MD5 and SHA-1 are cryptographically broken — collisions are practical — so modern security work should use SHA-256 or SHA-512. The older algorithms are kept for legacy systems, checksums, and testing.
Is hashing the same as encryption?
No. Hashing is one-way: the digest can't be reversed to recover the text, which is why it's used for checksums and fingerprints. Encryption is reversible with a key.
Can a hash be reversed?
Not by any practical means for a strong algorithm — but the same text always produces the same hash, so short, guessable inputs can be matched against precomputed tables.
Is my text transmitted or stored?
The text is sent to the API to compute the digest, but nothing is stored or logged; it's discarded the moment the result is returned.