Hash Generator (MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256)
Compute MD5, SHA-1, and SHA-256 hashes of any text. Runs entirely in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere.
How it works
A hash function turns input of any length into a fixed-length fingerprint. The same input always produces the same hash; a one-character change produces a completely different one. Hashing is one-way — you cannot recover the original text from the hash.
MD5 (128 bit) and SHA-1 (160 bit) are considered cryptographically broken for security purposes (collisions are practical to find) but remain useful for checksums and non-security deduplication. SHA-256 (256 bit) is the current standard for integrity checks and security purposes.
Examples
| Input | Algorithm | Hash |
|---|---|---|
hello | MD5 | 5d41402abc4b2a76b9719d911017c592 |
hello | SHA-1 | aaf4c61ddcc5e8a2dabede0f3b482cd9aea9434d |
hello | SHA-256 | 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824 |
FAQ
Should I use MD5 for passwords? No — never use MD5, SHA-1, or plain SHA-256 for password storage. Use a dedicated password hashing algorithm like bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2, which are deliberately slow to resist brute-force attacks.
Why does MD5 still exist here? It's still common for file checksums and legacy system compatibility, even though it's not secure against a determined attacker.