Hash Generator

What hashing does

A hash function takes any input text and produces a fixed-length string of characters that uniquely represents that input. Changing even one character in the input produces a completely different hash. Hashing is one-way — you can't reverse a hash back into the original text.

This tool computes hashes entirely in your browser; your text is never sent to a server.

MD5 vs SHA-256 vs SHA-512

MD5 is fast but considered cryptographically broken for security purposes — it's still used for basic checksums (verifying a file wasn't corrupted) but shouldn't be used to protect passwords or sensitive data. SHA-256 and SHA-512 are part of the modern SHA-2 family, widely used for password hashing (usually combined with salting), digital signatures, and blockchain applications. SHA-512 produces a longer hash and is generally used where extra collision resistance is preferred.