MD5 / SHA-256 Hash Generator

How To Use

1. Paste or type the text you want to hash.
2. Choose MD5 or SHA-256.
3. Click Generate hash to see the hex digest.
4. Copy the result — for MD5, each format row (32/16-bit, lower/upper) has its own Copy button.

Usage Example

Input:

Hello, toolkit!

SHA-256 digest (32 bytes, hex):

22d6441d91441e170152cb4431eb530e1e81472eb0830ee6eec9b8a55f894143

MD5 digest (16 bytes):

1601f10f4d5d39b0cca18370855feb31

Use Cases

Hashing is an everyday integrity tool. Generate a SHA-256 fingerprint of a config snippet or downloaded string and compare it against the expected digest to confirm nothing changed in transit. Deduplicate content by keying on the hash instead of the full text. Store passwords as hashes (ideally with a salt and a dedicated password hashing function — never bare MD5) so the raw value never sits in a database. Build cache keys or filenames from a small, fixed-size digest. Because the tool runs locally, you can hash sensitive strings without sending them to any server.

Best Practices

• Default to SHA-256: it is currently collision-resistant and suitable for integrity and most security use cases.
• Do not use MD5 for security — it has known collisions. Reserve it for non-critical deduplication or legacy compatibility.
• For passwords, use a slow, salted function such as bcrypt, scrypt, or Argon2 rather than a plain hash; this tool is for checksums and quick digests.
• Add a salt and encode to UTF-8 consistently if you hash the same data across systems, so the digest matches everywhere.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which hash should I use?

Prefer SHA-256 for modern checksums. MD5 is faster but cryptographically broken, so use it only for non-security tasks like deduplication.

Is my text uploaded?

No. SHA-256 runs through your browser's crypto.subtle and MD5 is computed locally. Nothing is sent to a server.

What if SHA-256 is not available?

SHA-256 uses your browser's native Web Crypto for speed when it is available, and automatically falls back to a built-in JavaScript implementation otherwise — so it works on any connection, including plain HTTP. MD5 is always computed locally.

Is a hash the same as encryption?

No. Hashing is one-way: it produces a fixed-length digest from which the original text cannot be recovered. Encryption is reversible. Use hashes for integrity checks, deduplication, and password storage — never for sending data you need back.

When should I use MD5 versus SHA-256?

Use SHA-256 for anything security-related, such as checksums and digital signatures. MD5 is deprecated and considered broken for security, but it is still fine for quick, non-critical tasks like deduplication or joining arbitrary IDs into a fixed-size key.

Can I convert an MD5 hash to SHA-256 (or back)?

No — a hash cannot be converted into a different hash. MD5 and SHA-256 are one-way functions: each digest is derived from the original input, not from the other digest, and the input cannot be recovered from either one. If you need a SHA-256 value, take the original text (or file) and hash it again with SHA-256 here. The only way two people can compare an MD5 and a SHA-256 value is by both re-computing both digests from the same source.

What is the digest length of each algorithm?

SHA-256 always outputs 64 hexadecimal characters (32 bytes). MD5 outputs 32 hexadecimal characters (16 bytes). The length is constant no matter how long the input is.

Can the same input produce different hashes?

No. Given the same text and same algorithm, the digest is always identical. That determinism is exactly what makes hashes useful for verifying data integrity and detecting changes.

Does hashing handle emoji and non-English text?

Yes. The input is encoded as UTF-8 before hashing, so Unicode characters, emoji, and multibyte text hash correctly and consistently.