SHA-256 Hash Generator
Get the SHA-256 hash of text or a file in an instant. Type or paste text and the 256-bit hash, 64 hex characters long, updates as you type; files are hashed without being uploaded.
How to generate an SHA-256 hash
- 1Type or paste text, or switch to “A file” and choose one.
- 2Read the SHA-256 hash below.
- 3Copy it, in lowercase or uppercase.
What SHA-256 is for
SHA-256, part of the SHA-2 family, is the standard choice today: software download checksums, TLS certificates, Git's newer object format, blockchains and API signatures all use it.
Security
SHA-256 has no known practical attacks. On its own it's too fast for storing passwords, though; use bcrypt or another slow password hash for those.
Text or files
Hash text as you type, encoded as UTF-8, or choose a file up to 2 GB. Files are read in your browser and never uploaded, so it's safe for private documents.
Frequently asked questions
- Is anything sent to a server?
- No. Everything is computed in your browser and nothing leaves your device.
- What does an SHA-256 hash look like?
- Sixty-four hex characters. The SHA-256 of “hello” is 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824.
- Can a hash be reversed?
- No. A hash is a one-way fingerprint; the only way back is guessing inputs until one matches, which is why short or common inputs are easy to look up.