Hash Generator

It depends on the job. SHA-256 is the one to use for security-sensitive purposes such as signatures and integrity checks that must resist tampering. SHA-1 is being phased out of cryptographic use, and MD5 is suitable only for non-security tasks like quick change detection or matching legacy checksums.

Not with this tool. It hashes typed or pasted text only; file hashing is not supported today. If you need a file checksum, use your operating system's command-line utilities, such as shasum or certutil, or copy the file's textual content here when a text hash is enough.

MD5 produces 32 hexadecimal characters (128 bits), SHA-1 produces 40 characters (160 bits), and SHA-256 produces 64 characters (256 bits). The same input always yields the same digest, and even a one-character change produces a completely different string.

Hashing is one-way: the digest does not contain enough information to reconstruct the input. That said, short or common inputs can be found in precomputed lookup tables, so treat these digests as fingerprints rather than encryption, and never rely on MD5 or SHA-1 to protect secrets.

Entirely in your browser. SHA-1 and SHA-256 use the browser's built-in Web Crypto API, and MD5 runs as a local implementation verified against the RFC 1321 test vectors. Your text is never sent to any server.