RandomKeygen

Hash Generator

Generate cryptographic hashes using MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256, and SHA-512 algorithms. Useful for checksums, data integrity, and understanding password hashing.

MD5

Enter text above to generate hash
128-bit (32 hex chars) - Not recommended for security

SHA-1

Enter text above to generate hash
160-bit (40 hex chars) - Deprecated for security

SHA-256

Enter text above to generate hash
256-bit (64 hex chars) - Recommended

SHA-512

Enter text above to generate hash
512-bit (128 hex chars) - High security

Password Hashing with bcrypt

For password storage, use bcrypt, Argon2, or scrypt - NOT MD5/SHA. These algorithms are intentionally slow and include salting.

Node.js
const bcrypt = require('bcrypt');

// Hash a password
const hash = await bcrypt.hash('password', 10);
// $2b$10$N9qo8uLOickgx2ZMRZoMye...

// Verify a password
const isValid = await bcrypt.compare('password', hash);

Important: Hash vs Encryption

  • Hashing is one-way - you cannot recover the original text from a hash
  • MD5 and SHA-1 are broken - don't use for security purposes
  • Never store plain SHA hashes of passwords - use bcrypt/Argon2 instead
  • Hashes are deterministic - same input always produces same output

Common Use Cases

File Checksums

Verify file integrity after downloads. SHA-256 is the standard for software verification.

Data Deduplication

Identify duplicate content by comparing hashes instead of full content.

Digital Signatures

Sign a hash of a document instead of the entire document for efficiency.

Caching Keys

Generate unique cache keys from request parameters or content.

Generate Hashes in Terminal

macOS / Linux
# MD5
echo -n "text" | md5sum
# or on macOS:
echo -n "text" | md5

# SHA-256
echo -n "text" | sha256sum

# SHA-512
echo -n "text" | sha512sum

# File hash
sha256sum filename.txt
Python
import hashlib

text = "text"
print(hashlib.sha256(text.encode()).hexdigest())