How to generate an MD5 hash
- 1Generate MD5 hash values by typing or pasting the text you want to hash into the Input box. The result appears at the top as soon as you start typing.
- 2Read the 32-character hexadecimal hash, which is the MD5 checksum of your text, and click the copy icon to copy it.
- 3Compare it with the MD5 you were given, or use the SHA-1, SHA-256, SHA-384 and SHA-512 results below if you need a stronger hash.
- 4Change even one character of the input and the whole hash changes, which is how you can tell two pieces of text apart.
What an MD5 hash is
MD5 is a hash function that turns any amount of text into a fixed 128-bit value, written as 32 hexadecimal characters. The same text always gives the same MD5 hash, and even a one-character change gives a completely different result. That makes an MD5 checksum useful for comparing two pieces of data, spotting accidental corruption, naming cached files and matching records against an older system that stores MD5 values.
This MD5 generator hashes the UTF-8 bytes of what you type, so the result matches what command-line tools such as md5sum produce for the same text. The browser's built-in Web Crypto API does not offer MD5, so the page uses a small implementation of RFC 1321, checked against the standard test vectors, and everything runs locally.
MD5 is not secure. Researchers have been able to create two different inputs with the same MD5 hash since 2004, and fast hardware can guess billions of MD5 values a second, so it must not be used for passwords, digital signatures or anything an attacker could tamper with. For those, use SHA-256 or stronger, which is shown on the same page, and a password hashing function such as bcrypt or Argon2 for storing passwords.
MD5 remains common in places where security is not the point: file checksums, ETag headers, Gravatar URLs, deduplication keys and older APIs. If you only need to compare two values or match an existing MD5, this tool gives you the answer straight away.
When developers reach for it
Checking a checksum
Generate the MD5 hash of a string and compare it with the value in a download page, an API doc or a log.
Gravatar and cache keys
Compute the MD5 hash of string values such as a lower-cased email address for a Gravatar URL, or a URL used as a cache key.
Matching legacy data
Hash a value to find it in a database or system that stores MD5 hashes from before SHA-256 was standard.
Quick comparisons
Hash two long strings and compare the short hashes to confirm whether they are identical.
Frequently asked questions
Is my text sent to a server?
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No. The MD5 hash is calculated in your browser with a built-in implementation, so the text you type never leaves your device.
Why is MD5 not secure?
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Collisions are easy to produce: two different inputs can be crafted to have the same MD5 hash. It is also very fast to brute-force. Don't use it for passwords or signatures; use SHA-256 or a password hash such as bcrypt instead.
Can an MD5 hash be reversed?
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A hash is a one-way function, so it cannot be decoded. Short or common inputs can be found by guessing or looking them up in a table, which is another reason not to protect secrets with plain MD5.
Does the MD5 match md5sum?
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Yes, for the same text. This tool hashes the UTF-8 bytes of the input. When you use echo, add -n so a trailing newline isn't included, for example echo -n abc | md5sum.
What is the MD5 of an empty string?
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d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e. The tool shows no hash until you type something, but you can check that value by comparing it with any MD5 reference.
Can I hash a file instead of text?
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This page hashes text. To check a file, compare it with its published checksum using a command such as md5sum on Linux or certutil -hashfile on Windows.
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