Which checksum should I use?

Whichever the download page publishes, since you can only compare like with like - usually SHA-256. If you are choosing for yourself, use SHA-256: MD5 and SHA-1 are fine for spotting a damaged download, but can be deliberately forged, so they no longer prove a file was not tampered with.

What does it mean if the checksum does not match?

The file is not the one that was published. Most often the download was cut short or damaged - download it again and check once more. If it still does not match, do not run it, and get it from the official site.

Does hashing send the file anywhere?

No. The file is read by your browser and the checksum is worked out in this tab; only the hashing code itself is downloaded, once. That matters when the file is a private backup or a document you would not hand to a website.

Can it check a whole SHA256SUMS file at once?

Paste one line at a time: the page reads the checksum out of a line in that format. To produce such a file, hash the files and use the save button for the algorithm you want.

Stays on your computer How this works

Free file hash checker

Work out a file's MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 or SHA-512 checksum and check it against the one you were given — entirely in your browser, at any size

Drag & drop files here, or browse

Any type, any size · read in slices, so a 4 GB download is fine · nothing is uploaded

Checksums MD5 SHA-1 SHA-256 SHA-512

Checksum you were given, to compare

About this file hash checker

A checksum is a short fingerprint of a file: change one byte and it comes out completely different. Download pages for Linux, firmware and installers publish one so you can check that what arrived is exactly what they sent - not damaged on the way, and not swapped for something else. Drop the file here, paste the published checksum, and the page tells you whether they match.

The file is read in 8 MB slices and every checksum you ticked is worked out in the same pass, so a multi-gigabyte disk image is hashed without being loaded whole into memory. It is free to use, with no account and no upload limit, and it runs entirely in your browser: nothing is uploaded, and it keeps working offline once it has loaded.

What you can do

Work out MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256 and SHA-512 checksums of any file
Hash files of several gigabytes, with a progress bar and a Stop button
Hash several files at once
Paste the checksum you were given and see at once whether it matches
Paste a line straight from a .sha256 or .md5 file; the algorithm is recognised from its length
Copy any checksum, or save them in the format sha256sum -c and md5sum -c check

How to check a download

Find the checksum on the page you downloaded from. It is usually labelled SHA-256, sometimes in a file called SHA256SUMS.
Paste it into the box above. The page says which kind it is.
Drop the downloaded file on the box, or click it and choose the file.
When the progress bar finishes, the file is marked as matching or not. A match means the file is byte-for-byte what was published.

Questions

Which checksum should I use?: Whichever the download page publishes, since you can only compare like with like - usually SHA-256. If you are choosing for yourself, use SHA-256: MD5 and SHA-1 are fine for spotting a damaged download, but can be deliberately forged, so they no longer prove a file was not tampered with.
What does it mean if the checksum does not match?: The file is not the one that was published. Most often the download was cut short or damaged - download it again and check once more. If it still does not match, do not run it, and get it from the official site.
Does hashing send the file anywhere?: No. The file is read by your browser and the checksum is worked out in this tab; only the hashing code itself is downloaded, once. That matters when the file is a private backup or a document you would not hand to a website.
Can it check a whole SHA256SUMS file at once?: Paste one line at a time: the page reads the checksum out of a line in that format. To produce such a file, hash the files and use the save button for the algorithm you want.

Report a problem or suggest a feature