Checksum Calculator (SHA-256)

About this tool

Compute the SHA-256 checksum of text or an uploaded file to verify it has not been altered or corrupted. Compare the result against a published checksum.

Example

Input: hello

Output: 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824

Privacy

This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your data is processed locally and never uploaded to a server.

How to use this tool

1. Paste the text you want to verify, or upload the file you want to check.
2. Click the checksum button to generate the SHA-256 hash.
3. Copy the generated checksum and compare it with the published value.
4. If the values match exactly, the content has not changed.

Step by step, what happens

1. The tool reads your input as plain text or as file bytes, depending on what you provide.
2. It processes the content through SHA-256 and produces a fixed-length hexadecimal checksum.
3. The result is displayed so you can compare it against a known-good checksum from the source.
4. If even one character or byte changes, the checksum changes too, which helps detect corruption or tampering.

Worked example

Suppose you want to verify a downloaded release note before sharing it with your team.

Input: Hello, world!

1. Enter Hello, world! into the text field.
2. Run the checksum calculation to generate the SHA-256 value.
3. Compare the displayed hash with the expected checksum from the source.

Tips and common mistakes

• Make sure you compare the full checksum, not just the first few characters.
• Use the file upload option when verifying a download, because hashing the file bytes is more reliable than copying its text.
• Extra spaces, line breaks, or different line endings will change the checksum, so keep the input exactly the same as the original.
• If the published checksum uses a different algorithm, such as SHA-1 or MD5, it will not match this SHA-256 result.

Frequently asked questions