Important
SHA-256 is suitable for integrity checks, but a fast unsalted digest is not password storage. Use bcrypt, scrypt, Argon2 or PBKDF2 for passwords.
How to use this sha-256 hash generator
- Enter the exact UTF-8 text to hash.
- Select Generate hash with SHA-256 selected.
- Compare or copy the 64-character hexadecimal digest.
SHA-256 formula and output
SHA-256 processes UTF-8 input in 512-bit blocks and produces eight 32-bit state words: 256 output bits. This page uses the browser Web Crypto implementation rather than custom cryptographic code.
| Input | SHA-256 result |
|---|---|
hello | 2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824 |
| Output length | 64 hex characters |
Worked example
Hashing the five lowercase characters hello returns the digest shown above. Changing the first letter to uppercase creates a completely different value because hashing is byte-sensitive.
SHA-256 questions
How long is a SHA-256 hash?
It is 256 bits, normally written as 64 hexadecimal characters.
Can SHA-256 be decrypted?
No, but attackers can guess weak input and compare its digest.
Should SHA-256 store passwords?
No. Use a salted, slow password hash such as bcrypt or Argon2.
Related developer tools
512SHA-512 Hash GeneratorCreate a 512-bit SHA-2 digest from text with the browser's native cryptography.→BCRbcrypt Hash GeneratorGenerate a fresh salted bcrypt hash locally with a deliberately slow, explicit action.→#Hash GeneratorCreate a hexadecimal SHA digest from text with the browser's native cryptography.→