Which Command Can Be Used On A Windows System To Create A Hash Of A File?

Have you downloaded a file merely to find that the file has been corrupted or changed? The best way to confirm a file's integrity is to verify the file'due south checksum or hash. Lucky for yous, at that place are several ways to verify a file's checksum in Windows.

Keep reading because you'll learn several ways to compute a file's checksum in Windows for gratuitous! Larn using born Windows tools and third-political party utilities to generate a file's checksum value.

In this article, you will learn how to create a checksum in Windows using v unlike tools. By the stop, you should definitely know how to create hashes in Windows!

Prerequisites

Since this is a how-to article, you will follow the learning-by-doing approach. Some tools used in this article are congenital-in or provided past Microsoft; some are also from third-party sources. To follow along, brand certain y'all accept at least a reckoner running Windows 10 or at a minimum Windows Server 2012.

Prerequisites for each method of generating checksums will be provided every bit needed.

The File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV)

The File Checksum Integrity Verifier (FCIV) Microsoft tool was originally introduced in Windows Server 2012 R2 and is bachelor for all time to come versions.

Suppose that y'all've installed the FCIV tool in C:\Tools\fciv.exe. Run the command below in a command prompt or PowerShell prompt to generate the MD5 checksum of the file VSCodeUserSetup-x64-one.52.1.exe. If your file is located elsewhere, change the location accordingly.

            C:\Tools\fciv.exe C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-1.52.ane.exe

Later running the FCIV control, yous will run across a like issue every bit shown in the screenshot below. As you lot can see, the fciv.exe control generated the MD5 hash, past default, for the given file.

Computing an MD5 checksum in Windows using fciv.exe. — Computing an MD5 checksum in Windows using `fciv.exe`.

FCIV tin only generate MD5 or SHA-1 file hashes.

Now that you accept computed an MD5 checksum, why non generate the file's SHA-1 checksum as well? To create the SHA-1 checksum of the aforementioned file used in the above example, add the sha1 option to the end of the existing command. As shown in the screenshot beneath, the SHA-1 hash is generated for the same file as before.

            C:\Tools\fciv.exe C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-1.52.1.exe -sha1

Generating SHA-1 checksum using fciv.exe. — Generating SHA-one checksum using `fciv.exe`.

Good job! You've created both an MD5 and SHA-one checksum value. Why not generate both the MD5 and SHA-one hash values at the same fourth dimension? Instead of using the sha1 option, use both.

            C:\Tools\fciv.exe C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-ane.52.1.exe -both

The resulting hash values are labeled equally MD5 and SHA-1. Using the both parameter saves time when y'all need to generate both MD5 and SHA-1 hash values.

Computing both MD5 and SHA-1 checksum using fciv.exe. — Computing both MD5 and SHA-i checksum using `fciv.exe`.

While FCIV is a handy tool for computing file hashes, FCIV is older, and the hashing algorithms are limited to MD5 and SHA-i. Microsoft officially declared that FCIV is an unsupported command-line tool . Despite this, in the absence of other tools, FCIV tin yet serve as a great alternative.

At this betoken, you've created MD5 and SHA-1 hash values using the fciv.exe tool. What do yous call up and so far? I know y'all're set up to learn the next tool.

Using Certutil

Certutil is another excellent tool to generate a file's checksum in Windows. The verbal plan proper noun is certutil.exe, which is available out-of-the-box.

The primary purpose of certutil.exe is for certificates. But, certutil.exe has a characteristic for creating file checksum's in Windows using the following hash algorithms:

MD2
MD4
MD5
SHA1
SHA256
SHA384
SHA512

Let'south meet how it works.

Fire up PowerShell or a command prompt to starting time calculating file checksums, using the syntax shown below.

            certutil.exe -hashfile [Path to File] [Hash Algorithm]

In the example below, certutil.exe generates the SHA-256 hash of the file C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-ane.52.1.exe, as demonstrated in the resulting screenshot.

            certutil.exe -hashfile "C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-ane.52.1.exe" SHA256

Using certutil.exe to create a file checksum. — Using `certutil.exe` to create a file checksum.

You now know how to utilise certutil.exe to create a file checksum. To do, try generating the file's hash value using all of the other available algorithms. Read on to learn how to employ Get-FileHash and PowerShell to generate a file hash!

Did yous know that hashing algorithms, such as SHA-256, are as well used when creating SSL certificates?

Using the PowerShell `Get-FileHash` Cmdlet

You've been reading about and using control-line tools to create file checksums in Windows since the showtime of this commodity. One more command-line tool that yous will learn how to use is the Become-FileHashPowerShell cmdlet.

Earlier using Go-FileHash, refer to the syntax below to familiarise yourself with the bachelor parameters. Utilise the Path parameter to specify a target file, and the Algorithm parameter to bespeak which hash algorithm to use.

            Get-FileHash -Path [path to file] -Algorithm [Hash Algorithm]

The available hash algorithms for Get-FileHash are listed below. You'll notice that the choices of hash algorithms are different than what FCIV and CertUtil offer. Additionally, older and more vulnerable algorithms are no longer included, such as the MD1 and MD4 algorithms.

SHA1
SHA256
SHA384
SHA512
MACTripleDES
MD5
RIPEMD160

The control beneath computes the hash value of the file VSCodeUserSetup-x64-1.52.1.exe using the SHA-256 algorithm. Copy and run the lawmaking beneath in PowerShell to examination, making sure to change the file path equally needed.

            Get-FileHash -Path C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-1.52.1.exe -Algorithm sha256

Equally yous can see in the screenshot below, the Get-FileHash command computed the file's SHA-256 hash as specified with the -Algorithm sha256 parameter.

Using Get-FileHash to compute the SHA-256 checksum of a file. — Using `Get-FileHash` to compute the SHA-256 checksum of a file.

If you lot want to compute the file'due south checksum using dissimilar algorithms, you only need to alter the Algorithm parameter value. Practise yous remember you tin can now create the SHA-512 checksum of a file using Become-FileHash? I bet you tin!

Generating Hashes For Multiple Files Simultaneously

With Get-FileHash, it is possible to generate the checksum of multiple files at the same time. The example lawmaking below stores the list of file paths within the $files variable. Side by side, the Become-FileHash consumes the $files variable to calculate the SHA-256 checksum for each file, every bit shown in the screenshot below.

            $files = @(     'C:\downloads\PowerShell-vii.1.0-win-x64.msi',     'C:\downloads\VSCodeUserSetup-x64-ane.52.ane.exe' ) Get-FileHash -Path $files -Algorithm sha256

Using Get-FileHash to compute the hash values for each file stored in the $files array. — Using `Become-FileHash` to compute the hash values for each file stored in the `$files` array.

What if you demand to generate a hash for a folder full of files? Instead of manually crafting the $files array, employ the Become-ChildItem cmdlet to retrieve the listing of files in a given binder.

In the command below, the Get-ChildItem cmdlet retrieves the list of files inside the c:\downloads folder. The result is then passed via the PowerShell pipeline to the Get-FileHash cmdlet, which in turn computes each file's SHA-256 hash value.

            (Get-ChildItem C:\downloads).Fullname | Get-FileHash -Algorithm sha256

Depending on the file sizes, the time it takes to generate a checksum may vary. In this example, the command took approximately twenty seconds to compute the checksum of an 8GB ISO file. The result should expect like to the screenshot beneath.

Using Get-ChildItem and Get-FileHash to compute the hash values for each file in a folder. — Using `Become-ChildItem` and `Get-FileHash` to compute the hash values for each file in a folder.

If for some reason, y'all discover that the born tools to generate file checksums in Windows are not enough, there are third-party tools available. Not all third-party tools are free, merely a few free and popular utilities are shown below.

7-Zip

Are yous tired of using the command-line and are looking for a graphical tool to create file checksum in Windows? vii-zip is a pop and gratis file compression tool that is capable of generating a file's hash value.

Installing seven-zip on your computer automatically adds a context carte du jour selection to generate the checksum of a file. To get the hash value of a file, follow these steps:

Right-click on the file to generate the checksum.
Select the CRC SHA bill of fare option to list the available hash algorithms.
Finally, click on the hash algorithm you lot wish to use.

In the example beneath, the asterisk (*) option displays the file'south hash value using all available algorithms. How's that for easy?

Using the 7-Zip context menu to calculate a file's checksum in Windows. — Using the 7-Naught context menu to calculate a file's checksum in Windows.

Next, acquire how to use the HashMyFiles tool to generate multiple file's checksum's as an culling to seven-Zip!

HashMyFiles

Forget nigh command-line and right-click. HashMyFiles can create the checksum or hash values of a single file, multiple files, or entire directories using drag and drop.

Launch the HashMyFiles program and elevate the files or folders to generate a hash for into the HashMyFiles main window. As shown beneath, the main window displays the files and associated hashes in a table format, with additional information available in the backdrop window.

Using HashMyFiles to get the file hash of multiple files by using drag and drop — Using HashMyFiles to get the file hash of multiple files by using drag and drib

What'south more, HashMyFiles can consign the hash or checksum values to an HTML report or a tab-delimited file. This export feature is useful when you want to keep a tape of the file checksum values.

Side by side Steps

In this commodity, yous've learned that there are several ways to create a file checksum in Windows. Microsoft has built-in control-line tools such as certutil.exe and Go-FileHash.

There are 3rd-party tools as well that are free and relatively easy to utilise. Whatever your choice of tool to generate file hash values, the concept and result is the same for every hash algorithm.

What's side by side for you? Maybe put your scripting skills to the test and create a checksum inventory of crucial files using any of the tools y'all learned about in this article.