HashGen
User Guide — a plain-English walkthrough of every tool
HashGen is a simple, fast tool for creating and checking hashes (also called checksums) for text, files and whole folders. Use it to confirm a download wasn't corrupted, to detect if a file has changed, or to generate checksums to share with others. This guide covers what each page does and how to get common jobs done. For features and download, see the product page; for what changed in each release, see the changelog.
Contents
1. What is a Hash?
A hash is a short “fingerprint” of some data. The same input always produces the same hash, and even a tiny change to the input produces a completely different hash. So if two hashes match, the data is identical; if they differ, something changed.
You don't need to understand the math — just remember:
- Generate a hash to get the fingerprint of your text, file or folder.
- Verify by comparing a fingerprint you have against the one HashGen calculates. A green Match means they're the same.
2. Getting Around
The left sidebar lists everything HashGen can do:
| Section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Text Hash | Hash some typed or pasted text |
| Text Verify | Check text against a hash you already have |
| File Hash | Hash a single file |
| File Verify | Check a file against a hash you already have |
| Folder Hash | Hash every file in a folder at once |
| Folder Verify | Re-check a folder against its saved hashes |
| Bulk Hash | Hash every line of a text file into a results file |
| About | App and version information |
Each page has a small ? button in the top-right corner. Click it for a quick tip about that page. HashGen automatically follows your Windows light or dark theme.
3. Choosing an Algorithm
Every page lets you pick an algorithm by clicking one of the chips. The selected one is highlighted in blue with a checkmark.
- SHA-256 is the best general-purpose choice and is selected by default.
- SHA-384 / SHA-512 / SHA-3 / BLAKE3 are also strong; use them if someone asks for that specific algorithm.
- MD5 and SHA-1 show an amber dot and a “Not for security use” warning. They're only for compatibility with old systems — don't rely on them to prove a file is genuine.
- CRC-32 and xxHash64 are very fast checks for accidental corruption, but they are not for security.
4. Text Hash
The status line under the digest shows the algorithm, size and that it computed successfully. To produce a keyed hash, enter a secret key (HMAC) before reading the digest.
5. Text Verify
Use this when someone gave you a hash and the original text, and you want to confirm they match.
You'll see a green Match or a red No match, plus the hash HashGen calculated.
6. File Hash
7. File Verify
Use this to confirm a downloaded file matches the hash the publisher provided.
8. Folder Hash
Create checksums for every file in a folder in one go.
- Single checksum file — one standard file (e.g.
SHA256SUMS) listing every file and its hash. This is compatible with common checksum tools. - One file per item — a small companion file next to each file (e.g.
photo.jpg.sha256).
Files are processed quickly in parallel, and a live list shows each file with a green dot as it's done. The summary line shows how many files were hashed.
9. Folder Verify
Later, confirm nothing in the folder has changed.
Each file is re-checked against its saved hash:
- green verified, unchanged
- red the file changed (mismatch) or couldn't be read
- amber no saved checksum was found for that file
The summary shows how many passed and how many failed.
10. Bulk Hash
Hash every line of a text file and write the results to another file. This is handy for lists (for example, hashing a long list of values). Very large files are supported — HashGen reads them piece by piece.
- Source line + hash — writes the original line followed by its hash, using the Separator you pick (comma, tab, space, etc.).
- Hash only — writes just the hash, one per line.
When it finishes, the summary tells you how many lines were processed.
11. Handy Tips
- Drag and drop works on the File and Folder pages — just drop a file or folder onto the window.
- Copy buttons put the result straight onto your clipboard.
- When verifying, you can paste a hash with extra spaces, a
0xprefix, or in upper- or lower-case — HashGen tidies it up before comparing. - Hashes are compared safely, so a “Match” always means the values are truly identical.
12. Getting HashGen
Install BackendSide HashGen from the Microsoft Store to receive automatic updates. See the product page for the download link.
For questions, visit backendside.com.