SHA-256 produces a 256-bit (64 hex character) hash. It's the workhorse of modern cryptography - used in Bitcoin proof-of-work, TLS certificates, code signing, content integrity, password derivation (with a KDF on top). No known practical attacks. Paste text or drop a file - file hashing runs locally.
When to use this
Use for: verifying downloaded software against a published SHA-256 checksum, generating cryptographic content hashes for digital signatures, computing Bitcoin / blockchain hashes, generating commit hashes (Git uses SHA-1 + SHA-256), file integrity in security contexts.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I use SHA-256 for password hashing?
Not directly - SHA-256 is too fast for password hashing (GPUs compute billions per second). For passwords use Argon2id (current best), bcrypt, or scrypt - all are deliberately slow and salted. SHA-256 is great for everything else cryptographic.
Is SHA-256 the same as SHA-2?
SHA-256 is one variant in the SHA-2 family (along with SHA-224, SHA-384, SHA-512). When someone says 'SHA-2' without specifying, they almost always mean SHA-256 since it's by far the most common.
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