Bytes & hash inspector

A hash hashes bytes, not characters — so the same text can produce two different hashes depending on its encoding. Everything runs in your browser; nothing is uploaded.

Hash some text

UTF-8

UTF-16LE

SQL Server hashes NVARCHAR as UTF-16LE; Python's hashlib defaults to UTF-8. Same string, two byte sequences, two SHA-256s — and a join that silently matches nothing.

Hash a file's contents

Drop a file here, or click to choose. Its bytes are hashed locally.

This SHA-256 is the file's content fingerprint. Rename the file: identical hash. Change a single byte: a completely different one. Dedupe on this, not on the filename.