Using HashOnClick (2024)

A Guide to Using HashOnClick

HashOnClick is very simple to use, and can be used via a context menu item in Windows File Explorer, via the Property Sheet for a file or via the command prompt. First we’ll explain the simplest way to use it: via Windows File Explorer.

Brief Explanation (Windows File Explorer)

In Windows File Explorer select the files you want the hash values calculated for, click the right mouse button, and select Calculate Hash Value, then select the appropriate hash type from the pop-up sub-menu (e.g. MD5). The values will then be calculated and displayed. You can then copy the data to the clipboard, for pasting in another application, or save the results to a file.

Detailed Explanation (Windows File Explorer)

Windows File Explorer lets you browse and select any file or folder on your local computer, as well as showing the files and folders on connected devices like CD, DVD, USB External Drives, Memory Sticks etc.

Open Windows File Explorer by right clicking the Windows logo (previously the Start button). A pop-up menu will appear. Select File Explorer:

Alternatively you may wish to quickly open Windows File Explorer by pressing the Windows and E keys:

Windows File Explorer will now open showing your folders, files, and connected drives etc.

The example below shows how Windows File Explorer has been used to browse the Documents folder. On the right panel a text file called Example has been right clicked with the mouse button, and the menu item Calculate Hash Value has been selected from the pop-up menu. A sub-menu also appears showing the types of Hash Values that can be calculated. In this example we select MD5:

Note that different hash values will have different probabilities of confirming an exact match. Sometimes external sources like websites may only provide a particular hash value to compare against.

An MD5 hash value is a 32-character string that identifies the contents of a file. If two files have the same contents then it is extremely probable they will have the same MD5 hash value. Here's the resulting window for the MD5 Hash Value:

You may alternatively select the SHA-1 hash value from the 'Calculate Hash Value' sub-menu:

An SHA-1 hash value is a 40-character string that identifies the contents of a file. If two files have the same contents then it is guaranteed they will have the same SHA-1 hash value. Here's the result for the SHA-1 Hash Value:

Finally, you might select the CRC32 Hash Value. A CRC32 hash value is an 8-character string that identifies the contents of a file. If two files have the same contents then they will probably have the same CRC32 hash value. The Zip format uses CRC32 values to verify the contents of files. Here's the CRC32 Hash Value for the same file:

You can now save the value to a file. Clicking the Save All to File button will open an Explorer type window. Using the left navigational buttons and drop-down menu, browse to the location to where you would like to save the hash value and click Save:

You may also copy the hash value to the clipboard using the Copy All to Clipboard button:

Click the OK button to exit HashOnClick.

Property Sheet

By using the Property Sheet extension you can calculate multiple hash values at the same time for a single file. To do this, open Windows File Explorer, right-click on a file and select Properties from the pop-up menu. Then go to the HashOnClick tab:

You can select the hash values you want calculated by toggling the check-box next to hash name. Click the Hash button to calculate the hash values. If you right-click on the hash list you can copy the hash values to the clipboard, change the selections, etc. Your hash selections are saved so that next time you open this tab the same hashes are automatically selected.

Command Prompt

First, please note that using HashOnClick via the command prompt is for more advanced users. You do not need to use the command prompt to calculate hash values. Using Windows File Explorer is the preferred method (see the section above for details).

HOC.exe (in the HashOnClick installation folder) is the command line version of HashOnClick.

For a list of command line parameters run HOC.exe -? (or HOC.exe –help) from the command prompt (you need to be in the HashOnClick installation folder):

HOC.exe[-timer][-test][-lower][-expecthash][-progress][-altout|-altout2|-altout3][-crc32|-crc128|-md5|-sha1|-md4|-ripemd128|-ripemd160|-sha256|-sha512|-tiger|-xx32|-xx64|-sha2_224|-sha2_256|-sha2_384|-sha2_512|-sha2_512_224|-sha2_512_256]filenames

-timer-Displaytotalruntime

-test-Testallthehashingalgorithms

-lower-Showhashvaluesinlower-case

-expecthash-Theexpectedhashvalueofthefile(s)

-progress-Displayhashingprogress

-altout-Outputresultsashashfilename(defaultisfilename:hash)

-altout2-Outputhashonly(nofilename)

-altout3-Outputfilenameandhash,withpathstrippedfromfilename

-crc32-CalculateCRC32hashvalues(default)

-crc128-CalculateCRC128hashvalues

-md4-CalculateMD4hashvalues

-md5-CalculateMD5hashvalues

-sha1-CalculateSHA-1hashvalues

-sha256-CalculateSHA-256hashvalues

-sha512-CalculateSHA-512hashvalues

-ripemd128-CalculateRIPEMD128hashvalues

-ripemd160-CalculateRIPEMD160hashvalues

-tiger-CalculateTigerhashvalues

-xx32-Calculatexxhash32hashvalues

-xx64-Calculatexxhash64hashvalues

-sha2_224-CalculateSHA-2224hashvalues

-sha2_256-CalculateSHA-2256hashvalues

-sha2_384-CalculateSHA-2384hashvalues

-sha2_512-CalculateSHA-2512hashvalues

-sha2_512_224-CalculateSHA-2512/224hashvalues

-sha2_512_256-CalculateSHA-2512/256hashvalues

-streams-IncludeNTFSalternatedatastreams

Frequently Asked Questions

FAQs about using HashOnClick follow on the next page of this help file.

FAQs

Can two different files have the same hash? ›

A: An SHA-1 hash value is a 40-character string that identifies the contents of a file. If two files have the same contents then it's probable they will have the same SHA-1 hash value. However, please note that it is possible to create two completely different files that have the same SHA-1 hash value.

Read On ›

When should files be hashed? ›

Hashing is also used to verify the integrity of a file after it has been transferred from one place to another, typically in a file backup program like SyncBack. To ensure the transferred file is not corrupted, a user can compare the hash value of both files.

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What happens when hash 1 and hash 2 do not match? ›

The two pieces of data could also be “the same data” at different points in time. Say the contents of a file one year ago and the content of the same file today. If you calculated a hash of that file a year ago and the hash of the file in the current state doesn't match that then you know the file changed.

Is it possible to find two different messages with the same hash output? ›

It is infeasible to find any two different messages m₁ and m₂ such that H(m₁) = H(m₂). If such a pair of messages is found, this is called a cryptographic hash collision.

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Do you encrypt or hash first? ›

Common approach is to hash first, then sign, and then encrypt and it is often used to protect data integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality.

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Is it better to encrypt data or to hash data? ›

Hashing vs Encryption – Hashing refers to permanent data conversion into message digest while encryption works in two ways, which can encode and decode the data. Hashing helps protect the integrity of the information and Encryption is used to secure the data from the reach of third parties.

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Can you reconstruct a file from a hash? ›

One of the main properties of a hash function is that it is designed to be a one-way function, meaning that it is computationally infeasible to recover the original input data from the hash value.

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Can you get a hash of a folder? ›

Example 3: Retrieve the hash of a folder and its contents using recursion. This command uses the Get-DfsrFileHash cmdlet to retrieve the hash of a folder and the hashes for the individual files in the folder. The command also uses the Get-ChildItem cmdlet to recursively find all files and folders in the path.

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Why calculate hash value? ›

Hash values are deterministic.

A specific input (or file) will always deliver the same hash value (number string). This means that it is easy to verify the authenticity of a file. If two people independently (and correctly) check the hash value of a file, they will always get the same answer.

What is a hash value in layman's terms? ›

Hash values can be thought of as fingerprints for files. The contents of a file are processed through a cryptographic algorithm, and a unique numerical value – the hash value - is produced that identifies the contents of the file.

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How much is 1 hash worth? ›

1 HASH = 0.0003362 USD.

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Can 2 different inputs have the same hash? ›

As long as the two hash functions' outputs are of the same length, not only can they, they must produce the same hash value for different inputs.

See Details ›

Can two things have the same hash? ›

In computer science, a hash collision or hash clash is when two distinct pieces of data in a hash table share the same hash value. The hash value in this case is derived from a hash function which takes a data input and returns a fixed length of bits.

Get More Info Here ›

Can two different strings have the same hash? ›

Using hashing will not be 100% deterministically correct, because two complete different strings might have the same hash (the hashes collide). However, in a wide majority of tasks, this can be safely ignored as the probability of the hashes of two different strings colliding is still very small.

Does each file have a unique hash? ›

It depends how the hash algorithm works. If the hash function just works on the content of the file only then the hash values will be the same. if the hash function takes into account things like creation date, file permissions or even the file name then the two files won't have the same hash value.