A secure hash algorithm (SHA)-256 hash may be required to exclude a file from an anti-virus or malware prevention application. This article discusses how to identify the SHA-256 hash for a file on Windows, macOS, or Linux.
Affected Operating Systems:
Click Windows, macOS, or Linux for the process to identify the file's SHA-256 hash.
Windows
- Right-click the Windows Start menu and then click Run.
- In the Run UI, type
cmd
and then press OK.
- In Command Prompt, browse to the location of the appropriate [FILENAME].
Note: [FILENAME] = Name of file.
- Type
CertUtil -hashfile [FILENAME] SHA256
and then press Enter.
Note: [FILENAME]
used in the example may differ in your environment.
- Record the file’s SHA-256 hash. In the example,
5e71d4ffc3a0723b1bcca206fd14c0e217f6d9beb33a5b327ea251d3a54df5af
is the file’s SHA-256.
Note: The SHA-256 hash in the example may differ in your environment.
macOS
- Select Go, then Utilities, and then Terminal.
- Double-click Terminal to launch the UI.
- In terminal, browse to the location of the appropriate [FILENAME].
Note: [FILENAME] = Name of file.
- In Terminal, type
sudo shasum -a 256 [FILENAME]
and then press Enter.
- Populate the Password for the account being used and then press Enter.
Note: [FILENAME] used in the example may differ in your environment.
- Record the file’s SHA-256 hash. In the example,
56429c53bff44bbf21527f0bf13a27bc20ceff42160d3170287af6d50da195623
is the file’s SHA-256.
Note: The SHA-256 hash in the example may differ in your environment.
Linux
- Open Terminal.
- In Terminal, browse to the appropriate [FILENAME].
Note: [FILENAME] = Name of file.
- Type
sudo sha256sum [FILENAME]
and then press Enter.
- Populate the password for the account being used and then press Enter.
- Record the file’s SHA-256 hash. In the example,
4167b599f36af0781b81563bd2179a6d35daa3145f0b6f99ac6d9ee1894b516a
is the file’s SHA-256.
Note: The [FILENAME] and SHA-256 hash in the example may differ in your environment.
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