Get-Filehash - sha256sum Windows

Under Linux, the command line tool sha256sum is used for the integrity check of files. After downloading a file, it can be verified whether the file was downloaded without errors and has not been modified. Under Windows, the cmdlet Get-Filehash is available in the Powershell.

Use

To use Get-Filehash, click on start and type in PowerSh and start then a powershell console. Then navigate to the desired directory and run Get-Filehash to create an SHA256 checksum:

Get-Filehash [FILENAME]

The following example shows the checksum of an UEFITool download:

Windows PowerShell
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PS C:\Users\micro> cd .\Downloads\
PS C:\Users\micro\Downloads> Get-Filehash .\UEFITool.exe

Algorithm       Hash                                                                   Path
---------       ----                                                                   ----
SHA256          434EFED4599601D7A136E4CF608DB478A4CC2AEDF02B5BFD05998A84FDDC341E       C:\Users\micro\Downloads\UEFI...


PS C:\Users\micro\Downloads>

Supported algorithms

In addition to SHA256, Get-Filehash can also generate hash values based on the following algorithms using the -algorithm parameter:

• SHA1
• SHA256
• SHA384
• SHA512
• MD5

More information

• Get-FileHash (docs.microsoft.com)

Author: Werner Fischer Werner Fischer, working in the Knowledge Transfer team at Thomas-Krenn, completed his studies of Computer and Media Security at FH Hagenberg in Austria. He is a regular speaker at many conferences like LinuxTag, OSMC, OSDC, LinuxCon, and author for various IT magazines. In his spare time he enjoys playing the piano and training for a good result at the annual Linz marathon relay.

Translator: Alina Ranzinger Alina has been working at Thomas-Krenn.AG since 2024. After her training as multilingual business assistant, she got her job as assistant of the Product Management and is responsible for the translation of texts and for the organisation of the department.