What is Hashing?
Hashing runs data through a one-way function to produce a fixed-size digest that acts as a fingerprint of the input. Unlike encryption, hashing is not meant to be reversed — you use it to verify data integrity (does this file match its expected hash?) or to store passwords without ever keeping the plaintext.
Example
Two different files almost never produce the same SHA-256 hash — a property called collision resistance.
Related tool
Try it on ToolSphere — runs entirely in your browser, nothing is uploaded to a server.