Calculate a SHA-256 content digest.

Java: Hash UTF-8 bytes and format the result as lowercase hexadecimal.

import java.util.*;
import java.util.stream.*;
import java.util.regex.*;
import java.nio.file.*;
import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
import java.time.*;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
import java.time.temporal.*;
import java.math.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.security.MessageDigest;
import java.util.concurrent.*;

public class Main {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        byte[] digest = MessageDigest.getInstance("SHA-256").digest("hello".getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8));
        System.out.println(HexFormat.of().formatHex(digest));
    }
}

Expected output EXAMPLE

2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824

Details

Save as Main.java, compile with javac Main.java, and run java Main. Uses the Java 21 standard library. Hash UTF-8 bytes and format the result as lowercase hexadecimal.

Keep in mind

A plain digest does not authenticate its sender and is not suitable for storing passwords.

✓ Verified

Tested on Ubuntu 24.04.5 LTS · 2026-11-02 18:02:24 UTC · openjdk 21.0.12.1 2026-08-18 · openjdk-21-jdk-headless 21.0.12.1+1-1~24.04.4

Test inputs, results and environment

The exact published code ran in a dedicated Linux test container with prepared inputs. Unprivileged snippet process, external networking disabled, read-only root filesystem, and a fresh temporary working directory. Fixtures and output records are isolated from the application database. Testing covers this example and its stated checks, not every input, operating system, or runtime version. The Linux container shares its host's kernel; this is not a native Windows test.

Architecture / host kernel: x86_64 / 6.18.54.1-microsoft-standard-WSL2
Snippet identity / locale: uid=65534, gid=65534 (unprivileged) / C.UTF-8
Interpreter invocation: javac Main.java && java Main
Container image ID: sha256:32dc2d998158b6554c99b73b533f423696a0f3e31e8cbea9db10b5eee9a2fadd
Code SHA-256: 3a76dbd2b806e64779e21a4685f49e9887cec23dbefd6d2645b4e74b7c16004b
Dependencies: openjdk-21-jdk-headless 21.0.12.1+1-1~24.04.4

Test input setup

These are the prepared inputs used by the test harness. See Details above for the prerequisites and how to run this example.

# No input files required.

Observed standard output

2cf24dba5fb0a30e26e83b2ac5b9e29e1b161e5c1fa7425e73043362938b9824

Exit code: 0. Standard error: empty. Validation: Exact stdout comparison. System-dependent values above are one recorded run.