How to generate an MD5 hash
Type your text or drop a file. The MD5 hash generator hashes UTF-8 text or raw file bytes and shows a 32-character hexadecimal string. That is the usual format in checksum files and docs. Switch to Base64 if an API stores MD5 that way.
MD5 length and the empty string
MD5 is always 128 bits. Hex is always 32 characters. The MD5 of an empty string is d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e. If you see that value, you hashed nothing (or an empty file).
Collisions and passwords
Researchers can produce different inputs with the same MD5. That makes MD5 unfit for signatures, certificates, and password storage. If you need to store secrets, use a password hash (Argon2, bcrypt, scrypt), not MD5 and not a plain SHA-256 either.
When MD5 still shows up
Some CDNs and caches still use MD5 in ETags. Older download pages still publish MD5 checksums. Match those systems if you must, then prefer SHA-256 for anything new. This page stays focused on MD5 so you can generate that digest without extra steps.