Node.js — Calculate an MD5 Hash

Node.js comes with the crypto module that provides a lot of useful methods for data encryption and hashing. There’s a built-in function to calculate an MD5 hash for a given value.

This tutorial shows you how to hash a given string using the MD5 algorithm.

Node.js Series Overview

  1. String Replace All Appearances
  2. Remove All Whitespace From a String in JavaScript
  3. Generate a Random ID or String in Node.js or JavaScript
  4. Remove Extra Spaces From a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  5. Remove Numbers From a String in JavaScript or Node.js
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  7. Get the Part After a Character in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  8. How to Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  9. Check If a String Includes All Strings in JavaScript/Node.js/TypeScript
  10. Check if a Value is a String in JavaScript and Node.js
  11. Limit and Truncate a String to a Given Length in JavaScript and Node.js
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  15. Split a String into a List of Lines in JavaScript or Node.js
  16. Split a String into a List of Words in JavaScript or Node.js
  17. Detect if a String is in camelCase Format in Javascript or Node.js
  18. Check If a String Is in Lowercase in JavaScript or Node.js
  19. Check If a String is in Uppercase in JavaScript or Node.js
  20. Get the Part After First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  21. Get the Part Before First Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  22. Get the Part Before Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  23. Get the Part After Last Occurrence in a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  24. How to Count Words in a File
  25. How to Shuffle the Characters of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  26. Append Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  27. Check if a String is Empty in JavaScript or Node.js
  28. Ensure a String Ends with a Given Character in JavaScript or Node.js
  29. Left-Trim Characters Off a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  30. Right-Trim Characters Off a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  31. Lowercase the First Character of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  32. Uppercase the First Character of a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  33. Prepend Characters or Words to a String in JavaScript or Node.js
  34. Check if a String is a Number
  35. Convert a String to Buffer
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Calculate an MD5 Hash in Node.js

You can calculate an MD5 hash using Node.js’ createHash method. The createHash method returns a Hash instance providing methods to update the content that should be hashed. You must call the digest method to retrieve the final hash string:

import { createHash } from 'node:crypto'

/**
 * Returns an MD5 hash for the given `content`.
 *
 * @param {String} content
 *
 * @returns {String}
 */
function md5(content) {  
  return createHash('md5').update(content).digest('hex')
}

A quick reminder: security experts consider the MD5 algorithm as not secure anymore. Yet, applications still use MD5, e.g., for checksum calculations. We also use MD5 in @supercharge/inertia to version JavaScript assets based on the content of your manifest file.

Please use another hashing algorithm (like SHA256) if your use-case of MD5 may cause security concerns.

Enjoy hashing values in Node.js using the MD5 algorithm!


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