How to check MD5 checksum of a downloaded file

When downloading files for patching or drivers you may need to verify the file is complete. This can be done by verifying the MD5 checksum from the steps below on your PC or Mac workstation.

Windows

Step 1

Open the Windows command line. Press Windows + R, type cmd and press Enter. (Alternative: You can also open command prompt or Windows PowerShell from the Start menu, of course.)

Step 2

Go to the folder that contains the file whose MD5 checksum you want to check and verify. Command: Type cd followed by the path to the folder. (Tip: You can drag and drop a folder from Windows Explorer to insert the path.)

Step 3

Type the command below

certutil -hashfile <file> MD5

Replace with the filename.

Tip: You can use the Tab key to have Windows complete the file name. Example to get the MD5 hash for the file Example.txt:

certutil -hashfile Example.txt MD5

Step 4

Press Enter. Compare the resulting checksum to what you expect:

Microsoft Windows [Version 10.0.19042.964]
(c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\sukjun> cd Downloads

C:\Users\sukjun\Downloads> certutil -hashfile Example.txt MD5
MD5 hash of Example.txt
a5d0173a59
CertUtil: -hashfile command completed successfully.

C:\Users\sukjun\Downloads>

Mac

Step 1

Open Terminal

Step 2

Navigate to the folder that contains the file whose MD5 checksum you want to verify.

Step 3

You can open Terminal right at a folder from Finder.

Step 4

Type md5 followed by the filename

md5 <file>

(Dragging and dropping: You can also type md5, then drag and drop the file you want to check onto the Terminal window.)