---
name: "md5sum.textutils"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "coreutils"
version: "9.1-1"
release: "Debian 12 (Bookworm)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/md5sum"
---

# md5sum.textutils(1)

compute and check MD5 message digest

Part of [md5sum(1)](/md5sum/1.md).

## NAME

md5sum - compute and check MD5 message digest

## SYNOPSIS

**md5sum** \[*OPTION*\]... \[*FILE*\]...

## DESCRIPTION

Print or check MD5 (128-bit) checksums.

With no FILE, or when FILE is -, read standard input.

- **-b**, **--binary**

  read in binary mode

- **-c**, **--check**

  read checksums from the FILEs and check them

- **--tag**

  create a BSD-style checksum

- **-t**, **--text**

  read in text mode (default)

- **-z**, **--zero**

  end each output line with NUL, not newline, and disable file name escaping

### The following five options are useful only when verifying checksums:

- **--ignore-missing**

  don't fail or report status for missing files

- **--quiet**

  don't print OK for each successfully verified file

- **--status**

  don't output anything, status code shows success

- **--strict**

  exit non-zero for improperly formatted checksum lines

- **-w**, **--warn**

  warn about improperly formatted checksum lines

- **--help**

  display this help and exit

- **--version**

  output version information and exit

The sums are computed as described in RFC 1321. When checking, the input should be a former output of this program. The default mode is to print a line with: checksum, a space, a character indicating input mode ('\*' for binary, ' ' for text or where binary is insignificant), and name for each FILE.

Note: There is no difference between binary mode and text mode on GNU systems.

## BUGS

Do not use the MD5 algorithm for security related purposes. Instead, use an SHA-2 algorithm, implemented in the programs [**sha224sum**(1)](/sha224sum/1.md), [**sha256sum**(1)](/sha256sum/1.md), [**sha384sum**(1)](/sha384sum/1.md), [**sha512sum**(1)](/sha512sum/1.md), or the BLAKE2 algorithm, implemented in [**b2sum**(1)](/b2sum/1.md)

## AUTHOR

Written by Ulrich Drepper, Scott Miller, and David Madore.

## REPORTING BUGS

GNU coreutils online help: \<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/\>\
 Report any translation bugs to \<https://translationproject.org/team/\>

## COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc. License GPLv3+: GNU GPL version 3 or later \<https://gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html\>.\
 This is free software: you are free to change and redistribute it. There is NO WARRANTY, to the extent permitted by law.

## SEE ALSO

[**cksum**(1)](/cksum/1.md)

Full documentation \<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/md5sum\>\
 or available locally via: info '(coreutils) md5sum invocation'