Hashing
Whirlpool hash generator
Whirlpool is a cryptographic hash with a fixed 512-bit output, designed by Vincent Rijmen and Paulo Barreto from the AES round structure and standardised in ISO/IEC 10118-3. You meet it mostly in disk encryption: TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt offer it as one of the hash algorithms that turn your password into the volume header key. Type or paste text and the 128-character hex digest appears as you type.
How to use Whirlpool
- Open Whirlpool in the Toolbox101 app.
- Type or paste the text you want hashed into the
Inputbox. - The 128-character hex digest appears in the
Outputbox as you type. - Use
Copyto grab the digest for a checksum listing.
Worked example
Whirlpool returns the output below for this input.
Input
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dogOutput
b97de512e91e3828b40d2b0fdce9ceb3c4a71f9bea8d88e75c4fa854df36725fd2b52eb6544edcacd6f8beddfea403cb55ae31f03ad62a5ef54e42ee82c3fb35Check it yourself: open Whirlpool and enter the same input.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Whirlpool hash algorithm?
Whirlpool is a 512-bit cryptographic hash from 2000, designed by Vincent Rijmen (co-designer of AES) and Paulo Barreto. Its compression function is built from a modified AES round, and the algorithm is standardised in ISO/IEC 10118-3. You mostly meet it as a hash option in TrueCrypt and VeraCrypt, and in a few older file-integrity tools.
Why is a Whirlpool digest always 128 characters?
Whirlpool output is fixed at 512 bits, or 64 bytes, and hex writes one byte as two characters, so every digest is 128 characters regardless of input length. Even the empty string hashes to 128 characters: 19fa61d75522a4669b44e39c1d2e1726c530232130d407f89afee0964997f7a73e83be698b288febcf88e3e03c4f0757ea8964e59b63d93708b138cc42a66eb3. That fixed length makes digests easy to spot in checksum listings.
Which is better, Whirlpool or SHA-512?
Both produce 512-bit digests, and neither has a practical break. SHA-2 has far wider scrutiny, hardware support and deployment, so new systems should default to SHA-512 or SHA-3. Whirlpool stays relevant where an existing format or tool names it, such as the hash choice in a TrueCrypt or VeraCrypt volume.
Is Whirlpool safe for password storage?
No, and this is true of every fast general-purpose hash, not just Whirlpool. Password verification needs a deliberately slow, salt-using KDF such as Argon2, scrypt, or bcrypt so brute-force attempts cost real time. Use Whirlpool for checksums and legacy-format compatibility, never for password storage.