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Getting a File's MD5 Checksum in Java

Submitted by: @import:stackoverflow-api·Mar 10, 2026·

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checksummd5javagettingfile

Problem

I am looking to use Java to get the MD5 checksum of a file. I was really surprised but I haven't been able to find anything that shows how to get the MD5 checksum of a file.

How is it done?

Solution

There's an input stream decorator, java.security.DigestInputStream, so that you can compute the digest while using the input stream as you normally would, instead of having to make an extra pass over the data.

MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
try (InputStream is = Files.newInputStream(Paths.get("file.txt"));
     DigestInputStream dis = new DigestInputStream(is, md)) 
{
  /* Read decorated stream (dis) to EOF as normal... */
}
byte[] digest = md.digest();

Code Snippets

MessageDigest md = MessageDigest.getInstance("MD5");
try (InputStream is = Files.newInputStream(Paths.get("file.txt"));
     DigestInputStream dis = new DigestInputStream(is, md)) 
{
  /* Read decorated stream (dis) to EOF as normal... */
}
byte[] digest = md.digest();

Context

Stack Overflow Q#304268, score: 616

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