# phpman > man > SHA256SUM(1)

> **TLDR:** Calculate SHA256 cryptographic checksums.
>
- Calculate the SHA256 checksum for one or more files:
  `sha256sum {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}}`
- Calculate and save the list of SHA256 checksums to a file:
  `sha256sum {{path/to/file1 path/to/file2 ...}} > {{path/to/file.sha256}}`
- Calculate a SHA256 checksum from `stdin`:
  `{{command}} | sha256sum`
- Read a file of SHA256 checksums and filenames and verify all files have matching checksums:
  `sha256sum {{-c|--check}} {{path/to/file.sha256}}`
- Only show a message for missing files or when verification fails:
  `sha256sum {{-c|--check}} --quiet {{path/to/file.sha256}}`
- Only show a message when verification fails, ignoring missing files:
  `sha256sum --ignore-missing {{-c|--check}} --quiet {{path/to/file.sha256}}`
- Check a known SHA256 checksum of a file:
  `echo {{known_sha256_checksum_of_the_file}} {{path/to/file}} | sha256sum {{-c|--check}}`

*Source: tldr-pages*

---

[SHA256SUM(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SHA256SUM/1/markdown)                              User Commands                              [SHA256SUM(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SHA256SUM/1/markdown)

## NAME
       sha256sum - compute and check SHA256 message digest

## SYNOPSIS
       sha256sum [OPTION]... [FILE]...

## DESCRIPTION
       Print or check SHA256 (256-bit) checksums.

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

### -b, --binary
              read in binary mode

### -c, --check
              read SHA256 sums 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 FIPS-180-2.  When checking, the input should be a for-
       mer 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 insignifi-
       cant), and name for each FILE.

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

## 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 (C) 2020 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
       Full documentation <<https://www.gnu.org/software/coreutils/sha256sum>>
       or available locally via: info '(coreutils) sha2 utilities'

GNU coreutils 8.32                         January 2026                              [SHA256SUM(1)](https://www.chedong.com/phpMan.php/man/SHA256SUM/1/markdown)