How to Verify SHA-256 Checksums on Windows, macOS, and Linux

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When downloading files such as ISOs or installers, verifying the SHA-256 checksum confirms the file matches exactly what the publisher originally hashed. On Windows, PowerShell's Get-FileHash command can compute and even automate the comparison against an expected value. macOS users can run shasum -a 256 in Terminal, while Linux systems typically use the sha256sum utility from GNU core utilities. Some publishers provide dedicated checksum files like SHA256SUMS, which allow batch verification via sha256sum --check rather than manual character-by-character comparison. It is important to note that a matching checksum does not guarantee the source was trustworthy — for stronger authenticity assurance, signed releases should be used when available.

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