# VeraCrypt - Free Open source disk encryption with strong security for the Paranoid
VeraCrypt is free open-source disk encryption software for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. In case an attacker forces you to reveal the password, VeraCrypt provides plausible deniability. In contrast to file encryption, data encryption performed by VeraCrypt is real-time (on-the-fly), automatic, transparent, needs very little memory, and does not involve temporary unencrypted files.
Keywords: encryption, security

Documentation Hash Algorithms

# Hash Algorithms

In the Volume Creation Wizard, in the password change dialog window, and in the Keyfile Generator dialog window, you can select a hash algorithm. A user-selected hash algorithm is used by the VeraCrypt Random Number Generator as a pseudorandom "mixing" function, and by the header key derivation function (HMAC based on a hash function, as specified in PKCS #5 v2.0) as a pseudorandom function. When creating a new volume, the Random Number Generator generates the master key, secondary key (XTS mode), and salt. For more information, please see the section Random Number Generator and section Header Key Derivation, Salt, and Iteration Count.
VeraCrypt currently supports the following hash algorithms:

- BLAKE2s-256
- SHA-256
- SHA-512
- Whirlpool
- Streebog

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