How to Verify a file against an SHA-1 or SHA-256 checksum

Type command

In Terminal, type shasum -a then a space, followed by 1 or 256 depending on whether you’re verifying against a published SHA-1 or SHA-256 checksum. Add a space, then drag and drop your file onto Terminal’s window.

Run the calculation

Your command now ends with the full path to the file to be checked. Press ® . You’ll soon see the calculated checksum for your file. Rather than manually comparing it to the published one, select and copy it to the Clipboard.

Compare the values

In Numbers, paste the calculated and published checksums into discrete cells, and in a third one type =EXACT( and click the cells you just pasted into, then type ) and press ® . If the third cell says FALSE, don’t trust the download.