How to Crack Hashes using Hashcat (windows)

Downloading Hashcat and RockYou

Extract the zip file and open it, then open the folder inside

Make a "wordlists" folder here, and put rockyou.txt inside

Make a "hashes" folder here, and make a "hash.txt" file or with whatever name you want, and put your hash inside

Replace the directory field with "cmd" and click enter

If you don't know what type of hash yours is, visit example_hashes or try a hash identifier: md5hashing.net

Once you know what hash type yours is, find its "Hash-Mode" on the same page

In the terminal you get to after typing "cmd" in the directory field, enter:

hashcat.exe -m <your hash-mode> -a 3 hashes\hash.txt

It will now try to brute force all lowercase, uppercase, digits, and special characters starting from 1-character combinations and up.

Press S to view current status. Press Q to quit brute forcing.

If you cracked your hash, move to section "I cracked my hash - where is the cracked password?"

In the terminal, enter:

hashcat.exe -m <your hash-mode> -a 0 hashes\hash.txt wordlists\rockyou.txt

It will now try every password in rockyou.txt wordlist.

Press S to view current status like how long it will take to run through the entire wordlist. Press Q to quit cracking.

If you cracked your hash, move to section "I cracked my hash - where is the cracked password?"

In the hashcat folder, search for "hashcat.potfile"

Open it with a text editor like Notepad. Your hash + the cracked password will be in there.

Upload the file to https://hashes.com/en/johntheripper/zip2john and save the hash in a file

Not at all. If this did not crack your hash, try more extensive wordlists. You can also try:

Most likely not — but you can try: