Create a SendTo MD5 Shortcut — Verify Files in Seconds

Automate MD5 Hashing with a SendTo MD5 Context Menu Entry

Verifying file integrity with MD5 checksums is useful for downloads, backups, and transfers. Adding an MD5 option to Windows’ SendTo menu creates a one-click workflow: right-click a file, choose the SendTo MD5 shortcut, and get the file’s MD5 hash in seconds. This guide shows how to create a simple, reusable SendTo MD5 context-menu entry that generates and saves MD5 checksums.

What this does

• Adds a SendTo shortcut named SendTo MD5.
• Runs a small script that computes the MD5 hash for the selected file(s).
• Outputs results to a text file (saved next to each file or in a central folder) and optionally opens the file for quick copy/paste.

Requirements

• Windows (7, 8, 10, 11).
• PowerShell (built-in).
• No admin rights required.

Steps

1. Create a folder for the script

• Create a folder to hold the script, e.g.,:
  • C:\Tools\SendToMD5

2. Save the PowerShell script

• Create a file named Generate-MD5.ps1 in that folder with this content:

Code
Copy CodeCopied
param([string[]]\(files) </span> foreach (\)f in \(files) {if (-not (Test-Path \)f)) { continue }

 
$hash = Get-FileHash -Algorithm MD5 -Path $f $outFile = Join-Path -Path (Split-Path -Parent $f) -ChildPath ("{0}.md5.txt" -f (Split-Path -Leaf $f)) "$($hash.Hash)  $($hash.Path)" | Out-File -FilePath $outFile -Encoding UTF8 Start-Process notepad.exe -ArgumentList $outFile 
} 


Create a SendTo shortcut


Press Win+R, type shell:sendto, and press Enter to open your SendTo folder.
Right-click inside the folder → New → Shortcut.
For the item location, enter:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File “C:\Tools\SendToMD5\Generate-MD5.ps1” “%V”


Name the shortcut: SendTo MD5


Usage


Right-click any file (or select multiple files), choose SendTo → SendTo MD5.
Notepad will open with a corresponding .md5.txt file showing the MD5 and file path.

Customization options

Save all hashes to a central log folder: change \(outFile to a fixed path like "C:\Tools\SendToMD5\hashes.log" and append instead of overwrite.</li> <li>Copy MD5 to clipboard instead of opening Notepad: replace Start-Process with Set-Clipboard \)hash.Hash.
Use SHA256 instead: change -Algorithm MD5 to -Algorithm SHA256 in Get-FileHash and adjust file extension if desired.

Troubleshooting

If shortcut doesn’t pass files correctly, replace “%V” in the shortcut target with “%1” for single-file operation, or use a small batch wrapper to pass multiple files.
If ExecutionPolicy blocks the script, the shortcut includes ExecutionPolicy Bypass; ensure powershell.exe path is correct.
For long file paths, PowerShell supports them in recent Windows builds—enable NTFS long paths if needed.

Security note
MD5 is fast but cryptographically broken for collision resistance; use it only for basic integrity checks. For stronger guarantees, use SHA256.
That’s it—once set up you’ll have a fast, repeatable SendTo MD5 entry for one-click file hashing.