Developer UUID tools
Universal Unique ID
A universal unique ID, usually called a universally unique identifier or UUID, is a 128-bit value used to identify records, resources, events, and messages.
Mini universal unique ID generator
Generate a single UUID quickly while reviewing what universal unique identifiers are used for.
123e4567-e89b-42d3-a456-426614174000
Generated values stay in your browser. This page does not send UUIDs or GUIDs to a server for generation.
What is a universal unique ID?
A universal unique ID is an identifier designed to be generated independently across systems without a shared counter. The UUID format is the most common implementation.
UUIDs are frequently used when an application needs IDs before data reaches a central database.
UUID example
A standard UUID example looks like 6f9619ff-8b86-d011-b42d-00cf4fc964ff. It has five groups of hexadecimal characters separated by hyphens.
Common uses
Universal unique identifiers are used for database IDs, API resources, distributed events, messages, file references, and test fixtures.
FAQ
Is a universal unique ID the same as a UUID?+
In most developer contexts, yes. UUID stands for universally unique identifier.
Is a UUID globally guaranteed to be unique?+
UUIDs are designed to make collisions extremely unlikely when generated correctly, but avoid absolute uniqueness claims for every possible implementation.
What is the standard UUID length?+
A UUID has 32 hexadecimal characters, or 36 characters when four hyphens are included.