6-digit PIN generator
This generator creates a random 6-digit PIN — one of 1,000,000 possible combinations, or 19.9 bits of entropy. It skips the patterns thieves try first: repeated digits, counting runs, mirrored pairs, birth years, and calendar dates.
- Combinations
- 1,000,000
- Entropy
- 19.9 bits
- One random guess
- 1 in 1,000,000
- Three attempts
- about 1 in 333,333
Where 6-digit PINs are used
iPhone and Android lock screens, banking apps, UPI, and payment PINs.
Is a 6-digit PIN secure?
Apple made six digits the default in iOS 9 for good reason: a phone in an attacker's hands can be attacked far more patiently than a card in an ATM. A million combinations, combined with escalating lockout delays, puts a randomly chosen six-digit PIN out of practical reach.
Resist turning six digits into a date with the year attached. 010190 has a million-to-one look and a few-hundred-to-one reality.
The maths behind 1,000,000 combinations
Each of the 6 positions can hold any digit from 0 to 9, independently of the others. That gives 106 = 1,000,000 possible PINs, or 19.9 bits of entropy. For comparison, a single lowercase letter carries 4.7 bits, so this PIN is worth about 4.2 random letters.
Trying every combination by hand at five seconds an attempt would take 58 days. That figure is the honest ceiling on a PIN's strength, and it is why every PIN system in the world relies on a lockout rather than on the number itself.
How to remember a random 6-digit PIN
Recall practice beats repetition. Type the new PIN from memory five or six times spread across the first day, then once the next day. That spacing is what moves a number into long-term memory — reading it twenty times in a row does almost nothing.
If you would rather not depend on memory, MoolKey recreates the same PIN on demand from one private phrase, so it exists when you need it and is stored nowhere in between.
6-digit PIN questions
- How many 6-digit PIN combinations are there?
- There are exactly 1,000,000 possible 6-digit PINs, from 000000 to 999999. Each of the 6 positions holds one of ten digits independently, so the total is 10 to the power of 6. That works out to 19.9 bits of entropy if the PIN is chosen at random.
- What are the odds of guessing a 6-digit PIN?
- A single random guess has a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of being right. With the usual three-attempt lockout, an attacker guessing at random has about 1 in 333,333. Those odds only hold if your PIN was chosen randomly — a date or a repeated digit puts you in a set of a few hundred candidates, not 1,000,000.
- Is a 6-digit PIN secure enough?
- The right default. A hundred times stronger than four digits, and supported almost everywhere that matters. Resist turning six digits into a date with the year attached. 010190 has a million-to-one look and a few-hundred-to-one reality.
- Where are 6-digit PINs used?
- iPhone and Android lock screens, banking apps, UPI, and payment PINs. Apple made six digits the default in iOS 9 for good reason: a phone in an attacker's hands can be attacked far more patiently than a card in an ATM.
More free tools
Every tool runs in your browser without an account. The generators, strength checker, and entropy calculator keep inputs local. The breach checker sends only a five-character hash prefix to Have I Been Pwned.
Password generator
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Passphrase generator
A passphrase is several random words joined together, such as "trout-canyon-mellow-drift".
Strength checker
A password strength checker estimates how many guesses an attacker needs before reaching your password.
Breach check
A breach check tells you whether a password already appears in leaked data.
Entropy calculator
Password entropy measures how many guesses an attacker needs, expressed in bits.
Make one account easier today.
Start with the password you keep reusing or the bank card that still shares a PIN. MoolKey is free, and you do not need to move everything at once.