# Linux: Apply Permissions to a Directory Recursively

> Use chmod -R to recursively apply permissions like 777 or a safer 755 to a directory and all its files and subdirectories in Linux

**URL:** https://sentry.io/answers/apply-permissions-to-a-directory-and-its-contents-in-linux/

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## The Problem

How do I apply permissions to a directory and all its contents in Linux? For example, I would like to give all permissions (`chmod 777`) to the directory `/var/www/myapp`.

## The Solution

We can do this by providing the `-R`/`--recursive` flag to our `chmod` command:

```bash
chmod -R 777 /var/www/myapp
```

Note that `777` permissions will allow any user on the system to read, write and execute all files and directories within `/var/www/myapp`. A slightly safer configuration, which should still work for most web applications, is `755`, which allows all users to read and execute the files and directories, but only the owner to write to them.

```bash
chmod -R 755 /var/www/myapp
```

To learn more about `chmod`, type `man chmod` into your terminal.

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*Source: [sentry.io/answers/apply-permissions-to-a-directory-and-its-contents-in-linux/](https://sentry.io/answers/apply-permissions-to-a-directory-and-its-contents-in-linux/)*