Change permissions for a folder and subfolders in Linux

David Y.

The Problem

In Linux, how do I change the permissions on a folder, its subfolders, and its files?

The Solution

You can do this using the chmod -R or --recursive flag, which will apply the operation to all files and subdirectories. For example, to allow all users to read files and enter (i.e. execute) subdirectories in myfolder, we could use the following command:

chmod -R a+rX myfolder
Click to Copy

• a: all users.
• +: add the following permissions.
• r: read permission.
• X: execute permission, but only for directories.

To learn more about chmod, open its manual page by entering man chmod.