How to change ownership of files and folders in Linux

Each Linux file and folder are assigned to an owner, a group, and other users; neither the owner nor member of the given group. To change the access permission for the files and folders, you can change the permission for each previously mentioned category. You can also change the permission of files and folders by changing their ownership, which is to assign them to a new owner or group.

The common way to change the ownership of files and folders in Linux is by using chown and chgrp. Both are command-line tools available in all Linux and other Unix-based operating systems such as macOS and the BSDs.

1. Launch terminal.
2. List existing users in the system.

   $ getent passwd root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin systemd-timesync:x:100:101:systemd Time Synchronization,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin systemd-network:x:101:103:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin systemd-resolve:x:102:104:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin messagebus:x:103:106::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin syslog:x:104:110::/home/syslog:/usr/sbin/nologin _apt:x:105:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin tss:x:106:111:TPM software stack,,,:/var/lib/tpm:/bin/false uuidd:x:107:114::/run/uuidd:/usr/sbin/nologin tcpdump:x:108:115::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin avahi-autoipd:x:109:117:Avahi autoip daemon,,,:/var/lib/avahi-autoipd:/usr/sbin/nologin usbmux:x:110:46:usbmux daemon,,,:/var/lib/usbmux:/usr/sbin/nologin rtkit:x:111:118:RealtimeKit,,,:/proc:/usr/sbin/nologin dnsmasq:x:112:65534:dnsmasq,,,:/var/lib/misc:/usr/sbin/nologin avahi:x:113:120:Avahi mDNS daemon,,,:/run/avahi-daemon:/usr/sbin/nologin cups-pk-helper:x:114:121:user for cups-pk-helper service,,,:/home/cups-pk-helper:/usr/sbin/nologin speech-dispatcher:x:115:29:Speech Dispatcher,,,:/run/speech-dispatcher:/bin/false kernoops:x:116:65534:Kernel Oops Tracking Daemon,,,:/:/usr/sbin/nologin saned:x:117:123::/var/lib/saned:/usr/sbin/nologin nm-openvpn:x:118:124:NetworkManager OpenVPN,,,:/var/lib/openvpn/chroot:/usr/sbin/nologin whoopsie:x:119:125::/nonexistent:/bin/false colord:x:120:126:colord colour management daemon,,,:/var/lib/colord:/usr/sbin/nologin sssd:x:121:127:SSSD system user,,,:/var/lib/sss:/usr/sbin/nologin geoclue:x:122:128::/var/lib/geoclue:/usr/sbin/nologin pulse:x:123:129:PulseAudio daemon,,,:/var/run/pulse:/usr/sbin/nologin hplip:x:124:7:HPLIP system user,,,:/run/hplip:/bin/false gnome-initial-setup:x:125:65534::/run/gnome-initial-setup/:/bin/false gdm:x:126:131:Gnome Display Manager:/var/lib/gdm3:/bin/false user:x:1000:1000:user,,,:/home/user:/bin/bash systemd-coredump:x:999:999:systemd Core Dumper:/:/usr/sbin/nologin sshd:x:127:65534::/run/sshd:/usr/sbin/nologin shakir:x:1001:1001:shakir,,,:/home/shakir:/bin/bash

3. List existing groups in the system.

   $ getent group root:x:0: daemon:x:1: bin:x:2: sys:x:3: adm:x:4:syslog,user tty:x:5: disk:x:6: lp:x:7: mail:x:8: news:x:9: uucp:x:10: man:x:12: proxy:x:13: kmem:x:15: dialout:x:20: fax:x:21: voice:x:22: cdrom:x:24:user floppy:x:25: tape:x:26: sudo:x:27:user,shakir audio:x:29:pulse dip:x:30:user www-data:x:33: backup:x:34: operator:x:37: list:x:38: irc:x:39: src:x:40: gnats:x:41: shadow:x:42: utmp:x:43: video:x:44: sasl:x:45: plugdev:x:46:user staff:x:50: games:x:60: users:x:100: nogroup:x:65534: systemd-timesync:x:101: systemd-journal:x:102: systemd-network:x:103: systemd-resolve:x:104: crontab:x:105: messagebus:x:106: input:x:107: kvm:x:108: render:x:109: syslog:x:110: tss:x:111: bluetooth:x:112: ssl-cert:x:113: uuidd:x:114: tcpdump:x:115: ssh:x:116: avahi-autoipd:x:117: rtkit:x:118: netdev:x:119: avahi:x:120: lpadmin:x:121:user scanner:x:122:saned saned:x:123: nm-openvpn:x:124: whoopsie:x:125: colord:x:126: sssd:x:127: geoclue:x:128: pulse:x:129: pulse-access:x:130: gdm:x:131: lxd:x:132:user user:x:1000: sambashare:x:133:user systemd-coredump:x:999: shakir:x:1001:

4. Check current owner and group of file or folder.

   $ stat -c "%U:%G" /var/www/html/index.html root:root

5. Change owner of file based on the list of system users.

   $ sudo chown www-data /var/www/html/index.html

6. Check current owner and group of file to confirm.

   $ stat -c "%U:%G" /var/www/html/index.html www-data:root

7. Change group of file based on the list of system groups.

   $ sudo chgrp www-data /var/www/html/index.html

8. Change both owner and group of a directory.

   $ sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/

9. Change owner and group using wildcard.

   $ sudo chown www-data:www-data /var/www/html/*

10. Change owner and group recursively for all files and folders.

    $ sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /var/www/html/*

11. Check owner and group for all files and folders.

    $ ls -l /var/www/html/ total 20 drwxr-xr-x 2 www-data www-data  4096 Jan  24 09:58 css -rw-r--r-- 1 www-data www-data 10918 Jan  23 19:57 index.html drwxr-xr-x 2 www-data www-data  4096 Jan  24 09:57 js