chmod 221 Permission Explained

Notice: This is an unusual permission set: some classes have more access than the class above them. It is rarely correct in practice.

Octal

221

Symbolic

-w--w---x

Binary

010 010 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 221 gives the owner write, the group write, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				2
Group (g)				2
Others (o)				1

setuid (4) setgid (2) sticky bit (1)

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

221

-w--w---x

Owner: write · Group: write · Others: execute

chmod 221 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 221 guide →

chmod 221 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Group (g)	`2`	`-w-`	Write only (rarely useful)	No practical effect without x
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 221 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

221 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 600.

chmod 221 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 221 filename

# Apply using equivalent symbolic mode
chmod u=w,g=w,o=x filename

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 221 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type f -exec chmod 221 {} +

# Verify permissions
stat -c '%a %A %n' filename    # Linux
stat -f '%Lp %Sp %N' filename   # macOS

# Example ls -l output:
--w--w---x 1 alice staff 1024 Jan 15 10:00 example.txt

umask Relationship

A umask of 556 makes new directories 221. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 221 mean?

chmod 221 gives the owner write, the group write, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 2 (write), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 221 safe?

chmod 221 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 221 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 221 is represented as -w--w---x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=w,g=w,o=x filename".

Related Permissions

Change one bit:

chmod 621 add owner read chmod 021 remove owner write chmod 321 add owner execute chmod 261 add group read chmod 201 remove group write chmod 231 add group execute chmod 225 add others read chmod 223 add others write chmod 220 remove others execute

← chmod 220 chmod 222 →

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