chmod 721 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

721

Symbolic

rwx-w---x

Binary

111 010 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 721 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				2
Others (o)				1

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

721

rwx-w---x

Owner: read/write/execute · Group: write · Others: execute

chmod 721 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 721 guide →

chmod 721 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
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 721 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

721 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 700.

chmod 721 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 721 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 721 /path/to/dir
# Note: -R applies the same mode to files and directories. Use find to treat them separately:
find /path/to/dir -type d -exec chmod 721 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 056 makes new directories 721. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 721 mean?

chmod 721 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 721 safe?

chmod 721 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 721 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 721 is represented as rwx-w---x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=w,o=x filename".