chmod 724 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

724

Symbolic

rwx-w-r--

Binary

111 010 100

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 724 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write, and everyone else read.

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

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

724

rwx-w-r--

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

chmod 724 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 724 guide →

chmod 724 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)	`4`	`r--`	Read only	Can list names, but not enter

Is chmod 724 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.
Any user can read this file — never use it for secrets such as keys or .env files.
Unusual: a lower class has permissions the class above it lacks.

Common Use Cases

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

chmod 724 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 724 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 724 /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 724 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 053 makes new directories 724. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 724 mean?

chmod 724 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write, and everyone else read. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 2 (write), and others receive 4 (read).

Is chmod 724 safe?

chmod 724 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 724 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 724 is represented as rwx-w-r--. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=w,o=r filename".