chmod 731 Permission Explained

Octal

731

Symbolic

rwx-wx--x

Binary

111 011 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 731 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				3
Others (o)				1

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

731

rwx-wx--x

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

chmod 731 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 731 guide →

chmod 731 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Group (g)	`3`	`-wx`	Write and execute	Can enter and create/delete files, but not list
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 731 Safe?

Moderate

Every member of the group can modify this file.

Common Use Cases

731 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 711.

chmod 731 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 731 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 731 /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 731 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 046 makes new directories 731. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 731 mean?

chmod 731 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 3 (write/execute), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 731 safe?

chmod 731 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 731 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 731 is represented as rwx-wx--x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=wx,o=x filename".