chmod 735 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

735

Symbolic

rwx-wxr-x

Binary

111 011 101

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 735 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else read/execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				3
Others (o)				5

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

735

rwx-wxr-x

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

chmod 735 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 735 guide →

chmod 735 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)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter

Is chmod 735 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

735 is uncommon in standard Linux setups. The closest widely used permission is chmod 775.

chmod 735 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 735 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 735 /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 735 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 042 makes new directories 735. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 735 mean?

chmod 735 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group write/execute, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 3 (write/execute), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 735 safe?

chmod 735 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 735 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 735 is represented as rwx-wxr-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=wx,o=rx filename".