chmod 761 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

761

Symbolic

rwxrw---x

Binary

111 110 001

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 761 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				6
Others (o)				1

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

761

rwxrw---x

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

chmod 761 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 761 guide →

chmod 761 Breakdown

Class	Digit	Symbolic	On a file	On a directory
Owner (u)	`7`	`rwx`	Full access	Full access: list, enter, create, delete
Group (g)	`6`	`rw-`	Read and write	Can list names, cannot enter
Others (o)	`1`	`--x`	Execute only	Can enter (cd) but not list contents

Is chmod 761 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

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

chmod 761 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 761 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 761 /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 761 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 016 makes new directories 761. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 761 mean?

chmod 761 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 1 (execute).

Is chmod 761 safe?

chmod 761 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 761 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 761 is represented as rwxrw---x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=rw,o=x filename".