chmod 765 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

765

Symbolic

rwxrw-r-x

Binary

111 110 101

Risk Level

Moderate

Summary: chmod 765 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read/execute.

Class	Read (4)	Write (2)	Execute (1)	Octal
Owner (u)				7
Group (g)				6
Others (o)				5

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

Octal

Symbolic

Target File / Path

-R Recursive -v Verbose

765

rwxrw-r-x

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

chmod 765 filename

Moderate Every member of the group can modify this file.

View the full chmod 765 guide →

chmod 765 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)	`5`	`r-x`	Read and execute	Can list and enter

Is chmod 765 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

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

chmod 765 Command Examples

# Apply using octal mode
chmod 765 filename

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

# Recursive command warning:
chmod -R 765 /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 765 {} +

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

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

umask Relationship

A umask of 012 makes new directories 765. Test umask values with our interactive Umask Calculator.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does chmod 765 mean?

chmod 765 gives the owner read/write/execute, the group read/write, and everyone else read/execute. In octal notation, the owner receives 7 (read/write/execute), the group receives 6 (read/write), and others receive 5 (read/execute).

Is chmod 765 safe?

chmod 765 is classified as Moderate. Every member of the group can modify this file.

What is chmod 765 in symbolic notation?

In symbolic notation, chmod 765 is represented as rwxrw-r-x. You can apply this permission using the equivalent symbolic command "chmod u=rwx,g=rw,o=rx filename".