chmod change files or directories recursively to the same value

3 Replies

Recursively change all files in your current working directory including files in subdirectories to 644:

find . -type f -print0 | xargs -0 chmod 644

Recursively change all directories in your current working directory including subdirectories to 755:

find . -type d -print0 | xargs -0 chmod 755

3 thoughts on “chmod change files or directories recursively to the same value”

Ewoud Kohl van Wijngaarden May 25, 2010 at 01:44

chmod -R doesn’t make a distinction between files and directories.

The following is equal to the above commands:
find -type f -exec chmod 644 {} + find -type d -exec chmod 755 {} +

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Marcel May 23, 2010 at 14:29

yes, but chmod -R doesnt discriminate between files and directories…

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Dinbo March 19, 2010 at 11:52

chmod -R 644 * also works!

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