chmod 755 — Standard Permissions for Directories and Scripts

This page opens the calculator preset to 755: the owner gets 7 (read + write + execute) while group and others get 5 (read + execute), producing the symbolic string -rwxr-xr-x. It is the most common mode you will ever type after chmod.

755 is the standard for directories and executables. On directories the execute bit means 'may enter and traverse', so 755 lets any user list and enter the directory while only the owner can create or delete files inside. For shell scripts and binaries it means anyone can run them but only the owner can modify them — which is exactly what web servers like nginx and Apache expect for document roots: directories 755, regular files 644.

Use the checkboxes to see how removing a single bit changes the octal: dropping others-execute turns 755 into 754, dropping group and others entirely gives 700 — a private executable. The ready command below the breakdown can be copied straight into your terminal.