How to Change File Permissions in cPanel File Manager

What are file permissions?

Permissions are rules that say who may do what with a file. Think of a house with keys. Some people can only look. Some can change things. Some can walk in and run things.

Each file has three kinds of users:

Owner: you, the account owner.
Group: a set of users on the same server.
World: everyone else, including website visitors.

Each user can have three powers: Read (look at the file), Write (change it) and Execute (run it as a program).

Permission numbers

The powers become numbers. Read is 4, Write is 2, Execute is 1. You add them up for each user. A permission such as 644 has three digits, one for owner, group and world.

Number	Meaning	Common use
644	Owner reads and writes. Others only read.	Normal website files
755	Owner does everything. Others read and run.	Folders
600	Only the owner reads and writes.	Private config files
777	Everyone can do everything.	Avoid. It is unsafe.

Steps

Log in to cPanel and open File Manager.
Go to the folder that holds the file.
Right-click the file or folder.
Click Change Permissions.
Tick the boxes you need, or type the number into the box.
Click Change Permissions to save.

Check the result in the Permissions column of the file list.

Warning: Do not use 777. It lets anyone on the server change the file, so hackers can use it. If a guide tells you to use it, try 755 or 644 first.

Signs of wrong permissions

"403 Forbidden" error: the permissions may be too strict.
"500 Internal Server Error": some servers reject folders set looser than 755.
An upload fails: the target folder may not be writable.

Not sure which setting is right? Open a support ticket and ask Hostvento support.

Quick recap

Permissions control who may read, write or run a file.
Use 644 for files and 755 for folders in most cases.
Right-click, then Change Permissions in File Manager.
Never leave files at 777.