Chown
Shell command for changing the owner of a file
title: "Chown" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["operating-system-security", "standard-unix-programs", "unix-sus2008-utilities", "ibm-i-qshell-commands"] description: "Shell command for changing the owner of a file" topic_path: "technology/operating-systems" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chown" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Shell command for changing the owner of a file ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox software"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | chown |
| screenshot | Chown-example-command.gif |
| caption | Example usage of command |
| author | Ken Thompson, |
| Dennis Ritchie | |
| developer | AT&T Bell Laboratories |
| released | |
| operating system | Unix and Unix-like, IBM i |
| platform | Cross-platform |
| genre | Command |
| :: |
| name = chown | logo = | screenshot = Chown-example-command.gif | screenshot size = | caption = Example usage of command | author = Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie | developer = AT&T Bell Laboratories | released = | latest release version = | latest release date = | operating system = Unix and Unix-like, IBM i | platform = Cross-platform | genre = Command | license = | website = **** , short for change owner, is a shell command for changing the owning user of Unix-based file system files including special files such as directories.
The ownership of a file may only be altered by a super-user (such as via [sudo](sudo)). A regular user cannot give away their ownership of a file.
The version of chown bundled in GNU coreutils was written by David MacKenzie and Jim Meyering.
The command is available for Windows via UnxUtils. The command was ported to IBM i.
References
References
- [https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/man8/chown.8.html BSD Man page for chown, March 31, 1994]
- {{man. 1. chown. Linux
- "Native Win32 ports of some GNU utilities".
- IBM. "IBM System i Version 7.2 Programming Qshell".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::