---
name: "chown"
section: "8"
platform: "freebsd"
package: "base"
version: "16.0-CURRENT-20261027-61c70dc16a79"
release: "FreeBSD 16.0-CURRENT (2026-10-27)"
platforms: ["freebsd", "openbsd", "macos"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/chown/8"
---

# chown(8)

change file owner and group

## NAME

**chown** – change file owner and group

## SYNOPSIS

**chown** \[**-fhvx**\]\[ **-R** \[**-H** \| **-L** \| **-P**\]\] *owner*\[:*group*\] *file ...*

**chown** \[**-fhvx**\]\[ **-R** \[**-H** \| **-L** \| **-P**\]\]:*group* *file ...*

## DESCRIPTION

The **chown** utility changes the user ID and/or the group ID of the specified files. Symbolic links named by arguments are silently left unchanged unless **-h** is used.

The options are as follows:

- **-H**

  If the **-R** option is specified, symbolic links on the command line are followed and hence unaffected by the command. (Symbolic links encountered during traversal are not followed.)

- **-L**

  If the **-R** option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.

- **-P**

  If the **-R** option is specified, no symbolic links are followed. This is the default.

- **-R**

  Change the user ID and/or the group ID of the file hierarchies rooted in the files, instead of just the files themselves. Beware of unintentionally matching the “*..*” hard link to the parent directory when using wildcards like “.\*”.

- **-f**

  Do not report any failure to change file owner or group, nor modify the exit status to reflect such failures.

- **-h**

  If the file is a symbolic link, change the user ID and/or the group ID of the link itself.

- **-v**

  Cause **chown** to be verbose, showing files as the owner is modified. If the **-v** flag is specified more than once, **chown** will print the filename, followed by the old and new numeric user/group ID.

- **-x**

  File system mount points are not traversed.

The **-H**, **-L** and **-P** options are ignored unless the **-R** option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and the command's actions are determined by the last one specified.

The *owner* and *group* operands are both optional, however, one must be specified. If the *group* operand is specified, it must be preceded by a colon (\`\`:'') character.

The *owner* may be either a numeric user ID or a user name. If a user name is also a numeric user ID, the operand is used as a user name. The *group* may be either a numeric group ID or a group name. If a group name is also a numeric group ID, the operand is used as a group name.

The ownership of a file may only be altered by a super-user for obvious security reasons.

If **chown** receives a SIGINFO signal (see the **status** argument for [stty(1)](/stty/1.md)), then the current filename as well as the old and new file owner and group are displayed.

## EXIT STATUS

The **chown** utility exits 0 on success, and \>0 if an error occurs.

## COMPATIBILITY

Previous versions of the **chown** utility used the dot (\`\`.'') character to distinguish the group name. This has been changed to be a colon (\`\`:'') character so that user and group names may contain the dot character.

On previous versions of this system, symbolic links did not have owners.

The **-v** and **-x** options are non-standard and their use in scripts is not recommended.

## SEE ALSO

[chgrp(1)](/chgrp/1.md), [chmod(1)](/chmod/1.md), [find(1)](/find/1.md), [chown(2)](/chown/2.md), [fts(3)](/fts/3.md), [groups(7)](/groups/7.md), [symlink(7)](/symlink/7.md)

## STANDARDS

The **chown** utility is expected to be IEEE Std 1003.2 (“POSIX.2”) compliant.

## HISTORY

A **chown** utility appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.